West Duke Building

Building Description

Just one of the innumerable gifts of Benjamin Newton Duke, the West Duke Building was completed in 1911. It was built with a desire to blend the new East Campus buildings with ones already in existence. The building now houses the campus’ chapter of the Army ROTC, the prestigious Benjamin N. Duke Scholars & Trinity Scholars Programs, the Center for Academic Integrity, the Program in Education, the Kenan Institute for Ethics, the Department of Philosophy, and the Reginaldo Howard Scholarship Program.

History

The West Duke Building is one of the many generous gifts of Benjamin Newton Duke, or as he was more commonly known, “Mr. Ben.” Mr. Ben was a tobacco and textile entrepreneur as well as a true philanthropist. It is widely understood that without Ben Duke’s financial contributions Duke University could never have achieved the greatness that it is recognized for today. The financial contributions of Ben Duke are truly incalculable, however, it is well into tens of millions. Ben Duke contributed everything from buildings, such as West Duke, East Duke, and the Southgate Dorm among others, to money that was used to pay teachers salaries. In 1999 a statue of Ben Duke was unveiled on the East Campus.
The West Duke Building was completed in 1911. It was built with a desire to blend the architectural styles of new buildings on East Campus with those already in existence. The building now houses the campus’ chapter of the Army ROTC, the prestigious Benjamin N. Duke Scholars & Trinity Scholars Programs, the Center for Academic Integrity, the Program in Education, the Kenan Institute for Ethics, the Department of Philosophy, and the Reginaldo Howard Scholarship Program.