Duke University honors OKC couple

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Apr 4, 2002 by staff

A tower that is part of the "signature element" of Duke University's new 350-bed student residence hall complex will be named for alumni Kathleen Byrns McClendon and Aubrey K. McClendon, Duke President Nannerl O. Keohane announced Wednesday.

Duke's Board of Trustees voted to name the McClendon Tower for the couple in recognition of the McClendons' dedication to the "enhancement of student life at Duke" and their staunch support of a "unified West Campus facility." The new residence complex, the West-Edens Link, is under construction on Duke's West Campus in Durham, N.C., and is scheduled to open in the fall.

Kathleen "Katie" Byrns McClendon is a 1980 Duke graduate and a member of the Board of Visitors of Trinity College, in which about 85 percent of Duke undergraduates are enrolled. Aubrey McClendon, a member of the Campaign for Duke Steering Committee and the Fuqua School of Business Board of Visitors, graduated from Trinity College in 1981. The McClendons live in Oklahoma City, where Aubrey McClendon is chairman and chief executive officer of Chesapeake Energy.

The McClendons met in 1978 as undergraduates at Duke, where Katie was a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority and Aubrey was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. During the past 20 years, they and their three children have been frequent visitors to the campus.

"Through our gift of the tower, we are hoping to assist the university in enhancing the on-campus residential life at Duke," the McClendons said. "We strongly believe that it is critical for the university to provide on-campus facilities that encourage students to spend their four-year undergraduate life on campus."

In 1999, the McClendons gave Duke two charitable trusts with a combined value of $5.5 million to support improvements throughout the university, specifically to residence halls, as well as financial aid for students, the Duke Annual Fund and the Fuqua School of Business. The assets of both trusts become available to Duke this year.

In addition, the McClendons have also committed $1 million to the Duke Basketball Legacy Fund.

The five-level McClendon Tower will be the site of new dining, social and activity spaces open to all community members. There will be levels dedicated to a cafe and a diner, and other levels will have lounges, game rooms and meeting space.