Burrage and Colonial Halls — the Quads, as they’re known to many Doane alumni — had their last round of residents this past spring. The two residence halls built in the late 1960s will be demolished later this summer to make way for a new, modern residence hall and amenities for students.
But the residence halls won’t just live on in the memories of the thousands of students who called them home. Over the past two weeks, 50 metal bed frames were donated to The Furniture Project, an Omaha non-profit that collects donated furniture to give to families in need. Through a partnership with fellow Omaha non-profit Restoring Dignity, the furniture donated to The Furniture Project also helps Afghan refugees new to the U.S. furnish apartments.
“When we found out the quads were being taken down and a lot of the furniture was going to be disposed of, I reached out to facilities to see if they thought it might be in good enough shape to donate,” said Nina Theiler ‘19, assistant director of alumni engagement.
Theiler’s dad is a firefighter with Drew Gerken, who founded The Furniture Project, which is how she knew about the non-profit. She coordinated the donation over two weeks, with a load of frames shipped off on May 26 on her dad’s trailer, and a second loaded up by The Furniture Project on June 3.
Doane’s Facilities department had already taken the frames apart — all that was left was to move them out of the Quads. Each load took roughly an hour to move, Theiler said, with the help of three Tigers on Tour, Riley Reyes ‘24, Robb Foote ‘24 and Justin Nevells ‘24, and volunteers.
