Tenting 2015 has kicked off, but a pattern of below-freezing weather has given it a slow start.
So far, 26 tents have registered for black tenting—with seven more pending—which lasts until Jan. 18 at 11 p.m. All but two of those have been on Krzyzewskiville grounds since the first night, last Thursday, but not one of them had to stay through the night until Sunday. Due to the cold temperatures, line monitors called grace in K-ville and sent tenters back to their beds for the first three nights.
“I’ve been tenting here for two days and I haven’t slept here yet,” said senior Tom Puglisi, a member of a tent made from a yurt kit.
Several first-time and veteran tenters noted their surprise after setting up camp and being sent home for three consecutive nights.
“All of us are looking forward to being in for the first night… It’s nice having everyone together and that’s what makes tenting so fun,” said sophomore Sai Panguluri, a second-time black tenter. “That’s the best part—having everyone stuck in here together freezing, ordering pizza, bonding.”
Grace is called for a variety of reasons, mostly after line checks and during men’s and women’s basketball games. When the temperature dips below 25 degrees, K-ville policy mandates that grace is given.
“Safety of the tenters is a top priority,” senior and co-head line monitor Michael Marion wrote in an email Sunday. “While it’s probably a little unusual, it’s certainly not without precedent—the snowpocalypse last year led to above-average durations of grace.”
Some residents of K-ville, however, are happy that the cold weather has kept them out of their recently-adopted dwellings.
“There’s a song called Amazing Grace—that’s how I felt,” said freshman Jonathan Osei. “Amazing grace, I’m done for the night.”
K-ville can hold up to 100 tents—with black and blue tents each capped at a maximum of 70, and white at maximum of 30.
After black tenting ends Jan. 18, two weeks of blue tenting will begin, followed by two weeks of white tenting.The home game against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will be held Feb. 18 at 9 p.m.
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