Letter to the editor

The Line Monitors were both shocked and outraged when we saw the picture of the offensive sign in Cameron yesterday. We want to clarify that security staff removed the sign from the stadium, but that does not fully address the severity of the incident.

We unequivocally condemn the sign and its horrible connotations relating to the crisis in Flint, Michigan. Krzyzewskiville and the student section inside Cameron are meant to be fun and rowdy, but never blatantly offensive and morally reprehensible. We are saddened that this event took away from the joyful nature of a truly incredible game last night. We believe that Duke students are better than this.

The responsibility of removing the sign responsibility ultimately lies with the university’s gameday officials, and we are happy that they removed the sign from Cameron. Certainly, we would have worked with officials to have the sign removed even sooner had we noticed its message during our efforts to fill Cameron, but this does not change the fact that someone made a choice to write these words and—even worse—display them at a public event.

We also want to make it abundantly clear that offensive signage and cheering of this nature has no place in the student section. We feel privileged to share the best seats in historic Cameron Indoor Stadium with our classmates. We hope that undergraduates take this seriously and in the future will not engage in this sort of behavior, and we urge our fellow students to stay witty and energetic, but never insensitive or plainly inappropriate.

We love being in Cameron because it is a unique space for Duke students to come together as one community cheering for one school. We genuinely believe that K-Ville enriches our student life and culture, and we also believe that the offensive rhetoric of Tuesday night’s sign damages this space. We will remain vigilant in maintaining a fun welcoming atmosphere in Section 17, and we hope other Crazies will do the same.

Obviously, one sign does not represent the views of the many hundreds of students in Section 17 who cheered and taunted in famous Crazie fashion. But we do firmly believe that every Duke student can help steer Cameron away from this type of incident. You, the student body, set the tone for the student section for every single game. We can all eliminate these incidents by emphasizing passionate competition, not flagrant hostility. We will be in Cameron every game for the rest of the season working toward this goal, and we hope that you will continue to join us.

Sincerely,

Steven Brenner, T’17, Head Line Monitor