The 1991-92 school year may be remembered as the year of change and controversy. The University saw the departure of campus institutions and the arrival of new traditions.
But the more things change, the more they stayed the same for the men's basketball team, which became the first team in 20 years to win back-to-back national championships.
All-American center Christian Laettner's stellar play set the tone for the team, including a buzzer-beater shot in the 104-103 overtime regional final victory over Kentucky, enshrined as the greatest game in NCAA tournament history.
The Blue Devils went on to defeat Michigan in the finals.
Postgame celebration turned from jubilant to ugly, however, as the festivities were marred by several injuries suffered during the bonfires and excessive drinking which followed.
The year marked the departure of familiar faces, including President Keith Brodie, who announced his intention to resign at the end of the 1992-1993 school year.
The Boyd-Pishko Cafe avoided a similar fate when a committee considering replacing it with a Wendy's outlet dissolved itself. The issue received considerable public outcry from students because the Wendy's franchise would have forced the University to eliminate several employee positions. In a campus-wide survey, 43.9 percent favored keeping the BP and 41.8 percent favored Wendy's. Burger King would replace the BP a year later under a new contract.
Student government also went under the knife, as an overwhelming majority of students voted to alter ASDU's structure in campus-wide referendum. Eventually, the April vote led to the creation of Duke Student Government.
In the fall, The Chronicle's decision to print a paid advertisement from a Holocaust revisionist prompted community outrage. The Chronicle rejected a similar ad in the spring.
National issues hit home as Dr. Michael Cobo, an opthamologist in the Medical Center, announced that he was infected with the virus that causes AIDS. Letters were sent to all 1,481 of his patients.
Outside the University, racial tensions flared as the Durham city and county school districts merged. Debate raged over the election of new school board members.
Meanwhile, a fire in a chicken plant in Hamlet killed 25 workers and injured 57, prompting state lawmakers to push for stricter worker safety laws.
Duke Forest faced the possibility of losing more than 600 acres to a new Orange County landfill. Public hearings debated the possible effects of the new site on the community.
Budget cuts resulting from the recession hit the University, prompting a tuition hike and cuts across the board. The Angier B. Duke scholarship nearly fell victim to the budget axe until a donation by President Brodie helped maintain the program.
New faces found themselves waking up early, as all fall 1992 freshman University Writing Courses were moved to an 8 a.m. time slot, along with 55 other classes. The University made the course change to save classroom space.
Students also woke up early to use the new Automated Course Enrollment System, which allowed them to register for courses using a touch-tone telephone for the first time. Fall 1991 marked the last semester of drop-add in the Intramural Building.
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