Aside from a few unresolved safety concerns, the final plans for an extensive post-game celebration should the men's basketball team defeat North Carolina tomorrow night are mostly set in stone.
For the duration of the game, the Campus Social Board has reserved the Great Hall, where it will set up a big-screen television, provide beer on points and serve food. The celebration after the game will consist of light shows and a projection screen on Clocktower Quadrangle, said Trinity junior and CSB Chair Brandon Busteed.
If Duke wins, Thursday night's event will cost the administration $3,500-and Executive Vice President Tallman Trask said he is perfectly willing to pick up the tab.
"If students want to do it, I said I would try to make it happen," he explained. "I'm trying to help encourage some alternative activities."
During the past few days, officials have labored over the remaining issues regarding student safety. Perhaps more importantly, they have worked to institute measures that will prevent students from building a bonfire, an activity that many consider a Duke tradition.
Last year's bonfire, which followed a home victory over North Carolina, resulted in many students suffering burns and injuries. When officials reflected on the dangers students encountered with bonfires last year and in years past, they decided to take all necessary precautions to ensure that this year proceeds differently.
The Duke University Police Department has hired on-call officers from both the Durham Police Department and the Durham County Sheriff's Department, and it plans to keep a fire truck on site in the event that it becomes necessary.
"We do have a plan, but I'd prefer not to get into the tactical issues," said Chief Alana Ennis of Campus Police. "Suffice to say that we will have extra personnel and that our primary concern is the safety of the students and maintaining order. We understand it's a celebration, but bonfires are very dangerous."
Both Ennis and Maj. George Hare, DPD's uniform bureau patrol commander, quelled rumors that officers will be wearing riot gear Thursday evening. Instead, Hare said, officers will have "safety gear" that includes helmets to provide protection from any flying projectiles.
"I don't think there's any basis for [riot gear]," Hare explained. "If we anticipated there being a safety issue for the officers... we would want to make sure that Duke police and Durham police have safety gear."
The two departments, Hare continued, have a "mutual aid" agreement, by which either department can make a request for emergency assistance. DPD, he added, has a similar agreement with the Chapel Hill Police Department.
Campus administrators are also taking several steps to discourage students from building a bonfire and have worked to prepare in the event that students do it anyway.
Resident advisers met Monday morning and examined a handout that explained the administration's concerns and outlined steps they should take to maintain a "safe environment." Among other things, the handout encouraged them to remember their roles in the University community and "maintain the integrity of the RA program."
According to the handout, RAs are expected to lock commons rooms, report dangerous and illegal activities to Campus Police and maintain their presence in their assigned resident areas.
Trask also issued a letter to members of the University community in which he called on them to "make basketball celebrations safe." Members of Campus Police, he wrote, will be prepared to issue citations and arrest students whose behavior warrants punitive action.
He conceded, however, that enforcement will be a challenge.
"We're trying to clarify what the consequences of what certain behaviors will be," Trask explained. "We will do whatever we can to identify whomever we can, but I don't want to claim that any system will be foolproof."
Despite the slew of precautionary measures, many officials are still concerned that the celebration will get out of hand.
"We'll find out Thursday if [the bonfires] will happen anyway, but the administration has emphasized that bonfires are dangerous, and students know that they're dangerous," Ennis said. "Why someone would want to be out there burning benches I don't know. I'm hoping that students will come out and party and have a great time."
Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs Sue Wasiolek said she shares Ennis' concern but believes students will consider the dangers posed by the fires.
"I recognize the possibility that students will have a bonfire," she said, "but I'm also confident that they understand that they are placing their safety in jeopardy."
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