West Campus looks remarkably barren now.
Displaying an impressive level of organization and unity, students Tuesday night burned many of the benches that had inhabited West Campus. The spark for the burnings came from the administration's refusal to allow students to build a traditional bonfire following the men's basketball team's Saturday afternoon 77-75 victory over archrival University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and from its plan to take away 14 of the benches in order to prevent future fires.
"Public Safety didn't want any more benches on campus," Trinity senior Jeff Kessler said sarcastically. "I guess we're just doing their job for them."
In an elaborate plot-orchestrated by an independent student and a selective house student, both of whom wished to remain anonymous-members of Clocktower Quadrangle planted a decoy to distract members of the Duke University Police Department: They moved the bench in front of Mirecourt Dormitory to the center of the quad and feigned igniting it. Then, another group of students moved the House P bench to the front of the Allen Building in further protest of the University's policies. At approximately the same time, a fire alarm went off in Clocktower Quad, and a few of the students who were trying to ignite the Mirecourt bench were taken away by police.
As this series of distractions ended, the House B and Nottingham benches were set ablaze.
Students quickly gathered around the spectacle in front of Wayne Manor. Fire trucks and police vans crowded into the West Campus bus stop, where firefighters and Campus Police proceeded to watch the scene. In chants similar in nature to the ones shouted at men's basketball games, students cried: "That's alright; that's okay; Nan's going to take them, anyway" and "F--- you, Nan."
After the Wayne Manor bench was added to the original fire, students' attentions were diverted back to Clocktower Quad, where others finally succeeded in setting fire to the Mirecourt bench. Trinity freshman Jared Lina, who helped fuel the fire on Clocktower Quad and who wears the blond wig and "Shane's World" hat at home men's basketball games, emphasized the importance of the bench-burning tradition.
"If I got arrested, it'd be worth it," he said. "My parents would be proud."
The crowd around Wayne Manor dwindled as students chose to observe the fire on Clocktower Quad. "I've got an idea," said a firefighter who was in the midst of the mayhem. "I'm going to stack [the House B, Nottingham and Wayne Manor benches] all together so [they] will burn quicker."
By the time student interest had turned completely to the scene on Clocktower Quad, firefighters had gotten the Wayne Manor fire to burn itself out. The bench remains continued to smolder, however, until after 1:30 a.m.
Back in Clocktower Quad, benches were being demolished left and right. By the end of the evening, the majority of West Campus benches-including the 14 the administration had tagged for removal Monday-had been burned. Other items charred included chairs and Tent 11, better known as the Krzyzewskiville "Shanty." Students also set off fireworks, took photos of themselves and carted around a Duke flag as well as a replica of Michael Jordan's North Carolina jersey.
Although the number of students arrested and injured was low and police involvement was minimal, many students did report the use of pepper spray by one Campus Police officer in an attempt to stop the burning of the Alpha Epsilon Pi bench. "My ear felt like it got gnawed on," Trinity freshmen Jim Poulos said.
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