Both on and off the court, basketball dominated campus life in 1997-98.
The resurgent men's basketball team finished one game shy of the Final Four, losing a heartbreaker to the Kentucky Wildcats.
The teams also provided the spark for the most controversial issue of the year, the battle for bonfires. The previous year's dangerous revelry had prompted an administrative ban on the fiery celebrations, but students celebrating Duke's stunning come-from-behind home victory over North Carolina in late February paid the prohibition no heed.
Immediately following the afternoon game, nearly 2,000 students gathered for a beer-soaked foam party, waiting for night to fall before attempting to set their benches ablaze. Police resistance to the students' efforts turned the campus into a chaotic chess board for much of the night, with some students creating diversions for the police while others lit fires in secluded quadrangles.
Frustrated and angered by police actions, students accused the administration of smothering a time-honored campus tradition, a position that gained supporters when administrators vowed to remove all benches from campus. Three nights later, hundreds of students gathered on Clocktower Quadrangle and, in the absence of a significant police presence, successfully burned nearly every remaining bench on campus while angrily denouncing President Nan Keohane. The next day, administrators agreed to permit a bonfire on campus if the men's team won the national title.
The men's team fell short, however, as did the women's basketball team, which nevertheless won its first-ever ACC regular season title and also came within one
Other significant happenings in Duke sports occurred away from the playing field. Athletic Director Tom Butters retired after two decades on the job ,and, after several outside candidates declined interest in the position, the University hired Associate Athletic Director Joe Alleva. During 1997-98, Duke also added women's crew as a varsity sport.
Amid all of the change around campus, one trend remained constant: Race relations persisted as a divisive issue. During the fall semester, the InterCommunity Council organized Race Day in front of the Chapel, drawing about 500 students, faculty members and employees for an open discussion. Later in the fall, the Black Student Alliance held a "study-in" at the Allen Building to demand administrative action on behalf of the campus' black community.
Administrators responded, and the year witnessed several significant improvements for minority concerns. Driven by Race Day, the study-in and a letter of support from more than 250 non-black faculty members, the administration increased the value of the Reginaldo Howard Scholarship, relaunched the search for a full-time director for the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture and added tenure-track positions to the Program in African and African-American Studies.
The campus' queer community was at the center of controversy in the fall after Facilities Management workers whitewashed over slogans on the East Campus bridge that had been painted by Gothic Queers. The decision sparked student protests and an administrative apology.
University policy in social life and residential life endured deep scrutiny during
The social scene continued its transformation from an environment in which on-campus fraternity keg bashes raged several nights a week to one dominated by smaller gatherings off campus at private houses and local bars--including several new bars like George's Garage, Steve and Clark's and the James Joyce Irish Pub.
The year's Duke Student Government elections included the usual dose of controversy, this time from an outside organization. The DSG Judiciary found IFC guilty of bribery and election tampering after it staged an election drive that offered a monetary reward to the fraternity with the best voter turnout.
The Medical Center continued its incredible growth in 1997-98; most notably, the Duke University Health System signed a lease to operate Durham Regional Hospital after several months of negotiations.
The year ended on a sad note with the April 18 death of 80-year-old University President Emeritus Terry Sanford, who had also served as North Carolina governor and a U.S. senator. The funeral ceremony, which was held in the Chapel, drew nearly 2,000 mourners.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.