In response to what some considered a disappointing showing by the Cameron Crazies at Sunday's men's basketball game against Clemson, the Athletics Department is on the offensive, taking student seats away from undergraduates and awarding them to their older counterparts.
Graduate and professional school students received an e-mail Tuesday announcing that there would be over 100 extra tickets available for tonight's game against the University of Virginia, to the detriment of the undergraduate students' section. The reallocation was a reward for " our excellent attendance and spirit," the Graduate and Professional Student Council's head ushers wrote.
"There were several empty seats during the Clemson game Sunday night, and we want to have a full house every game," said Jon Jackson, director of sports information for the Athletics Department, who said Athletics Director Joe Alleva made the final call to reallocate the seats. "The goal is not to penalize anyone who doesn't come; our goal is to have as many people... fill up the student section as possible."
Many students, however, felt that the action taken was unnecessarily harsh. "I think it's an overreaction, and I think people will respond tomorrow," said Head Line Monitor Donald Wine. "If you look at the year, we've definitely had resounding success as far as student sections. We've been full for every game, including the exhibition games... but I think that the first chance that things go wrong, people are quick to point the finger."
The fans' performance has come under fire from Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski, who said Sunday night that he did not feel that the Crazies were as energetic as the team needed them to be.
"The atmosphere needs to be better," Krzyzewski said after the game. "We shouldn't have empty seats. How can we have empty seats in Cameron? With the No. 1 team in the country after just winning one of the most unbelievable games. That's disappointing."
Student fans were quick to note, however, that comparatively low attendance at the Clemson game could be attributed in part to the fact that the game came on a Sunday night at the beginning of a week during which many students have midterms.
"I think that it's obviously very hard to be a Cameron Crazy and a full time student, however students are here to get an education," said Wine, a senior.
"The fact that students are being punished for choosing to study for exams instead of going to the game--I don't think that's fair.... Obviously I was at the game. I would have been there even if I wasn't head line monitor because that's what I prioritize, but other people choose tests and we shouldn't fault them for that."
The graduate students who will now have an additional 100 seats to fill view tonight's game as an audition, and they hope to be crazy enough to earn extra seats for their section permanently, said Ben Torbert, a fourth-year graduate student in the English department. He did not, however, see the announcement as a cause for alarm, but rather a part of the season's predictable highs and lows.
"Coach K sort of does this about once or twice a year," he said. "He sort of does it as a motivational ploy to get the crowd not to take the team for granted. In other words, I think he sort of overstates the case. In the undergraduates' defense, in 2001, 2002, even in 2003, there were quite a few times the undergraduates didn't fill their section. This is only the second time [this season] the undergraduates haven't filled their section, so I think the timing was a little surprising."
Despite undergraduates' frustration with the situation, some administrators believe that the athletics department's actions are necessary to communicate the Blue Devils' dependence on their fans.
"I understand the athletics department's need to fill the facility and allocate the tickets to those who want to get in, but I think in the long run, I think it's important there be undergraduate support," said Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs. "It's really an undergraduate relationship between the school and its team--this may be a wake-up call for students to budget their time more carefully and be a true fan."
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