If all goes according to plan, Cameron Crazies won’t be celebrating New Year’s Eve in Krzyzewskiville.
Head Line Monitor Steve Rawson plans to implement several major policy changes for the upcoming basketball season, including the creation of a stricter opening tenting phase called Black Tenting, the establishment of a line monitor tent and a switch to camp out for Duke’s matchup against Wake Forest instead of the University of Maryland.
The shake-up of the infrastructure, which Duke Student Government will formally vote on Sept. 26, originated in an effort to return fervor and fairness to K-ville.
“We are doing everything we can to make K-ville more exciting, so it regains—if it ever lost it—the feeling of a center of student activity, rather than a ritualistic tradition,” Rawson said.
Black Tenting, the demanding new initial period to precede Blue Tenting, is supposed to be strict enough that it deters students from returning early from winter break to begin tenting without compromising the first-come, first-serve foundation of K-ville with a definite starting date. Students may participate in Black Tenting anytime before Jan. 10 or 11—the start of Blue Tenting.
The new set-up will require tents to house 10 students each night and eight students each day and will allow no grace periods other than for home basketball games and weather catastrophes. Failure to meet these standards will result in the tent’s inability to rejoin the line until after Blue Tenting begins.
The plan aims to address safety and health concerns about tenting during vacation, when dormitories and University facilities are not open to students. Rawson said Black Tenting had “taken on another depth of importance” after the four armed robberies that took place on or near Duke’s campus in the past month.
“Safety is not an issue that will be fixed overnight, so we can’t assume it will be taken care of before winter break,” he said.
At the same time, Black Tenting will also allow all students to get a realistic opportunity to be near the beginning of the line without compromising their vacations. “It will balance the desires of hard-core students, and the students who feel like they want to be hard-core, but can’t for whatever reason,” Rawson said.
Students from last year’s first tent welcomed Black Tenting, citing it as a much-needed relief. “This is a godsend,” junior Garver Moore said. “By the time UNC rolls around, people are so sick and tired of the whole thing that it is just no fun anymore. This will prevent people from getting sick of it.”
Some freshmen, however, said that Black Tenting limits fans who want to engage in early tenting and that the policy may not stop Cameron Crazies from returning early. “If people want to brave the cold and spend an extra two weeks out there, then more power to them,” said freshman Matt McNeill, who claims he will be one of the first in line this year. “If they’re going to be there that early anyway, they are going to put that much effort into Black Tenting.”
This year’s policy changes also include the creation of a line monitor tent, which will house at least one line monitor at all times. The new tent will serve as a resource for Cameron Crazies and will alter the dynamic of the line monitor position from an appointed managerial job to that of a “fan who wants to do a little more,” Rawson said—and fans appreciate the extra effort.
“It changes them from a cop-out to a fan,” Moore said. “They have had obscene placement at the games without actually having to sleep there. Keeping long hours is one thing, sleeping in K-ville is another.”
The change from tenting in anticipation of Maryland to camping out for Wake Forest was based on student interest and the projection that Duke’s game against Wake Forest, which went to the Sweet 16 last season and is expected to be one of the nation’s top teams this year, will be more competitive than the one against Maryland.
Rawson also plans to pitch to DSG several ideas intended to make the K-ville experience less burdensome: Blue Tenting will only require six people per night, and there will no longer be a secondary line for walk-up games.
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