At a school that is nationally known for the creativity and enthusiasm of its fans, it would only seem logical that hordes of students would jump at the chance to support Duke athletics.
Now that the organized chaos of basketball season has come to a close, however, the official student club for Duke athletics is trying to keep the troops moving, even to non-revenue sports.
Introduced last fall, The Inferno aims to draw students to athletic events and introduce them to the Iron Dukes organization, which raises and donates money to the Duke Athletic Fund.
With less than two months left in the club’s first academic year, students have shown interest in the club but minimal participation in Inferno events.
“The one thing we haven’t been completely successful with is to get students to come out to the events,” said Chris Bauer, a Duke athletics development staff assistant who is responsible for coordinating the club. “That could have been just some first-year issues. As people catch on they will be more inclined to come out.”
Of the 230 members, about 35 went on a bus trip to watch the football team play at Virginia Tech Sept. 18. Likewise, only about 250 fans came to the Inferno’s “Hoops Watch” party , the club’s sole event open to all students, for the men’s basketball game at Georgia Tech Feb. 23. The club had advertised free food for the first 400 people that attended the event in Cameron Indoor Stadium, yet the fan yield remained low.
A majority of the students that did attend were freshmen, who hold about one third of the club’s membership.
“It seems like most of the people going to the events are freshmen, but more people will probably be going in the future,” freshman member Brett Fair said.
As freshmen rise to the status of upperclassmen, and new members join next year, The Inferno’s organizers expect membership to increase because of the unique benefits club members enjoy.
“This is a new thing,” Inferno president senior Robert Harvey said. “Upperclassmen have their own ways and traditions, so it might not be as big of a draw for them. In a few years, it will catch on.”
To become a member, students pay a fee of $30 in exchange for an Inferno T-shirt, a membership card, discounts special to Inferno members and access to all Inferno events.
In addition, Inferno members have the opportunity to begin garnering Iron Duke priority points, which determine future benefits for alumni donors, such as seating for basketball and football games, game day parking and tournament and bowl game ticket allocations.
Despite these benefits, some students still do not want to join.
“Maybe if I was a hardcore fan I’d want those types of perks,” sophomore Gaby Perez said. “But I’m not that interested. What more do you need to see of Cameron than the court?”
To combat this indifference, The Inferno will look to increase membership by planning different events that will attract more students.
“We had a lot of cookouts in the fall and I guess people figured that one hamburger is the same as another,” Harvey said. “We’ll probably try and get more creative next year.”
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