Marching with the band off the field minutes before the kickoff of Saturday's football game, I was shocked to see nearly two sections of Wally Wade filled with-no, it couldn't be-students?!
Sure, most of them were wearing cowboy hats fashioned from beer cases, or sundresses, or ski pants, or some combination of the three, but they were there! They were really there, and they were cheering!
Okay, so they were cheering things like, "Vick is a pedophile." But still, there was a solid "Let's go Duke!" or two.
And, well, looking back up at the stands at halftime, I saw that most of them had already gone stumbling back home. But really, the usual nucleus of students was still there, right? Right?
While I can't blame the students for leaving at halftime-we were down 21-0 at that point-I can thank a few people for making them be there for at least part of the game. Although they probably didn't enjoy having their tailgate cut short, making the students leave the Blue Zone and enter the stadium did increase the noise level for the first half of the game.
This was a direct result of the new tailgating policy implemented by the administration last week. Duke Student Government President Jesse Longoria told The Chronicle that there was some talk of ending tailgate altogether after the debauchery of last year. DSG also helped draft the new policy, which wasn't really too different from the former one except that going to the game, specifically by kickoff, is now required. And the "student leaders" given the task of enforcing the new rules did a good job, preventing extreme cases of bad behavior and bringing in the tailgaters in time for some key-shaking action at the kickoff.
Given the other option presented by the administration-no tailgate at all-DSG did a fantastic job.
The more venerable and famous tradition of tenting is another issue that's up for review again this year; it will be interesting to see how DSG handles the administration's request for a shorter tenting season. The adults who run Duke are not happy about the absences from class or the sick students that result from tenting.
At last Tuesday's forum on Krzyzewskiville, Head Line Monitor Lauren Troyer said she would have to "make some concessions to the administration" in order to keep K-ville in the administration's good graces. It is still unclear how DSG plans to do this. Should they eliminate a second tenting game? Employ a start date before which tenting cannot take place? End Black Tenting? Make tenting "harder?"
While the administration doesn't really have any love at all for the new "tradition" of tailgating, they adore K-ville. Everyone who has ever watched a college basketball game has probably heard of K-ville, the devoted student fans and what they sacrifice to see the Duke-UNC game-all while maintaining 3.85 GPAs (well, maybe not) at one of the top schools in the country.
But when parents start calling and complaining about their children who have developed six colds since beginning tenting two days ago, and employees write letters about the trash covering the grassy plain in front of Wilson and Card, K-ville doesn't seem like the admissions-increasing media bonanza it used to be.
However, as one student said at the forum last week, tenting can't be easy. It's supposed to be hard, to push you to your limits. You go through hell for two hours in heaven.
The challenge DSG and the administration face in revising the rules for K-ville is one I wouldn't want for myself. They have to balance the health and safety of students with a process that's supposed to be difficult and a little dangerous, the academic integrity of a fantastic institution with a spirit that is as much a part of that institution as anything else.
Troyer wants students to start tenting according to how much they want to get in the Carolina game, not because the K-ville rules make it most advantageous to start at a certain time. But K-ville rules work like election laws: People try to beat the system.
K-ville poses an even more complicated problem than tailgate and will have an infinitely more complex solution. The final policy will be released Oct. 26. Here's to hoping DSG handles the basketball tradition even better than they have the football one.
Elizabeth Rudisill is Trinity sophomore. Her column runs every other Thursday.
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