It has not been a good year to be a bench at Duke University.
Just weeks into the semester, there have already been two casualties in the ongoing bench wars of East Campus. While most students were sleeping Sept. 9, a number of freshmen took the bench of Bassett dormitory hostage, and in the process damaged it so badly that it needed to be removed.
The same night, "Wilson '11" was painted on the Giles bench, which until then had been stained and free of any paint.
The perpetrators of both of these acts are unknown.
Reactions from students have been mixed in response to the incidents. Some see themselves as upholding a tradition of inter-dorm rivalry and view the benches as a symbol of their respective dorms.
"If the house does not protect its symbol of pride then they're losing out," said freshman Andrew O'Rourke, a resident of Wilson. "It's their fault. They need to protect it."
The topic of dorm unity also draws concern from some students.
"[The activity] is breaking down the unity within the community, and there's inter-dorm fighting now," Brown resident Siyu Zheng said. "It's bad."
In comparison to past years, when benches have been hung from trees or lit on fire, some view this year's pranks as harmless mischief.
However, this attitude does not extend throughout East. Residents of dorms victimized by the behavior, namely Giles and Bassett, tend to have a less enthusiastic view of the activities.
"We're very upset because we didn't provoke anything and they just defaced our whole house and our bench," said Giles resident Jordan Rehlaender. "It's not like we instigated anything."
Most of the bench activity has been contained to the main quad, and those dorms devoid of benches are left out entirely.
Freshman Molly Lester just said she wished that her dorm-Randolph-had a bench at all, even if that meant it would be subject to the attacks of other dorms.
Regardless of the extent of students' participation in the war, Lisa Beth Bergene, assistant dean for residence life on East Campus, encouraged freshmen who had information about the incidents to alert administration.
"[Bench vandalism] is taken seriously and can result in responsible parties having to reimburse the cost of the bench and also face judicial consequences," she wrote in an e-mail to the class of 2011.
The acts seem to have abated in the past week following threats of police involvement and severe consequences from administrators. Some residents have even chosen to submit written acknowledgements of their participation to their Residence Coordinators and Residence Assistants, and other students are beginning to take a more somber perspective.
"Some of the incidents that took place went a little too far," said Pegram freshman Pronoy Sarkar. "When it gets to that level of intensity, it's a waste of time on everybody's part."
At least one student said certain dorms have already earned a reputation as a result of their efforts.
"I think that Wilson is definitely the most savage of the dorms," the student said. "They tend to behave kind of like animals and savage people, from what I've seen."
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