For some, school spirit means attending the occasional basketball game. For senior Braveen Ragunanthan, it meant wearing Duke apparel for every day of the academic year since stepping on campus in 2008.
Excluding summers and breaks, Ragunanthan has worn one of his 73 different pieces of Duke apparel—including T-shirts, sweatshirts, jerseys, dress shirts and others—each day. Even during his semester switch to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as part of the Robertson Scholars program, Ragunanthan donned Duke paraphernalia amidst a sea of Tar Heel blue.
“Something that really stands out at Duke is the powerful spirit of Duke students compared to other universities,” he said. “Every day you’ll notice people who are proud of their school and represent that through T-shirts or memorabilia that they have.”
Ragunanthan was so inspired by the students’ school spirit that he decided to wear a Duke shirt every day until he receives his diploma.
“Ever since the beginning of my freshman year I wore a Duke T-shirt every single day, even under professional attire and when I went to UNC,” Ragunanthan said.
When Ragunanthan decided to attend Duke, he bought approximately 12 shirts in preparation for the school year. As the years went on, he acquired Blue Devil gear through various sales, organizations and events.
“I acquired a lot of shirts for free,” he said. “I count shirts like Midnight Breakfast shirts and [Last Day of Classes] shirts.”
Ragunanthan noted that his craziest outfit is a Duke jersey featuring the number 38—a number that is not used according to NCAA rules.
“One basketball game I lined up with my friends and I was in the front row,” he said. “The team was warming up and Andrew Dawkins came up to me and said, ‘who is number 38?’”
Ragunanthan’s dedication earned him the title of “crazy T-shirt guy” in the Feb. 2010 edition of Rival Magazine.
Crazy T-shirt guy, however, will not be dressing in Blue Devil paraphernalia for much longer as he will be attending medical school in the Fall.
“Since I have so much Duke gear I’ll keep wearing Duke shirts, but I won’t necessarily wear them every day,” he said.
Although he may not don Duke blue for much longer, Ragunanthan added that he will “definitely” wear Duke gear during his graduation.
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