Planning to snack on a sign in K-Ville before the UNC game this year? Sorry, tenters only.
In the wake of last year’s walk-up line fiasco, only those tenting for entrance to the Carolina-Duke game Wednesday will be allowed in Krzyzewskiville between 3 p.m. and the game's 9 p.m. tipoff, co-head line monitor Steve Hassey, a senior, told The Chronicle.
Last year, all students were allowed in K-Ville. Chaos ensued. A drunken mob of students in the walk-up line tried to push their way through barricades, trampling line monitors and threatening them with violence, The Chronicle reported. Students ate signs and threatened each other with table legs.
Similar procedures to those used on Jan. 19 for Duke’s matchup against the University of Virginia will be in place in K-Ville ahead of the game against University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For the Virginia game, K-Ville was completely barricaded and security checked bags at the entrances, students said.
"Administration made these changes based on the events and the chaos stemming from the walk-up line last year," Hassey wrote in a message to The Chronicle.
DSG President Kristina Smith notified students via email of a DSG resolution Wednesday asking Duke administration to leave K-Ville open for all students—to no avail.
“Last night, the DSG Senate passed a resolution stating that all Duke students should be allowed to engage in this annual tradition, regardless of their ability or desire to tent. However, the administration does have reasonable safety concerns to consider due to issues with the walk-up line last year,” Smith wrote in the email. “DSG aims to work with the administration to allow K-Ville to remain open on all Duke-UNC game days to come, while also ensuring the safety of all involved.”
Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, wrote in an email to The Chronicle that he only had “rudimentary knowledge” of the explicit details of the plans, but said that security measures will be “similar to what was done for the UVA game.” Security arrangements for the game have been developed over “many months” by line monitors, Duke Athletics, Duke University Police Department and Student Affairs, Moneta wrote.
The security adjustments come after The Chronicle’s report detailing a lack of alcohol enforcement in K-Ville ahead of Duke’s game against North Carolina on March 3, 2018. Last year, administrators could not say who was in charge of alcohol enforcement. John Dailey, chief of Duke University Police Department, wrote that the alcohol policy is enforced “administratively”—by departments other than the police. He did not respond to a email asking which department that was. Moneta declined to clarify Dailey’s comments.
At the Virginia game this year, Bob Weiseman, senior associate director of athletics and athletic facilities, game operations and championships, told The Chronicle that outside security contractor Staff-1 Services Group enforced alcohol policy, with help from DUPD and the "A-team." The group consists of student, faculty and administration volunteers that enforce the alcohol policy and monitor safety, former co-head line monitor Sara Constand, Trinity '18, told The Chronicle last year.
Line monitors requested A-team support ahead of last year’s walk-up line chaos, but administrators declined. Clay Adams, associate dean of students, denied the request, saying A-team’s scope was “limited to ensuring the safe and successful execution of an approved bonfire.” Constand said Adams rejected her request because he thought not enough people would volunteer—Adams said he could not remember the specifics of the conversation.
Some students welcomed the upped security ahead of the Virginia game.
“The experience was a million times safer and more pleasant,” sophomore Bailey Bogle wrote in a message to The Chronicle. “Frankly, students who go to K-Ville before games but are not planning to attend the game don't have a reason to limit their alcohol consumption the way those who will be standing up for four-plus hours do.”
Others lauded K-Ville for its past inclusivity.
“It’s a great event for Duke because it’s pretty open,” then-first-year Daniel Landa told The Chronicle last year. “There were no exclusive areas, which was nice to see.”
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Managing Editor 2018-19, 2019-2020 Features & Investigations Editor
A member of the class of 2020 hailing from San Mateo, Calif., Ben is The Chronicle's Towerview Editor and Investigations Editor. Outside of the Chronicle, he is a public policy major working towards a journalism certificate, has interned at the Tampa Bay Times and NBC News and frequents Pitchforks.