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FactsSlang
- Blocking - In the housing lottery, it is possible to sign up in a “block.” Students who block are given consecutive lottery numbers to have a better chance of getting rooms next to or near each other.
- Cameron Crazies - What Duke students morph into once they enter Cameron Indoor Stadium.
- Grace - When the temperature dips below freezing in K-Ville, campers are granted “grace” and allowed to head back home for the rest of the night.
- Graffiti Bridge - The bridge between West and East on which students are allowed to plug parties, activities, and theme weeks.
- Gross Chem - The building is the “Paul M. Gross Chemical Laboratory Building,” but is referred to as “Gross Chem.”
- K-Ville - Krzyzewski-ville. The village of tents created by avid students camping out for Duke basketball tickets.
- Linking - After freshman year, Duke students have the option of “linking” to a quad on West Campus. Each East Campus dorm is “linked” to a West Campus quad.
- Tent Check - There are random tent checks for those who do tent for games, to make sure everyone’s there. The killers are the 2 a.m. tent checks when everyone stumbles into the bitter cold in their pajamas.
- The ‘Dillo - Armadillo Grill. A popular place for some good Mexican food.
- The BC - The Bryan Center.
- The WEL - West-Edens Link. This is the newer buildings and dorms which links West Campus with Edens quad. It was recently renamed to Keohane.
- Tunneling - East Campus has a tunnel system under the dorms.
- Walk-up Line - The line of people who didn’t camp out for the basketball games.
Things I Wish I Knew Before Coming To School
- Duke is pretty much its own little world—except on weekends, you don’t really see the outside on this enclosed campus.
- Durham is really not a great college town—Chapel Hill, however, passes quite nicely and is a free bus ride away.
- How big the Greek life and drinking scene is—it’s huge.
- It just might be worth it to get a doctor’s note saying that you must have air-conditioning.
- Just because the Marketplace is all-you-can-eat doesn’t mean you should eat all you can.
- Parking can be very difficult.
Tips to Succeed
- Get a good amount of sleep, use the exercise facilities (because they’re awesome), eat well, take care of yourself—your mom isn’t here to remind you of all that.
- Go to office hours! Many professors are willing to help, or even just to chat.
- Meet as many people from as many backgrounds as you can. All the resources are there, whether you are looking for an intellectual conversation or help with a research project.
- Study. If you’re looking to do well here, you’re going to have to start studying sometime.
Urban Legends
- All students, before they graduate, must complete four “graduation requirements.” These include: tunneling, climbing atop Baldwin Auditorium, driving around the West Campus traffic circle backwards, and “hooking up” with a freshman in Duke Gardens.
- East Campus wall is 10 feet high—three feet above ground and seven beneath.
- James B. Duke offered his endowment to Princeton University if its trustees would change the name to Duke. They refused. Trinity College agreed. Therefore, we are Duke University. (Other versions substitute Yale or Georgetown for Princeton.)
- The only reason US News doesn’t rank Duke ahead of Stanford is because Stanford would refuse to participate in the rankings if it was ranked below Duke.
Traditions
- Blue Devil Mascot - The Blue Devil mascot appears to pump people up at all the basketball games. Since he can’t talk to mock (and what’s a basketball game without jeering?), he wears a headband with some little witticism about the other team. He also runs over to the band and bangs the bass drum during tip-off.
- Bonfires - After Duke beats UNC in a home game (which, of course, Duke has been known to do), Duke students run over to West Campus to light stuff on fire—namely, dorm benches and old newspapers. Pledging frat brothers may be charged with the task of guarding the frat bench from marauders looking for more firewood, but there is still plenty of wood left to go around. Duke administration has taken the precaution of getting fire permits, designating bonfire pits, and having firemen on hand before the burning times, which somewhat diminishes the fun and spontaneity of West Campus burning through the night, but does increase safety.
- K-Ville - This little tent community has become highly organized in recent years, and Duke administration rather likes to have it to point to as an example of Duke’s “coolness.” Duke students still line up to get into it, though. It requires registration, scheduling, tent checks, and sitting for long hours in the bitter cold. However, there are some perks—free pizzas, meeting the basketball players, and some pretty darn good basketball seats.
- Last Day of Classes Concert - On the last day of classes, Duke, like some other colleges, has a band come in to do a concert before finals begin. The bands are usually quite good, and it’s a great chance to go hang out and relax with friends before you have to bury yourself in your room and glare at them if they interrupt your studying.
- Midnight Breakfast - A tradition that is much enjoyed on East Campus. The Sunday night before exams begin, freshmen line up on the quad to get into the Midnight Breakfast. Inside is a mixture of desserts and breakfast food, as well as (usually) some free T-shirts. This is definitely a tradition worth taking part in.
- The Sower - There is a statue of a man on East Campus sowing seeds. The Sower is an old Duke tradition. At a time when women students were permitted only three dates a week, and those were carefully defined, students could stroll about certain areas of campus without it counting as a “date.” The Sower acquired the role of cupid as couples began placing pennies in his hand and claiming a kiss from their partner if the pennies were gone upon return. Although unnecessary today, it is not uncommon to still discover pennies in the Sower’s hand.
School Spirit
Duke spirit centers around the basketball season, and during the spring, people are so avidly into Duke it’s amazing. A lot of people at Duke seem to be bitter that they didn’t get into an Ivy League school, and it’s people like this who make Duke a little less pleasant. However, Duke does have some amazing rallying points if you allow yourself to get sucked in. Just don’t be too standoffish and cosmopolitan; don’t be afraid to try new things. Belonging to and rejoicing in a great college can be truly rewarding.
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