Campus Damage and Duke's Championship: Celebrating Without Smashing

Basketball tradition here at Duke is inseparable from campus culture. Last year, I waited outside Cameron Indoor Stadium for about 24 hours to get inside the Duke-University of North Carolina game and just barely made it in, relegated to the very edge of the student section. Others slept outside for weeks, sacrificing schoolwork and their health for the chance to jump up and down for two hours, without even a guarantee of a win (we lost that year.) So, you can imagine our disappointment when the past two graduating classes at Duke didn't even get to see a Final Four appearance while on campus.

You can also imagine the sheer insanity of a NCAA championship on such a campus. I watched the Duke-Butler title game in Cameron Indoor with about 4,500 other students, and when Gordon Hayward's last shot bounced off the rim, the noise inside was absolutely deafening as we rushed the court. Afterward, per long-standing tradition, crowds of students filed outside to the main quad to celebrate under the glow of a raging bonfire, fueled by the enormous student-built benches located outside each dorm.

Although it sounds rather destructive to burn furniture on a quad, the bonfires are tightly controlled by security and are subsequently fairly tame. The benches are built by students partly for the hope that we might get to burn them come NCAA tournament time, and the school even obtains licenses for each bonfire from the local fire marshal. Still, in the aftermath of the victory, there were reports of a few destructive incidents on campus.

At Tommy's, a burger and barbecue joint on campus, student celebrations in the immediate aftermath of the game led to damage of furniture and fixtures inside the eatery. Tom Meyer, owner of the restaurant, said that the incident was mostly isolated to a few students who lost control in the last five minutes of the game.

It was disappointing to see students causing damage to their own campus, he said. "I'm not so much concerned about who's paying for the damage but that it becomes a learning experience," Meyer continued. He stressed that Tommy's is a learning restaurant and the hope is that those individuals responsible will own up to their actions. Meyer, a '91 alum who was working on the Duke campus for the '92 championship, noted that there was some mess post-celebration then, but it seemed more benign.

Regardless of the effects of prior championship celebrations, Duke's independent daily, The Chronicle, reported that security on campus was stepped up this year after a review of past preparations by school officials.

Post-celebration damage seems to be an issue every year following major victories on campuses around the country. When Kansas won the 2007 NCAA tournament, their home city of Lawrence spent about $6,400 replacing destroyed landscaping and fixtures. After North Carolina won their Final Four matchup with Villanova last year, a student suffered second and third degree burns from a celebratory bonfire. The University of Connecticut's 2004 victory resulted in the arrests of 35 people after violent celebrations led to fires, overturned cars and other acts of vandalism.

Aside from dealing with physical destruction, however, universities with major athletic programs have always had to balance athletic tradition with academic integrity. When Duke held a celebration event in Cameron Indoor Stadium the Tuesday after win the title, a few faculty members expressed complaints about the disruption of their classes. Still, classes were held as usual following the game, despite rampant rumors around campus that they would be canceled. In contrast, Butler University president Bobby Fong had already announced class cancellation the day after the game, win or lose.

As chaotic as post-game celebrations may be, everyone here is back to their usual busy schedules, especially as midterms and final term papers loom large in the coming weeks. But, as Meyer says, perhaps the disruptions that occurred in the aftermath of the triumph should be a lesson for both students and the administration. The remnants of the quad bonfire had already disappeared by morning, but perhaps the remaining dented furniture at Tommy's will serve as a reminder that every student is ultimately responsible for the well-being and integrity of his or her school.