Duke is asking its crazed basketball fans to interject responsibly
Duke University’s ardent basketball fans, hundreds of whom are camping out in a tent village to get prime seats to Saturday’s rivalry game against the University of North Carolina, have been the target of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts this year.
The student section of Blue Devils fans, dubbed “Cameron Crazies” for the energy and antics they bring to Duke’s cramped arena, harass opponents using “cheer sheets” that contain biographical details and biting comments about opponents. Previous cheer sheets from games against UNC called one of its athletes “the ugliest player in the NCAA” and said of another, “There is no way he should live within 200 yards of a school.”
The suggested chants were sometimes pointed – “Caveman” for one player with long hair and a beard – but largely innocuous, including “Go, Devils, Go” and “Baby!” Duke fans regularly shout and wave their hands at opponents when they receive the ball.
Bee a DEI town hall Organized this year by Duke’s student government, sports fans were encouraged to be responsible in harassing opponents and refrain from insults, according to Duke’s student newspaper: The Chronicle.
The town hall, which featured commentary from basketball players and members of the athletics staff, was intended for students participating in the tent village tradition called Krzyzewskiville, or K-Ville, after former men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski. According to the university, about 100 people attended the event.
David Ntim, a second-year biomedical engineering student camping in Krzyzewskiville, did not attend the town hall but said he understood its purpose.
“I absolutely see how this could just justify these conversations about, ‘How can we promote where people are at and understand the balance of the bickering,'” Ntim said.
In a joint response to emailed questions, Duke and the student line monitors who oversee the tent village said the town hall was part of the student group’s “proactive emphasis on DEI at K-Ville to promote a greater sense of community in the traditions surrounding it. Duke Basketball.” Kyle Serba, a spokesman for the Duke men’s basketball program, said the event was not in response to a specific situation involving Duke students.
The university has been on both sides of accusations of unruly public behavior.
In 2013, a North Carolina basketball player said fans in Duke’s student section did just that mocked his late grandmother. In 2022, a Duke volleyball player said fans attending a game at Brigham Young University called her a racial slur. In both cases, the host school investigated and said it found no evidence to support the claims.
DEI efforts on college campuses have been polarizing, with the University of Florida eliminating all related positions last week.
Danielle Boaz, an associate professor of Africana studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, said the Duke town hall could be a sensitive topic because it could displease certain donors or the purpose of the event could be misinterpreted.
“Unfortunately, even saying ‘Hey, we shouldn’t be racist’ can be seen as too liberal or too ‘woke,’” Boaz said.
Duke and the line monitors said the discussion points at the town hall included the use of inclusive and respectful language, as well as an overview of the rules of conduct in Krzyzewskiville and at competitions. They said cheer sheets are “a classic part of our game day traditions” and “have always aligned with our goal of ‘interfering responsibly’.”
The student government has done just that in recent years tried to make Krzyzewskiville more accessible by providing financial assistance in the form of camping supplies. The annual cost to attend Duke is approximately $83,000, according to the university’s website.
Krzyzewskiville, located near Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, NC, started in 1986 while Krzyzewski turned Duke into a basketball giant. He won five national championships in 42 seasons at Duke and retired in 2022.
Some Duke students sleep in tents for weeks before the annual home game against the North Carolina Tar Heels, who play about 10 miles away in Chapel Hill. It is one of the fiercest rivalries in sports and a cultural moment steeped in the fabric of the state.
“You have to have a delicate balance because you don’t want DEI to be a bummer, but at the same time you want it to be a family experience that the entire community can enjoy,” said Dan Aldridge, professor of Africana Studies at Davidson College, nearby Charlotte.
He continued, “I think there is a context for Duke because their fans are so notoriously annoying.”
Insensitive behavior from professional fanbases is also a concern. Native American groups have long protested the tomahawk chopping gesture used at Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Braves games. A soccer match in Las Vegas early last year ended with supporters of the Mexican national team erupted into anti-gay chantsand the year before someone from the Parisian audience threw a banana at a Brazilian soccer player.
“Sports always becomes a place of tension and a place where we try to say, ‘Well, this should be outside of politics,’ but it never really is,” Boaz said.