Duke Traditions?

<p>I saw a thread on the main board asking for Cornell traditions and I was wondering if Duke has any traditions of its own? I know there is the famous bench burnings after the Duke-UNC game but are there other ones? I love Duke and want to learn more as much about it as possible!</p>

<p>TL;DR - What Duke traditions are there?</p>

<p>ps. DUKE BASKETBALL IS NUMBER ONE</p>

<p>I attended Duke way back in the 80’s, so things have certainly changed since then. However, a few traditions from the old days:</p>

<p>-climbing the dome on Baldwin Auditorium (called “doming”)
-primal scream at midnight on the quad the night before the first finals
-driving the wrong way around the circle in front of Duke Chapel (late at night, for obvious reasons)
-“borrowing” plastic trays from the cafeteria to go sledding in Duke Gardens (they started putting out cardboard trays when snow was predicted)
-of course, camping out for at least one basketball game each season</p>

<p>Bench burning is only if Duke wins. It’s not guaranteed every year. That’s what makes it special when it happens, too, the uncertainty of it.</p>

<p>K-Ville is the most conspicuous, omnipresent, and reliable tradition, if you are willing to brave the cold, conditions, and situations. It’s not easy. I would say even the walk-up line for the Duke-UNC game has become somewhat of a tradition, at least when I was there a couple years ago before graduating. What was originally intended to be a “day-of” type line morphed into a multi-day event that in many ways is more brutal than K-Ville since it’s only groups of 2 and 1 person has to be there at all times. This all might have changed though since I left.</p>

<p>Midnight breakfast is pretty cool, before finals week each semester. I think that happens in some form at most schools, though. </p>

<p>Going into the tunnels connecting East and West. I don’t exactly know if that’s a tradition though. Probably others that I’m forgetting…it is 2 am after all</p>

<p>I agree that tenting/K-Ville is probably the most conspicuous tradition at Duke (it is, after all, featured on ESPN every year). Tenting is essentially a line for the UNC game which forms a month (or longer) in advance. There are different “levels” of tenting for UNC, with black tenting being the most intense, followed by blue, and then white. The rules for how many people have to be in K-Ville at all times vary depending on which type you’re doing. They’re really going back to tradition this year because for black tenting you are no longer allowed to have a tent for the first week, which is the way it used to be. So that’s fun. And another tenting tradition are the line monitors with their line checks and line check sirens which you will hear in your nightmares (literally - they do line checks in the middle of the night). </p>

<p>Any of the things we do as Cameron Crazies can be considered traditions. This includes the newer tradition of dancing to “Everytime We Touch” by Cascada as well as bowing down to Coach K when he enters Cameron, the infamous “hex” on opposing teams, and even the classic “airball” chant that was originally created by the Crazies a long time ago. (Did you know that?) </p>

<p>Other fun traditions are what some of the others have mentioned, including Midnight Breakfast which is AWESOME (and we all scream together at midnight), as well as the “unofficial” graduation requirements that rmldad mentions (i.e. climbing the dome on Baldwin, driving backwards in the traffic circle). Tunneling is pretty cool, but I wouldn’t consider it a tradition. Another good one that everyone should do is climbing to the top of the Chapel - not sure if that’s a tradition or not, but it should be. </p>

<p>And of course, you have the good old fashioned Duke-Carolina rivalry. The chant of “go to hell, Carolina” will never die as long as both of our schools exist. It can often be heard at any game, regardless of whether or not we are actually playing Carolina. Nor will the singing of “Carolina, go to hell” in our school fight song ever cease. And obviously I mentioned tenting and you already know about the bench burning. Another tradition is the Victory Bell, which is given to the winner of the Duke-Carolina football game. The winner keeps the bell for the year and paints it their shade of blue. Thankfully, the Victory Bell is a nice, deep blue for the coming year, and not some ugly lighter shade. </p>

<p>Oh, and another cheer that I’m partial to is the “not our rivals” one that can be heard anytime Maryland comes to town. Although sadly (or perhaps not so sadly), that one won’t be around for much longer.</p>

<p>Most of these seem to center around basketball, but that’s okay with me. You know why? BECAUSE WE’RE NUMBER ONE!</p>

<p>[url=<a href=“http://duuke.org/ldoc/]LDOC[/url”>http://duuke.org/ldoc/]LDOC[/url</a>] is another tradition and probably the biggest event of the year.</p>

<p>Halloween on Franklin is/was another tradition, but one that’s been sharply curtailed thanks to restrictions. </p>

<p>They’re not really “traditions,” but some other stuff throughout the year:
– Cheap movies in the BC, especially the (drunken) Friday night Disney sing-alongs
– Jazz nights at the Mary Lou
– Indie concerts at the Coffeehouse
– Parties in the library and wine nights at the Nasher
– Handel’s Messiah in the Chapel at Christmas
– Springternational, Awaaz, and other DUU events</p>

<p>Duke also has a secret society; you see them wandering around in black robes and sunglasses shouting stuff sometimes.</p>

<p>

It’s one of the traditions of senior week.</p>

<p>I second warblersrule. Those are also all good traditions.</p>

<ul>
<li> Climbing the interior stairs to the top of the Chapel (200+ feet, best view in the Triangle) during graduations week.</li>
<li> Pregame team meals in the Old Trinity Room.</li>
<li> Graduate and Profession Schools camp out.</li>
<li> Daily Chapel Carillon concerts.</li>
<li> Pep Band playing the Alma Mater after games in Cameron.</li>
<li> Hoof and Horn.</li>
<li> The historical basis of the “Blue Devil”</li>
</ul>