Krzyzewskiville
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Duke University campus | |
 |
|
| Krzyzewskiville | |
| Use | Tent village that serves as a line for men’s basketball games |
| Style | N/A |
| Erected | 1986 |
| Location | Near Cameron Indoor Stadium |
| Namesake | Mike Krzyzewski |
| Architect | N/A |
| Residents | Up to 1200 people |
| Website | K-ville |
Krzyzewskiville, or K-ville for short, is a singular phenomenon that occurs before major men's basketball games at Duke University. In simplest terms, it is the line for students wishing to gain access to the designated tenting games. It is often mistakingly referred to as a ticket line. However, there are no student tickets; students are admitted from the line 1.5 hours before each game. There are usually two tenting games per season, one of which is the game that pits the Duke Blue Devils against the North Carolina Tar Heels. Months before the actual game, students begin to put up and live in tents outside Cameron Indoor Stadium. As many as twelve people can occupy a specific tent number (many "tents" contain more than one physical tent). As regulated by Duke Student Government, there must be a certain number of students in the tent at regular, periodic checks.
From the beginning of tenting (the first tents usually appear between Christmas and New Year's) until one week before the game, tents must have 1 person in the tent during the day and 8 people each night. For the week before the game, only two people must be in the tent each night. The two weekend nights prior to the game are personal check nights, during which each of the twelve tent members must be at the tent for 3 of 5 personal checks spread over the two nights. If a tent misses a tent check twice, it gets moved to the end of the line (assuming availability). If K-ville is at full capacity (100 tents) and a waitlist exists at the time of the second miss, the tent gets removed completely. Tenters that lose their spot or non-tenters can then take their chances at the walk-up line, which forms 48 hours before tipoff. The walk-up line has couples, wherein one member must be in line at all times. People in the walk-up line are not guaranteed to get into the game and often some people who have waited more than 24 hours do not get in.
K-ville is also an important social function at Duke, as many students participate at least once; it gives students a chance to mix with those not in their own dorms or classes. Duke has installed Wi-Fi and Ethernet ports in the lightposts so that students can participate in tenting without falling behind in their schoolwork.
Krzyzewskiville is named for Mike Krzyzewski, the long serving and much loved "Coach K" who has helped make Duke's Basketball program one of the best in the nation. He has been known to buy pizza for the K-ville residents from time to time and has held open forum "team meetings" with the Cameron Crazies before games against arch-rival North Carolina.
In December of 2006, the Duke Student Government passed legislation barring students participating in the Robertson Scholars program from camping in Krzyzewskiville. Robertson Scholars is a scholarship effort that allows a select group of students from Duke and UNC Chapel Hill to take courses at both universities. Participants are supposed to have full student privileges on both campuses, including access to athletic events. During the 2005-2006 season, a group of Robertson Scholars from UNC Chapel Hill attended the Tar Heels-Blue Devils game at Duke and sat in the student section wearing Carolina blue (a game which North Carolina won). This drew the ire of full-time Duke students, and legislation preventing similar occurrences in the future ensued.[1]
In 2007, a smaller number of students who moved into Krzyzewskiville to get into the season-ending showdown between the Duke and Carolina women's teams (Duke entered the matchup unbeaten and top-ranked) dubbed their tent city "Goestenkorsopolis", after Duke women's coach Gail Goestenkors.[1]
Note: the shortened form (K-ville) should not be confused with the town of Kernersville NC, which is the most common use of the term "K-ville".
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Reynolds, Lauren (February 25, 2007). Duke women spur tent revival. ESPN.com.
[edit] External links
- Duke Men's Basketball
- Krzyzewskiville FanSite
- K-ville website - A guide to the tenting policies
- K-ville Students Hard at Work
