Duke’s Krzyzewskiville tent city campout for basketball tickets is about to reopen

Students can return to their tents in Krzyzewskiville Friday night, as Duke University’s ending the flu-inspired suspension of the traditional camp-out for game tickets.

The tent city outside Cameron Indoor Stadium will reopen at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9, “with the caveat that anyone who feels unwell will be permitted (encouraged!) to go back to their residence hall without penalty,” campus spokesman Keith Lawrence said.

Also, “we’ll monitor flu transmission closely,” and may suspend the campout again if there’s “any uptick in cases,” he said.

The decision came eight days after Duke’s student affairs office shut down Krzyzewskiville because of the ongoing flu outbreak on campus, one that mirrors trends elsewhere in the city and state.

Duke refers to the shutdown as allowing “grace,” meaning students retain their place in line for men’s basketball tickets without actually having to camp for it.

Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta and other campus officials stepped in on Jan. 31 after learning that 125 students had gone to the Student Wellness Center for treatment since Jan. 10. They also knew that about six or seven Krzyzewskville tenters had the flu.

Moneta on Feb. 1 acknowledged that the flu had other ways of making its way around campus.

“Obviously it’s a game of odds, and all we’re doing is to try to take the riskiest of circumstances off the table,” he said then, alluding to the close-quarters living conditions of the tent city as he explained the motive for the closure.

Now that Krzyzewskiville is reopening, staff from the Student Wellness Center and the campus DuWell program will gear up to establish “a wellness presence there for early next week,” Lawrence said.

This story was originally published February 8, 2018 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Duke’s Krzyzewskiville tent city campout for basketball tickets is about to reopen."