Confusion cleared up ticket distribution for Duke game

The University’s ticket office has made it easier for students with senior status to defer priority ticket distribution for UNC’s home basketball game against Duke.

Last year, more than 50 seniors sent angry emails to the ticket office complaining that they had not received tickets to the game.

Some of these students did not receive tickets because they didn’t realize they had already used their senior priority status as juniors, a status that is based on credit hours.

“The bottom line is that you can only use that priority one time,” said Tim Sabo, assistant director of ticket operations. “We have that information in the email, but I can’t force them to read it.

“I’m not sure how else we can tell you, but we have gotten better over the years at communicating with some of those students.”

In the past, students have had to call or email the ticket office in order to waive their status and decline their Duke ticket.

This year, students can click on a link that was emailed to them in order to fill out a survey that will allow them to downgrade their status automatically.

Sabo said that every senior, graduate student or junior with a senior’s level of credit hours receives the email.

He said the automated form has led to fewer complaints this year.

Sabo also said the ticket office reached out to the graduate departments asking them to send a list of all students who are graduating before they sent out the email.

“So fewer and fewer people are getting the email saying that they need to adjust,” he said.

The deadline for students to confirm their graduating status with the ticket office is Friday at 4:30 p.m. Students must register for the lottery for the March 9 Duke game between Feb. 28 and March 2.

Johnathan Flynn, president of the Carolina Athletic Association, said that any leftover tickets will be randomly distributed through the lottery, and there will also be a standby line at the game. He said last year, no one in the line was turned away.

Flynn said he thinks last year’s confusion was just due to a lack of student awareness.

“Students don’t realize that it’s by credit hours,” he said.

Junior Caroline Starnes said she’s going to use her senior priority status this year because she’s considering graduating early.

“If I wasn’t graduating early, I would probably defer mine,” she said.

Junior John Haskell, who has enough credit hours to be a senior, said he declined his Duke ticket this year because he thinks it would be more rewarding to go as a senior.

“I would just say that traditionally it’s been a big senior thing to do, and I can’t imagine a better time to go to the Dean Dome against Duke besides as a senior,” he said.

“But if we were really good this year, I would consider just going, but the fact that we’re not definitely contributes.”

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