The raucous tailgate party before football games at Duke University has been canceled after an underage teenager was found unconscious in a portable toilet following Saturday’s celebrations.
“This incident has vividly revealed that tailgate as is practiced at Duke must come to an end,” Vice President of Student Affairs Larry Moneta said in an e-mail to students Monday night.
Moneta later confirmed the minor, who was a sibling of a student and guest at the event, was taken to the Duke Emergency Department and is in fair condition.
The incident and subsequent cancellation dismayed many students on campus, who have worked with administration to keep it in the past.
“In the last three years, an inordinate amount of time has been put into taking steps to keeping it,” said Chris Brown, who is the student government vice president for athletics and campus services. “But when you have an incident such as this that could’ve ended terribly, it’s really hard to justify a student fight-back.”
The tailgate tradition started in 2003 and has since evolved into a university-wide event complete with costumes, alcohol, loud music and, more recently, regulations from the Duke administration.
“Over the past few years it has gone away from being about football,” said Chris Heltne, director of communications for student affairs. “We’ve tried to make it a safer event, but this has led us to believe what we’ve done hasn’t worked.”
The tailgate’s cancellation has caused controversy among students because it had become one of the campus’s most popular traditions, said Student Body President Mike Lefevre.
“It’s one of the few truly open social events on campus” Lefevre said. “Tailgate and (last day of classes) are the defining social events at Duke to many students.”
