Tonight, Duke students will have a chance to make history, engaging in one of the largest battles this campus has ever seen. Combat will be short and sweet, and in the end, either all or none will emerge victorious.
A group of students is trying to stage a pillow fight big enough to secure a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records. Organizers said that although the current record stands at 766 participants, Duke may have to register nearly 1,000 pillow fighters in order to beat a recent but not-yet-verified fight in the United Kingdom.
The pillow fight will take place on the Main West Quadrangle tonight at midnight. Organizers hope to take advantage of the population density in Krzyzewskiville, where personal checks for Saturday's game against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will have begun just three hours earlier.
"We just found out that a university in England raised the stakes, but we're still confident that with the people waiting for K-ville checks and with other people on campus who want to have 60 seconds of fun, we will be able to break the record," said Jordan Capps, Trinity '02, who is helping organize the event.
Senior John Brennan, who also helped organize the fight, shared Capps' enthusiasm. "From the numbers we've heard, the number of people in K-ville before a tenting game is somewhere around 1,200, and I'm sure more students than just tenters will be here as well," he said.
Organizers and pillow fighters must follow a strict set of rules in order to qualify for the record. For instance, the fight must last at least 60 seconds and must be monitored, chronicled and timed by approved event attendants. Participants must stay within clearly marked parameters for the fight and may use only genuine bed pillows. Couch cushions will not count.
After the fight, each participant must sign a verification of participation. Organizers stressed the importance of gathering signatures after the fight--a task they estimate will take 10 to 15 minutes.
"Guinness is very particular about the rules," said Scott Markley, minister of college and career at First Baptist Church of Durham and a member of the pillow fight's organizing team. "Because we can't have amplified sound in the quad at that time of night on a Thursday, we'll be giving out a half-sheet of instructions to students to help them help us keep the Guinness rules."
Organizers noted that University administrators are supporting the effort, helping to find a location that can support over 1,000 pillow fighters and assigning Duke police to watch over the event. EMS personnel will also be present, in accordance with Guinness rules.
Capps said line monitors have also done their part to support the pillow fight, encouraging tenters to participate in tonight's revelry immediately following WXDU's live radio broadcast from K-ville.
The record for the world's largest pillow fight seems to be a much sought-after accomplishment. A record was set in June 2003 in Gannet, Kan., with 645 people. Just months later, students at Oregon State University broke that record, enlisting 766 pillow fighters in November 2003.
Students at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom attempted the record Feb. 27, reportedly succeeding with 967 participants. Markley said this latest figure is not yet official because it takes a while for Guinness to verify a new record.
"It seems like a mad rush to break the record," Markley said. "But we believe the Cameron Crazies will prove to the world that they are indeed the craziest pillow fighters and enable us to break the record at Duke."
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