Silently unscrew a grate behind an East Campus residence hall in the dead of night, crawl through a painfully small window, strategically feel for footholds below, shimmy down a pipe and hope the floor is close when you let go.
As one of Duke’s unofficial “graduation requirements,” students roam the maze of concrete steam tunnels located on East Campus—a task that requires adventurous students willing to make the descent, brave the heat and face potential punishment from the University.
Students usually learn about the mysterious tunnels during orientation week, or even before matriculation. Freshman Stella,* a veteran tunneler, first heard about this unofficial graduation requirement from her host on Blue Devil Days.
“My host was telling me about what set Duke apart,” Stella said. “A big part of that was the spirit and pride there is in being a Duke student, and part of that was the grad requirements. It was a selling point.”
Stella warns that the underground is not for the faint of heart.
“The first time, I was terrified the whole time that the alarms were going to go off, and we were going to get expelled,” Stella said. “But that’s clearly not a valid repercussion for tunneling.”
The real repercussion for getting caught tunneling can range from a warning to probation.
“Students are expected to respect the property of others (including that of the University) and may be subject to disciplinary action for going into unauthorized access areas… including tunnels,” states the Duke Community Standard.
Yet in spite of, or perhaps because of, the potential consequences, students continue to explore the concrete labyrinth.
“It’s one of those traditions that you hear about and you’re like, ‘I have to do that, no matter what,’” Stella said. “And would [the administration] actually care? There is a risk, but [tunneling] happens so often, and there are just so many more important things than some students being under a building.”
*Name has been changed to protect source, since tunneling is a forbidden activity on campus.
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