The race must go on: Students compete for white, flex tenting spots despite icy conditions

An hour and 45 minutes before Duke officially announced that it would be enacting its severe weather and emergency conditions policy Jan. 21, students raced across the snow-coated campus to secure a tenting spot for the Duke vs. UNC men’s basketball game.

Race to the Secret Spots (R2SS) is an annual competition hosted by K-Ville Nation, the undergraduate student line monitors, to determine which students can “white” and “flex” tent. This year’s race hosted 152 groups, 20 of which received a white tenting spot and 30 secured a flex tent.

While some students embraced the challenge, continuing snowfall made the race more difficult for others to navigate campus. The Chronicle confirmed at least one on-campus car crash resulting in a student suffering a concussion.

“I definitely think the line monitors sort of prioritized tradition over the safety of students by continuing to host the race, especially once it was probably like 20 [to] 30 minutes before and you could tell there was going to be inches of snow,” junior Katelyn Cai said.

“Weather-related policies for Krzyzewskiville are in place for the safety and wellness of students, and we are committed to following those policies,” wrote Head Line Monitor Kelvin Bueno Gonzalez, a senior, in an email to The Chronicle.

According to K-Ville policy, head line monitors are expected to follow a set of weather guidelines, including calling for grace when the temperature reaches 32 degrees, snow accumulates over two inches, when there are severe weather warnings and in icy conditions.

Earlier that day at 2:30 p.m., Duke Today announced that the latest weather forecast indicated snowfall in central North Carolina beginning around 6 p.m. In a 9 p.m. update — the same time as R2SS began — Duke Today reported that all bus routes, aside from the C1 and Duke Vans, were discontinued “due to deteriorating conditions” from the snowfall.

Despite the Duke Today announcement, the race was still scheduled to go on.

“Attention future tenters … BUNDLE UP BECAUSE R2SS IS STILL ON IN THE SNOW!!” read a 7:06 p.m. email from K-Ville Nation.

The heavy snowfall and icy road conditions particularly impacted students commuting to R2SS. A car crash — involving a car full of Duke students — occurred on Swift Avenue, reportedly due to failed brakes and a lack of traction on the road. The car rear-ended another vehicle, resulting in one student suffering a concussion and being taken to the emergency room.

Cai, who was driving near the scene of the accident at the time and took her teammate to the emergency room, said that the crash involved a number of people on her team. 

However, the rest of her team still participated in R2SS and ultimately earned a spot despite being down three members. Cai expressed frustration that the event continued despite the weather conditions, noting that upperclassmen living off main campus in particular were not considered.

“I think they definitely should have called the race off, especially given how many juniors and seniors who are living off campus or living in Swift apartments were competing,” she said.

Though, not all students experienced such hardships throughout the night.

After a failed attempt to pass the black tenting test, sophomore Quindlan Kelleher’s group planned to participate in R2SS to put their previously bought tent to use. For Kelleher, the snow elevated the experience.

“I honestly think the snow made it a lot more fun because it took a little bit of the pure athleticism out of it, because people [were] sliding and slipping, and it was a very picturesque moment,” she said. “But it was a little bit more dangerous.”

Sophomore Layla Axam shared a similar experience to Kelleher, but admitted that she would like to see more consistent standards regarding inclement weather.

“If [the line monitors] are calling grace because it's snowing, then they should also be calling grace for the race,” she said, still noting that while the snow “slowed people down,” it did not pose an “unfair advantage” to anyone.

Kelleher said that although she was surprised the race was held despite the weather, it felt consistent with the grittiness of tenting, capturing “the essence of what K-Ville has become.” 

The tradition of R2SS gathers groups of aspiring white and flex tenters to decipher clues, leading them to four locations across campus. R2SS has historically included five secret spots. Based on the order team members arrive at the secret spots, they receive a score which, aggregated with their teammates’ at the other locations, determines whether they earned a spot.

After the conclusion of the race at 10:45 p.m., students received a DukeAlert, notifying the community that Duke was enacting its severe weather and emergency conditions policy between midnight until noon Jan. 22. The policy was later extended to 12 a.m. Jan. 23.


Madera Longstreet-Lipson profile
Madera Longstreet-Lipson | Associate News Editor

Madera Longstreet-Lipson is a Trinity sophomore and an associate news editor for the news department.      

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