More than 5,000 students inhabited hundreds of tents pitched from the intersection of Dunn Avenue and Pullen Road to the Tri-Towers and beyond.
Alcohol was abundant and the night was going smoothly. Then word started spreading that the amount of students present had far exceeded the availability of tickets. That’s when Central Campus became the stomping grounds for the inebriated Wolfpack.
Couches were burned. Beer cans were thrown. A police officer was injured.
That was the scene six years ago when the tradition of Campout was forever changed by one night of debauchery.
Just more than 30 tents and 250 participants — the scene Friday night and early into Saturday — reminded students that Campout, a biannual way for students to receive tickets to high-demand basketball games, will never return to its original form.
“Back then there were tons of people and you could drink,” Scott Stephenson, a 2005 graduate and co-coordinator of this year’s Campout, said as a film of the Wolfpack’s 2002 football season played behind him on a big screen attached to the front of Reynolds Coliseum. “Now the highlight of the night is free pizza.”
But even pizza, a college staple food, has lost some of its zest.
“Sendek sent out pizzas but couldn’t make it out — probably because the team has to be in South Carolina tomorrow,” Stephenson said of lauded basketball coach, Herb Sendek, who in past years has been the bearer of pies for the bundled-up Wolfpack faithful.
In the midst of an unusually warm winter, temperatures ironically dropped below average lows, bottoming out at 21 degrees in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Despite the environmental inconvenience, participants were optimistic.
“It’s not that bad,” Andi Hughes, a senior in communication, said. “Last year’s was the worst weather-wise.”
Hughes, who hasn’t missed a Campout in her four years at the University, said the event has a place at the University whether the turnout is 250 or 1,000 students.
“This just lets freshmen know what Campout is all about,” Hughes said. “It’s a big thing that our group looks forward to every year.”
Peter Gerakios, a junior in math education, was one of the first campers to arrive, starting the set-up process at 4:15 p.m. Friday.
“I haven’t missed [a Campout] yet, so it’s getting to be tradition,” Gerakios said as members of his group laughed about his time in front of a local television news station’s camera. “I like to come out here and freeze to get basketball tickets.”
For Gerakios, Campout isn’t just another way to get tickets to men’s basketball games — it is the only way.
“If it’s not a Campout game, I don’t go to the men’s games,” he said.
Amit Desai, a senior in material sciences, said Campout is even more important now that a newly implemented online ticketing system has made requesting tickets through a lottery much more accessible.
“[Campout] breaks the monotony of the ticket system,” Desai said. “It gets us out doing something different.”
Desai said a visit from members of the basketball team could have added to the excitement of the night.
“Any athletes would be nice,” Desai said. “Just anything to raise the spirit would be nice.”
Gerakios said he wasn’t disappointed with the year’s first Campout.
“Considering it’s for Maryland, it’s a nice little turnout,” Gerakios said, noting that the 250 campers were close in number to last year’s Campout for Georgia Tech. “I was hoping to see Herb, though.” According to Matt Haggard, a co-coordinator of Campout and junior in business management, the event drew a good number of students.
“It was what was expected,” Haggard said. “The Carolina Campout should draw a lot more participants.”
Adam Whitehouse, chair of the Senate’s Campus Community Committee, which houses the responsibilities of running Campout, said between 600 and 700 students are expected Feb. 17 at the year’s second event.
“This was our first time running Campout,” Whitehouse said of Haggard and himself. “We just wanted to get the basics down. The UNC Campout will have a lot more activities going on.”
If complaints existed, they weren’t voiced.
“The only thing I would say is get a fire out here,” Gerakios said. “Other than that, I think it’s great.”
Under rules imposed by Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Tom Stafford following the Campout-turned-riot of 2000, fires and heat sources like propane and kerosene are forbidden at Campout.
Hughes said she understood the reasoning for the ban of alcohol and fires, but reiterated the request of many of her camping counterparts.
“We need Herb.”
Sendek, that is.