5 Graduation Requirements

Unofficial student traditions, passed from person to person by word of mouth, are part of the idiosyncratic experiences at every college or university. Here at Duke, there exists the so called, “Five Graduation Requirements” that are passed around which reflects aspects of Duke culture and social life. These unofficial Requirements are, in no particular order: 1) Climb Baldwin Auditorium 2) Explore the Service Tunnels under East Campus 3) Drive backwards around the Chapel Traffic Circle three times 4) Have sex in the library stacks 5) Have sex in the Sarah P. Duke Rose Gardens. Although varied in nature, the element they all contain is risk, thrill, or a departure from “normal” behavior. The knowledge of these requirements is widely known throughout the Duke student body, and especially within certain student networks and organizations. What is interesting is that these the specifics of the requirements change with time and across different Duke groups. From talking with alumni from 1972, either the Requirements did not exist at all or was not as widely known at the time, suggesting that Duke’s (and the general population’s) attitude towards public sex has changed. With the advent of Facebook.com, and the power to create and maintain social networks, the requirements have gotten even more attention as well as being more widely distributed to other people. There exist several Facebook.com groups dedicated to fulfilling Requirements, as well as serving (in jest or no) as a place to find people with which to complete the Requirements. One alumnus posted, “I did 4 of the 5 while at Duke from 1998 – 2002. Sadly, I did not do the lamest (drive 3 times backwards around the loop). Technically, in my day that wasn’t a requirement – having sex on the 50 yard line of Wallace Wade was…” (Facebook.com, Society For Completion of the 5 Grad Requirements). I learned of the requirements in 2005, and the fact that one requirement could be discarded and another added shows the volatile nature of these traditions and also the passing of these traditions by word of mouth. I also gathered that competition of the sexual parts of the Requirements was not necessarily related to the hook-up culture as one would initially think, since the majority of the people (that I know) who have had sex in the Gardens or Stacks did it with their girlfriend/boyfriend of the time. One male said it was because, “Hooking up at a party is sketchy enough, but asking a girl to fuck you in the library, instead of your room, is a good way to ruin your chances of getting laid that night”. But it would be unreasonable to assume that these acts of public sex do not occur within the context of the hook up culture. These traditions are constantly evolving, as seen with one group calling it self the SIX Graduation Requirements, which added ringing of the bell in Bell Tower, after it was built. However, the primacy of public sex in these requirements (2 out of 5, and it used to be 3 out of 5) shows that public sex is an acceptable (if not tolerated), or even thrilling and fun aspect of the Duke experience. It remains to be seen if the majority of these students are seeking a thrill or just how seriously these traditions are taken by the Duke student body.