What is the current status of the Student Duke Club?

I didn't really see a presence on Saturday, but it might be that I just hang around my fellow old farts these days. Still, with no discernible cheers organized or anything other than Thundersticks / streamers distributed, it left me questioning what the students are doing or even are allowed to do anymore.

The SDC was such a powerful movement back in the mid 2000s, and I know the admin has handcuffed the student support since. I just hope there is still a strong presence on campus of an organized effort to get students out to games. Clearly, the masses showed up on Saturday (and then departed on cue at the half). But no "We Want More Head" cheer left an empty feeling in my gut. (Note: A special thanks to jmusuperfan for allowing his high school son + friends to entertain me re: More Head cheer in Sec 209 )

Any updates from students are very appreciated. It's hard to know what the pulse of the campus is when you're removed so far away.

Taylor Adkins was kind of the heart and soul of the SDC, even after his graduation. That dude's enthusiasm for the Duke's is infectious. I hope JMU finds a way to bring him back from UTSA, because the guy would do it in a heartbeat im sure if the right offer came along.

It is dead. Very sad, but true

I did hear that there was a We want more head chant though?

(09-09-2015 03:20 PM)DirtyDukes Wrote:  I did hear that there was a We want more head chant though?

There was a brief cWe want More Head " cheer at the start. Last I heard (two years) ago is the SDC was broken into two components, DC25 (fundraising) and Madison Dynasty (spirit group). I haven't heard anything from Madison Dynasty (fb, twitter, on campus) in about a year, so I am going to say for now it's dead. Incredibly sad but true. I'd love to see it revived though and I was still on campus I'd certainly give it a try!

From jmusports.com / jmudukeclub.com:

DC25 is the official program to foster a spirit of philanthropy among current students, fans, and friends of JMU. Specifically created for fans 25 and younger, DC25 will give you countless ways to support and be a part of JMU Athletics!

By joining DC25, you will receive all of the benefits below:
- DC25 Annual Member Only Gift
- Double Priority Points on DC25 gifts
- Onsale and Special Event Invitations
- First Access for Student Football & Basketball Tickets (current JMU students only)
- Football Game Day Parking (for Junior and Senior members-based on availability and priority points)
- and more!

http://jmudukeclub.com/news/2014/7/14/GE...42834.aspx

The buzz on campus is the same as it always is... Lets go get ****** up at the tailgate, sober up the 1st half, leave, get some food, then get sloshed saturday night. The good first half attendance numbers don't correlate to hype around the football program. Me and a couple buddies have been trying to figure out how the Techs and UVAs of the world draw consistently because its not like all college kids aren't doing the same things. Probably FBS to be honest

(09-09-2015 05:24 PM)Pipeking18 Wrote:  The buzz on campus is the same as it always is... Lets go get ****** up at the tailgate, sober up the 1st half, leave, get some food, then get sloshed saturday night. The good first half attendance numbers don't correlate to hype around the football program. Me and a couple buddies have been trying to figure out how the Techs and UVAs of the world draw consistently because its not like all college kids aren't doing the same things. Probably FBS to be honest

Your description doesn't sound like "same as it always was." When the SDC was in its prime in the 2000's, there was a core group of students that took the responsibility of making something visiting teams hated. If what everyone is saying about the SDC is true, then it breaks my heart. Some of my best memories at JMU involved the SDC.

(09-09-2015 05:33 PM)DolleyMadison Wrote:  

(09-09-2015 05:24 PM)Pipeking18 Wrote:  The buzz on campus is the same as it always is... Lets go get ****** up at the tailgate, sober up the 1st half, leave, get some food, then get sloshed saturday night. The good first half attendance numbers don't correlate to hype around the football program. Me and a couple buddies have been trying to figure out how the Techs and UVAs of the world draw consistently because its not like all college kids aren't doing the same things. Probably FBS to be honest

Your description doesn't sound like "same as it always was." When the SDC was in its prime in the 2000's, there was a core group of students that took the responsibility of making something visiting teams hated. If what everyone is saying about the SDC is true, then it breaks my heart. Some of my best memories at JMU involved the SDC.

Same here...most of my closest friends in college were from SDC. Agree that after Taylor left it fell apart pretty quickly. Used to be the second largest student booster club on the east coast and I believe the largest student org at JMU...now it's basically non-existent. Even 5-win MBB seasons were a ton of fun thanks to SDC (and bleachers).

(09-09-2015 07:39 PM)jmufan2008 Wrote:  

(09-09-2015 05:33 PM)DolleyMadison Wrote:  

(09-09-2015 05:24 PM)Pipeking18 Wrote:  The buzz on campus is the same as it always is... Lets go get ****** up at the tailgate, sober up the 1st half, leave, get some food, then get sloshed saturday night. The good first half attendance numbers don't correlate to hype around the football program. Me and a couple buddies have been trying to figure out how the Techs and UVAs of the world draw consistently because its not like all college kids aren't doing the same things. Probably FBS to be honest

Your description doesn't sound like "same as it always was." When the SDC was in its prime in the 2000's, there was a core group of students that took the responsibility of making something visiting teams hated. If what everyone is saying about the SDC is true, then it breaks my heart. Some of my best memories at JMU involved the SDC.

Same here...most of my closest friends in college were from SDC. Agree that after Taylor left it fell apart pretty quickly. Used to be the second largest student booster club on the east coast and I believe the largest student org at JMU...now it's basically non-existent. Even 5-win MBB seasons were a ton of fun thanks to SDC (and bleachers).

Too much meddling by the administration IMO. The effort that turned the thriving "Student Duke Club" into the "DC25" as an effort to start milking students under the fair sounding goal of creating a culture of giving was a misguided and misdirected effort. Killed the goose that was laying the golden egg.

The thing that bother me is that there doesn't seem to be any effort to re-establish the SDC from JMU. It's a given that a strong student fan experience translates into alumni donors. The DC25 is fine, but should be a transition b/t the SDC and the Duke Club.

The Duke Club as a whole seems to have become mush less visible, imo. Probably just me....

The day we announce we are more moving to FBS JB needs to reach out to Taylor and hire him back him to lead the fundraising efforts.

(09-09-2015 05:24 PM)Pipeking18 Wrote:  The buzz on campus is the same as it always is... Lets go get ****** up at the tailgate, sober up the 1st half, leave, get some food, then get sloshed saturday night. The good first half attendance numbers don't correlate to hype around the football program. Me and a couple buddies have been trying to figure out how the Techs and UVAs of the world draw consistently because its not like all college kids aren't doing the same things. Probably FBS to be honest

without further derailing this post, I tend to agree perhaps on the FBS logic? I was at the Notre Dame blowout against Texas (38-3) Saturday night, which didn't end until after 11p and the ENTIRE student section stayed until the clock hit zero, even though TX didn't score another point after their first drive of the second half and ND put in their second string. Not sure how to change the culture, I think EW uses that term a lot, and culture is like turning a ship around, takes time. ND has been playing football for 140+ years. I'd bet the administration would be open to ideas.

(09-09-2015 09:45 PM)JMUrcc06 Wrote:  

(09-09-2015 05:24 PM)Pipeking18 Wrote:  The buzz on campus is the same as it always is... Lets go get ****** up at the tailgate, sober up the 1st half, leave, get some food, then get sloshed saturday night. The good first half attendance numbers don't correlate to hype around the football program. Me and a couple buddies have been trying to figure out how the Techs and UVAs of the world draw consistently because its not like all college kids aren't doing the same things. Probably FBS to be honest

without further derailing this post, I tend to agree perhaps on the FBS logic? I was at the Notre Dame blowout against Texas (38-3) Saturday night, which didn't end until after 11p and the ENTIRE student section stayed until the clock hit zero, even though TX didn't score another point after their first drive of the second half and ND put in their second string. Not sure how to change the culture, I think EW uses that term a lot, and culture is like turning a ship around, takes time. ND has been playing football for 140+ years. I'd bet the administration would be open to ideas.

Alabama's students do the mass exit much like we do and Saban doesn't like it.

Quoted from http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball...ving-early

...Saban has turned his attention to those Alabama fans who have taken to leaving Bryant-Denny Stadium early as the Tide are blowing out opponents.

"I've talked about players playing for 60 minutes in the game and competing for 60 minutes in the game," Saban said. "And, in some kind of way, everybody that choses to go to the game should stay there and support the team for the game.

"Maybe if you're not interested in doing that, you should let someone else go who would really like to go because I have a lot of people who want to go,"

One of the reasons Saban is so concerned about what the stands look like in the fourth quarter is the possible impact it has on visiting recruits.

"We have lots of recruits there, we like to see an enthusiastic full stadium," Saban said. "We have a beautiful stadium and one of the nicest venues in all of college football and I think we all should show our appreciation for it by staying and supporting our team for the whole game."

agreed that people leaving the games early is not a just/simply a JMU problem.

I think Longhorn summed up the transition of SDC to DC25 accurately; it was part of trying to create a giving culture. I will say that I don't think SDC conveyed what it meant to be in adult Duke Club for me, but it was still really fun. Then again, we didn't have choral risers.

Gotta say the DC25 t-shirt game is stronger than the SDC.



Not that I had anything to do with this...

notafanofallthatisjmu amirite

(09-10-2015 08:59 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  agreed that people leaving the games early is not a just/simply a JMU problem.

I think Longhorn summed up the transition of SDC to DC25 accurately; it was part of trying to create a giving culture. I will say that I don't think SDC conveyed what it meant to be in adult Duke Club for me, but it was still really fun. Then again, we didn't have choral risers.

It needs to be two separate organizations. At 18 or so I'm sure a lot of these people don't wanna be hanging around 25 YO's, some even with their own kids in tow by then. At the same time, I can see a lot of somewhat older Dukes not wanting to be hanging around a bunch of people a year or two out of HS.

Maybe I'm not reading this correctly, but to merge the two seems WAY to forced to me.

I always sorta looked at the strength of the SDC was getting the new students in while living on campus and re-upping that population each Fall. As students migrate off campus I'm sure they tend to drift away from the SDC as well, excepting the small hardcore group that sticks with it for all 4-5 years.

Making it a Club for anyone up to age 25 seems a little ridiculous to me.

(09-10-2015 11:13 AM)JMUDunk Wrote:  

(09-10-2015 08:59 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  agreed that people leaving the games early is not a just/simply a JMU problem.

I think Longhorn summed up the transition of SDC to DC25 accurately; it was part of trying to create a giving culture. I will say that I don't think SDC conveyed what it meant to be in adult Duke Club for me, but it was still really fun. Then again, we didn't have choral risers.

It needs to be two separate organizations. At 18 or so I'm sure a lot of these people don't wanna be hanging around 25 YO's, some even with their own kids in tow by then. At the same time, I can see a lot of somewhat older Dukes not wanting to be hanging around a bunch of people a year or two out of HS.

Maybe I'm not reading this correctly, but to merge the two seems WAY to forced to me.

I always sorta looked at the strength of the SDC was getting the new students in while living on campus and re-upping that population each Fall. As students migrate off campus I'm sure they tend to drift away from the SDC as well, excepting the small hardcore group that sticks with it for all 4-5 years.

Making it a Club for anyone up to age 25 seems a little ridiculous to me.

Yes. Whoever came up with the original idea of DC25 didn't think it through. SDC needs a restart as originally focused on those Dunk identified.

(09-10-2015 09:58 AM)Pitz Wrote:  Gotta say the DC25 t-shirt game is stronger than the SDC.



Not that I had anything to do with this...

agreed, that shirt would kill in the bookstore!