Category Archives: Duke and France

Duke In Paris Meeting

Hey all,

I saw a cool opportunity in the Chronicle today and wanted to share it with the class.   There will be an information session about the Duke in Paris summer program this Wednesday, September 21st at 5:30 PM in SocSci 136.  If you can’t make it, the Global Education Office for Undergraduates website will have more information.

The Blue Devils Are French!

When we moved here a few years ago and went to our first basketball game, my young son asked me, reasonably enough: “Why are we cheering for a devil?” So in homage to our beloved “Blue Devils,” in the wake of a nice night of fire and revelry, here’s the interesting story about how the name came to be. It’s actually the name for a celebrated unit of French troops, the Chasseurs Alpins, who were named “Blue” because of the color of their uniforms and “devils” because of the ferocity of their fighting. During World War I, a group of them toured the United States, and were celebrated — they were hugged (as you can see below), sung about, and clearly left a mark on some early Dukies.

You can read more details about this history at this excellent page at the Duke Library website.

Here’s an excerpt from a French newspaper describing their visit to the U.S.: