The Duke University Cheerleading Program is an extremely visible and dedicated group around campus and the surrounding community.  Along with the primary purpose of cheering on Duke Athletics, the cheerleaders appear at functions, charity events, and instruct clinics throughout the year.

The program is composed of two teams, the blue squad and the white squad.  The blue squad cheers for home and away football games and men’s basketball, while the white squad cheers for home football and women’s basketball.  Both squads consist of about twelve members.

Tryouts for the blue squad are held in April, while tryouts for the white squad occur at the start of the school year, generally in early September.  During these tryouts, one will be expected to perform in four areas: dance, cheer, tumbling, and jumping. 

Even though Duke is not a competitive cheerleading squad, there is still a major time commitment as cheerleading is second only to academics.  In addition to games, time will be spent during the week at practices and group workouts, which focus on dance, motion technique, tumbling, jumping, and crowd involvement.

Members of Duke Cheerleading are expected to make a yearlong commitment to the team as the season begins in August and ends in April with the conclusion of March Madness.  The main goal of the cheerleaders is to generate spirit and crowd involvement around Duke’s campus.  Duke cheerleaders represent the university as a whole, and therefore a positive image is always expected.