A-Ville or “Abele-Ville” is the tent encampment/protest site outside of the administrative offices of Duke University that formed after the April 1st 2016 sit-in by nine students protesting the treatment of black and brown workers at Duke. (See Allen Building Takeover). Originally formed to protest for amnesty for the nine student protestors, A-ville grew into a semi-autonomous protest site with over a dozen tents that is home to teach-ins, rallies, and other community events. At peak capacity, the site held around 200 protestors, including multiple visits from Reverend Barber of the NAACP. The name “Abele-Ville” honors Julian Abele, the black architect who designed much of West Campus.
On August 18th, 2016, more than two weeks into the protest, at around 4AM, A-Ville was broken into by unknown vandals, and several of its banners and a pride flag were removed and trashed.
