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Letter from Two Young Trustees on Lacrosse Events

To Members of the Duke and Durham Community:

The suggestion that disrespect, irresponsibility, misogyny or racism have seeds within our university's community -- or that they may even be prevalent in our midst -- has understandably demoralized the Duke and Durham community.

As students who take great pride in our university and its people, we believe that those evils violate the spirit of Duke and must be openly addressed by students. They have no place in our community, and must not be tolerated. Time and patience are required to determine the appropriate resolution to the events and allegations involving the Duke men's lacrosse team that cast a shadow over our community. However, what we can achieve right now is a positive and productive response that truly reflects the character of Duke University and its students.  Accordingly, we believe it is our immediate duty to affirm and cultivate the values that make our institution great and will make our community stronger.

The Duke Community Standard binds our community as one "of scholars and learners, committed to the principles of honesty, trustworthiness, fairness, and respect for others.  Students share with faculty and staff the responsibility for promoting a climate of integrity.  As citizens of this community, students are expected to adhere to these fundamental values at all times, in both their academic and non-academic endeavors." 

Duke and its students hold integrity and the rights of equality, human dignity and morality as the core of our bonds with one another and with the city we call home. We challenge the inherent risks of allowing assumption and prejudice to serve as the basis for judgment. Furthermore, we view all citizens of Duke and Durham as members of one contiguous community, and believe that we should embrace each other with appreciation and respect. These are truths that we should hold to be self-evident, and we must work together to fortify those truths as the foundation of our community. 

Duke students, student athletes, and alumni -- diverse by economic background, ethnicity, ideas and religious beliefs -- endow our university with a tradition of leadership in the service of society. To uphold this legacy, we as individuals pledge ourselves to introspection and to support whatever actions are necessary to promote respect, responsibility and trust. We are equally committed to the initiatives President Brodhead has outlined as institutional steps to ensure that our values resonate in the culture of our campus.

We invite every student, alumnus, faculty member, employee and neighbor in the Duke community to join us in affirming our commitment to these values and to action that will lead our community to greater unity.