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Duke and Men's Lacrosse >> FAQ


FAQ
Updated January 26, 2007


What's the academic status of the three Duke students who were charged in the lacrosse case?
One student, David Evans, graduated in 2006. The university has invited the other two, Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty, to return as students in good standing.

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Why did Duke wait until January 2007 to allow the two students to return?
Even during the first few weeks of this story, when many people assumed the players were guilty, Duke President Richard H. Brodhead repeatedly said they must be considered innocent until proven otherwise. In his first public statement about the incident, he said, "The facts are not yet established, however, and there are very different versions of the central events. No charges have been filed, and in our system of law, people are presumed innocent until proven guilty." He reiterated this several days later and in numerous subsequent statements. Brodhead also reminded people that the appropriate venue for determining guilt or innocence was the legal system - not the news media, the university or elsewhere. Prior to December, the two students were on interim suspension, which is not a disciplinary measure or judgment of guilt but, instead, a temporary measure that many colleges and universities use when a student is charged with a violent crime. Campuses typically balance the use of interim suspension with other factors such as the gravity of the charge, the presumption of innocence, the possibility of danger to the student or the community and the need for students to continue with their education. In December 2006, after the district attorney dropped the most serious charge of rape and a court hearing showed that potentially exculpatory evidence had been withheld, Duke re-evaluated this balance and invited the two students to return. President Brodhead said at the time that "the right and fair thing to do is to welcome back Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty to resume their studies at Duke for the spring semester. Although the students still face serious charges and larger issues require Duke's collective attention, the circumstances in this case have changed substantially, and it is appropriate that the students have an opportunity to continue their education." At the time, Brodhead also called on Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong to "put this case in the hands of an independent party, who can restore confidence in the fairness of the process," a decision Mr. Nifong made subsequently.

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Isn't it clear now that the three charged lacrosse players are innocent?
As President Brodhead stated on Dec. 22, DA Nifong's decision to drop the rape charge against each of the three players, "called into question the validity of the remaining charges." Brodhead also called on the district attorney to step aside to "restore confidence in the fairness of the process," which the district attorney later agreed to do. Throughout this process, Duke has refrained from offering its own verdict, insisting that it is the proper role of the legal system, not of universities, to determine legal guilt or innocence. Simultaneously, it has called for fairness and integrity in the legal system and for a fair and speedy resolution of this case. As Brodhead told 60 Minutes in January, "the road to a resolution necessarily involve[s] going through legal process, not outside or around it."

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Has Duke conducted its own investigation into the criminal allegations?
No. Duke lacks legal tools such as subpoena powers to investigate serious criminal charges and does not want to interfere with the police investigation. Duke's own investigations to date have been limited to the several committees appointed by President Brodhead to examine related issues, such as about Duke's initial response to the incident and issues involving its campus culture.

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Has this incident tarnished Duke's reputation?
Apparently not among those who know Duke best, although it would be naive to suggest that thousands of negative stories wouldn't have some impact on Duke's reputation more generally. In the past year, which included several months when negative stories about the lacrosse case were attracting national headlines, Duke's fund-raising among alumni and other supporters set an all-time record. In 2007, applications for undergraduate admissions reached their second-highest total in Duke history. Similarly, as Duke's student newspaper The Chronicle reported, unpublished opinion research carried out for the university showed that "most alumni and the larger public have since rebounded from the negative impact of the controversy, giving Duke an overwhelmingly positive favorability rating." This is not to say that the relentless publicity has not taken a toll on students and other members of the Duke community. It has - most notably among the players, their families and others who have been affected most directly.

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Why did the university cancel the lacrosse season and remove the coach if it presumed the players to be innocent? Why did it decide later to resume playing lacrosse?
Duke forfeited two games in response to acknowledged inappropriate behaviors by lacrosse team members. Subsequently, with the Durham district attorney saying he was investigating 46 players for possible involvement in a gang rape, President Brodhead decided it was inappropriate for Duke to keep playing lacrosse. "Sports have their time and place, but when an issue of this gravity is in question, it is not the time to be playing games," Brodhead said. His decision came after team members said play should be suspended at least until results emerged on the DNA evidence. (Initial results came on April 10; selected results of a subsequent test were released on May 12). Brodhead made clear at the time that his decision was not intended to be a judgment of guilt about any of the players but was unavoidable with so many players facing serious charges. On April 5, he accepted the resignation of lacrosse coach Mike Pressler, stressing that the coach's departure was not an assessment of his playing any role in the events of March 13. In the weeks that followed, the district attorney announced that 43 of the players were no longer under investigation, and the players drafted and signed a new code of conduct. In response to changing circumstances, Duke announced the resumption of the lacrosse program and hired a new coach, John Danowski, who had a stellar record at Hofstra University and is the father of one of the Duke team's players.

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How does Duke feel about athletics in the wake of this controversy?
Duke is proud of its great student-athletes and sports tradition, and for good reason: It is one of a very small number of universities that competes at the highest levels of both academics and athletics. This is a distinction the university celebrates, just as it celebrates the achievements of its students who excel in the arts, scientific research, community service and other activities. Academics come first at Duke, as is evidenced by the consistently high graduation rates and other measures of academic success among its student-athletes. Duke also has learned from the lacrosse incident, further strengthening the ties between its athletics program and other parts of the university.

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Why hasn't Duke reprimanded faculty members who've voiced criticisms related to the lacrosse team?
Duke is a university, and one of the greatest strengths of universities is their commitment to free speech and academic freedom. Faculty, students and other members of a university community are all free to express their opinions; indeed, they are encouraged to do so. Universities must remain committed to free speech, even when it makes others uncomfortable. The appropriate response to an opinion is not to suppress it but to respond with one's own views and evidence. At times when emotions are running high, as during the lacrosse incident, faculty simultaneously should take care to "provide our students with a classroom climate characterized by the respect and sensitivity necessary to foster their understanding and growth" - a point that Duke's dean of arts and sciences, Bob Thompson, made in an April 3, 2006 letter to the faculty. The university's senior academic officer, Provost Peter Lange, made a similar point to the Arts and Sciences Council in January 2007, saying, "When we hear things we don't like, even things with which we strongly disagree, we need to judge the substance and not the person, assume the better rather than the worse of intentions."

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How has Duke responded to the intense media coverage?
Many Duke students say the story's biggest impact on their lives has been the overwhelming media presence, especially during the spring of 2006. In response, the university adopted new guidelines that maintain its traditional openness towards the media and respect for a free press while reinforcing the need for students and other members of the campus community to have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

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What is Duke doing to counteract some of the negative images from the lacrosse incident?
Every day, leading newspapers and other sources around the world highlight the positive work of students, faculty and other members of the Duke community. Duke shares many of these stories through online summaries, Duke Today, the eDuke subscription service and new technologies such as RSS feeds. Duke's communications team helps generate many of the stories and has expanded its efforts in the wake of the lacrosse incident.

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This incident highlighted problems with excessive drinking and inappropriate student behavior. Are these problems at Duke?
Yes, as they are at colleges and universities across the country. President Brodhead's Campus Cultural Initiative is now taking a leading role in addressing these and related issues. It's wrong, however, to let such behaviors become an unfair stereotype of Duke's student body, which is among the most outstanding in the country and does wonderful work every day not only in the classroom and in athletic competition, but also in arenas such as community service and the arts.

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The lacrosse incident raised questions about sexual violence. How does Duke handle such allegations on its campus?
Duke is committed to providing an environment free of personal affronts against individuals and will not tolerate sexual misconduct in its community. Judicial Affairs staff in the Dean of Students Office receives complaints of possible violations of this policy for adjudication through the university's disciplinary process. A formal investigation may be launched and a hearing panel convened, with a range of sanctions possible. Duke's Sexual Assault Support Services (SASS), housed in the Women's Center, is the central on-campus resource for addressing these issues. Other resources include the Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Life; Sexual -Harassment and Rape Prevention (SHARP) peer educators; the First Six Weeks Campaign; Sexual Assault Prevention Week and the Safe Skills Self-Defense Workshop. Duke also has a close relationship with the Durham Crisis Response Center.

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Some media reports have portrayed Duke as a white and wealthy enclave. Is that correct?
No. Such accounts are not only simplistic; they're wrong. In recent years, Duke has emerged as among the most diverse of the nation's leading universities. More than a third of its undergraduates are students of color. The percentage of African-American faculty members doubled in a ten-year span and enhancing faculty diversity remains a major priority. A third of all graduate and professional students come from other countries, as do many undergraduates and faculty. With a major Financial Aid Initiative under way, Duke is strengthening a need-blind admissions policy that keeps the door open to all qualified applicants, regardless of their family incomes. Duke students come from all 50 states and from 85 countries around the world.

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What are Duke's relations with Durham?
One of the most harmful inaccuracies in some media accounts, particularly in the initial weeks and from outside reporters who visited for only a few hours or days, was the portrayal of a rift between "Rich White Duke" and "Poor Black Durham." Both of those descriptions were erroneous and harmful. The truth is that Duke and Durham are both wonderfully diverse, and they benefit from being tied inextricably to one another. More than half of Duke employees live in Durham. Thousands of Duke students and employees volunteer in Durham. Local residents, in turn, attend Duke events, pray in its Chapel, cheer for its teams and choose to live near its campus. Opinion research carried out by Duke confirms that, if anything, the lacrosse incident has only served to strengthen the ties between the university and the community. More than 75 percent of Duke students perform some community service while at Duke -- contributing more than 100,000 hours each year -- through the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership and other programs. In the wake of the recent controversy, Duke also has strengthened its ties with neighboring North Carolina Central University. In January 2007, speaking in Duke Chapel, Durham Mayor Bill Bell spoke about both Duke and its president, saying: "This is an incident that has produced a lot of Monday morning quarterbacks. I don't know of anyone, given the parameters that were involved, who could have been any better prepared to handle this incident than President Brodhead. In my opinion as mayor of this city, he has made the right decisions at the right time given the information that he was provided. ... I believe our community faced the challenges and controversies of 2006 and showed its true grit."

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How can Duke supporters respond most effectively to inaccuracies involving the lacrosse incident?
President Brodhead provided the best response when he offered the following advice to alumni at the 2006 reunion: "Nothing has pained me more about this episode than the notion that people don't want to say where they went to college, because that name is now a source of embarrassment. If you are ever in a situation where you find yourself in that light, you've just got to turn that around. You've got to walk up and say some true thing about this place that is a source of pride and, Lord knows, there are many. And you know what? At the end of the day, this place will be known as it is. It will be known for what it is. And I hope this will be a better place after this episode. But it won't be an altogether different place. It will be known for the excellence that characterizes us now. And that's all of our work, to bring that day about."

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