Duke LAX

The recent crimes alleged against the Duke University lacrosse team, are finally, after nearly two weeks, starting to register on the national news. ESPN, NY Times, CBS News, and NPR are among the national outlets covering the story.

Here in Durham it's possible to examine the case on its merits and meaning for our community, without the pressure of synechdoche to have this act stand for all class, gender, and race relations throughout the entire country.

And on its face, Duke's response to the community of which it occasionally considers itself a part has been disgraceful.

Let's start with the uncontested facts. First, fifteen members of the lacrosse team have previously been charged with misdemeanor violations, including underage drinking and public urination. According to the N & O "Most of those charges were resolved in deals with prosecutors that allowed the players to escape criminal convictions," most likely what is known in North Carolina as a prayer for judgement. Conditions for recieving PfJ usually involve staying out of trouble for at least a year, so it will be interesting to see if any of those previous violations resurface.

Second, the 610 N. Buchanan property is one of fifteen recently purchased by Duke University from real estate "mogul" Guy Solie. The purchase was initiated by Duke in response to ongoing complaints from neighbors in the Trinity Park and Trinity Heights neighborhoods about quality of life issues (loud parties, public urination, public drunkenness, trash on yards and in the streets) generated by the Duke University student tenants in all of the buildings. The University plans to resell the properties with covenants requiring the purchaser to reside in the house and not rent it out. (Let's be clear about this - Duke is the good guy in this transaction. Duke alum Solie, who is profiting handsomely from the sale, which averages about $300k per house, bears much of the responsibility for allowing these properties to rented and maintained under these conditions.) So the University has, and indeed had acted upon, the knowledge that it was in the University's best interests to get its students out of these houses.

Third, the lacrosse team acknowledges that its players and captains organized a party at which alcohol was served to minors and at which two women were hired to perform exotic dances.

After that we start moving into allegations and unproven (at this time) criminal activities.

But don't the acknowledged facts already justify much more severe action than the University has taken? At the very least, hasn't the lacrosse team already admitted to actions that should result in the shut down of the season and the forfeiture of all games played? Duke University has a long history of making the wrong choice when it comes to improving Duke-Durham relations.

Carl Kenney, writing in the Independent, spoke with a couple of students at NC Central University. This quote says it all:

If it was Central's basketball team and it was a white student from Duke, the school would be shut down, the team would be arrested, the school would be under investigation, CNN would have the story by now, and it would be in every newspaper in the country. The city would be in an uproar. It would ruin the reputation of the school.

Regardless of how long it takes DA Nifong to decide whether or not to bring charges, University President Richard Brodhead and Athletic Director Joe Alleva have enough information to make the right decision. Shut down the season, forfeit the schedule, suspend the captains, and fire the coach. If it turns out the allegations of rape and assault have merit, the entire team needs to be looking elsewhere for their educational opportunities. And the lacrosse program needs to take a couple of years off to reexamine its purpose.

(by the way, interesting discussion of this case at the Indy's blog. you wouldn't think in 2006 that there were still people out there proud of their racism.)