More on Brodhead
i was asked in conversation last night (hey, would it kill you to leave a comment? how will i ever get to put one of those cool "Advertise Liberally" banners on my blog if you won't leave a comment, huh?) just what about Brodhead's statement i found condescending and arrogant. After all, it's basically a bunch of mealy-mouth platitudes about the criminal justice system being allowed to work, which is not a whole lot different than many of us in Durham are saying anyway.
Well, first of all, Brodhead leaves out a lot of stuff, like condemning the behavior which we know occured at 610 N. Buchanan, and other residences occupied by Duke students in Durham. John Schelp, in an email which circulated on a number of Durham listservs yesterday, pointed this out:
And as i gave Brodhead's statement a close reading, trying to nail down the condescencion, i think i found it in this little phrase: "other Durham leaders."
Bill Bell, for all his faults (and he is, after all, a career politician, which many consider to be a flaw in and of itself) is a true Durham leader. Twice elected, most recently with something approaching 85% of the vote, Mayor Bell has the respect and trust of the Durham community. He has said the right things at the right time in this case.
Dick Brodhead, on the other hand, is the President of Duke University. He was appointed to his position by the trustees of Duke University, of whose 36 other members besides himself, precisely one is listed as being a resident of Durham.
I'm not saying it's impossible for the President of Duke University to become a leader in Durham. I am saying it is not a de facto position, that Duke's President, by virtue of that office, automatically gains leadership status in Durham. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of Durhamites whose opinions and knowledge of various situations in and around town, carry more weight than Brodhead's. Duke is not, for all the intensity of emotion this case has generated, the 900 pound gorilla in Durham's living room. Most of us manage to live our lives quite nicely without even noticing that Duke is even there. If you live within a couple of blocks of campus, your interactions with the University are likely to be of the kind that Rev. Stallsworth alluded to above. For the rest of us, well, Duke runs a pretty good hospital which we hope to never have to attend, there are free soccer matches in the fall against some pretty good competition, women's basketball games often have tickets available, once in a while there's an interesting speaker on campus (but not nearly as frequently as the Regulator bookstore, for example; not to mention the parking situation on campus is absolutely atrocious for townies. Count on as much time getting out of the parking deck s you spent listening to whomever), and for those of us still younger in the spirit than the body, there's some good music at the Duke Coffehouse on a regular basis. Some people like the new Nasher Art Museum; to me it's just a funny looking house in the woods.
Quite honestly, there's not much that Duke contributes to Durham culturally, outside of WXDU, and the financial contributions are probably a wash, when you consider that Duke doesn't pay taxes on its land, and its students probably use a bit more than the per capita in city services, especially law enforcement.
So Brodhead simply has no claim to the status of "Durham leader" on a par with the Mayor, or even NCCU Chancellor Ammons, whose board of trustees is made up of approximately 50% Durham residents. He can aspire to leadership in Durham, and he can even achieve that goal, but not by issuing statements like the one he made yesterday.
Well, first of all, Brodhead leaves out a lot of stuff, like condemning the behavior which we know occured at 610 N. Buchanan, and other residences occupied by Duke students in Durham. John Schelp, in an email which circulated on a number of Durham listservs yesterday, pointed this out:
"We also move from unfocused speculation about 46
members of the team to the court of law where the
guilt or innocence of the individuals charged will be
established."
--Duke president Richard Brodhead (4/18/06 post)
"The personal immorality of the lacrosse players --
the drunkenness, the sexual degradation, the racism,
the violent threats, the conspiratorial silence --
deserves decisive denunciation by leaders within the
Duke community. These were not trivial, little
mistakes."
--Rev Paul Stallsworth (4/17/06 Herald-Sun)
And as i gave Brodhead's statement a close reading, trying to nail down the condescencion, i think i found it in this little phrase: "other Durham leaders."
Bill Bell, for all his faults (and he is, after all, a career politician, which many consider to be a flaw in and of itself) is a true Durham leader. Twice elected, most recently with something approaching 85% of the vote, Mayor Bell has the respect and trust of the Durham community. He has said the right things at the right time in this case.
Dick Brodhead, on the other hand, is the President of Duke University. He was appointed to his position by the trustees of Duke University, of whose 36 other members besides himself, precisely one is listed as being a resident of Durham.
I'm not saying it's impossible for the President of Duke University to become a leader in Durham. I am saying it is not a de facto position, that Duke's President, by virtue of that office, automatically gains leadership status in Durham. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of Durhamites whose opinions and knowledge of various situations in and around town, carry more weight than Brodhead's. Duke is not, for all the intensity of emotion this case has generated, the 900 pound gorilla in Durham's living room. Most of us manage to live our lives quite nicely without even noticing that Duke is even there. If you live within a couple of blocks of campus, your interactions with the University are likely to be of the kind that Rev. Stallsworth alluded to above. For the rest of us, well, Duke runs a pretty good hospital which we hope to never have to attend, there are free soccer matches in the fall against some pretty good competition, women's basketball games often have tickets available, once in a while there's an interesting speaker on campus (but not nearly as frequently as the Regulator bookstore, for example; not to mention the parking situation on campus is absolutely atrocious for townies. Count on as much time getting out of the parking deck s you spent listening to whomever), and for those of us still younger in the spirit than the body, there's some good music at the Duke Coffehouse on a regular basis. Some people like the new Nasher Art Museum; to me it's just a funny looking house in the woods.
Quite honestly, there's not much that Duke contributes to Durham culturally, outside of WXDU, and the financial contributions are probably a wash, when you consider that Duke doesn't pay taxes on its land, and its students probably use a bit more than the per capita in city services, especially law enforcement.
So Brodhead simply has no claim to the status of "Durham leader" on a par with the Mayor, or even NCCU Chancellor Ammons, whose board of trustees is made up of approximately 50% Durham residents. He can aspire to leadership in Durham, and he can even achieve that goal, but not by issuing statements like the one he made yesterday.
Since 1949, Durhamites have slept soundly, secure in the knowledge that, in our town, erection can be depended upon. Now, thanks to the power of the internets, we can spread that security all over the world.
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