So here’s my question: Now that “rogue” prosecutor Mike Nifong has been justly stripped of his license to practice law, and David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann and ex-coach Mike Pressler have agreed to undisclosed settlements with the school that helped smear their names (and nearly destroy their lives), when, exactly, is somebody from the university going to be held accountable for the debacle at Duke?
Why is Athletic Director Joe “It’s Not About The Truth” Alleva, whom Pressler says forced him out the door and wanted no part in finding out what really happened on the night of March 13, 2006, still around?
Ditto for University President Richard Brodhead. For all his talk now about the “heavy toll” the scandal has taken and “resolve to bring the Duke family together again and to work to protect others from similar injustices,” when the shit hit the fan down in Durham, his only resolve was to protect the school’s ass and its almighty image. And if that meant a rush to judgment…well, so be it.
If it were up to me, both Alleva and Brodhead would be collecting unemployment for not believing in the presumption of innocence, not believing in members of their so-called “family” in the first place.
Given what has already happened, it’s doubtful either man will ever be held accountable. In the end, I hope one coach and three players really made them pay.
While I agree with Armen, it must be noted that the enviornment that allowed this sore to fester at Duke included underage drinking as well as the employment of “professional entertainers”. Now, let’s not be so disingeneous to say that we are “shocked to hear that their is drinking and strippers in college” but still, no disciplinary action was taken by the coach to
disclipline these players for having been caught in the act. Action in the form of game suspensions between the time the problem was discovered and the time it became public. That’s when the coach and AD should have proved thier worth. Too often coaches look the other way at their players indiscreations, and looking the other way too often at Duke was a contributing factor to what happened in the lacrosse program.
Comment by Effie Pee — June 20, 2007 @ 8:45 am
Great post. As Coach Pressler has said over and over this week, the first lesson we all are taught is that an apology would go a long way toward healing all wounds. Still, Duke (and Alleva and Brodhead) refuse. It is mind-boggling.
As the author of a book on this subject, I am a little biased. The previous comment, though, is a little mind-boggling. The players and Coach Pressler apologized almost immediately for the “error in judgment” that led to the party. That’s more than everyone — including Duke, Nancy Grace and Al Sharpton — have done. And there’s ample evidence that Pressler doled out significant penalties when he was made aware of player misconduct.
Comment by Don Yaeger — June 22, 2007 @ 7:16 pm