2008 Woodie Awards
Duke's mistakes a lesson for SIUE
Zachary Groves
Issue date: 10/4/07 Section: Opinion
After reading Duke University President Richard Brodhead's apology online recently for basically turning his back on the lacrosse team when it needed him most, I had to wonder something.
If I were one of the Duke lacrosse players, would I want to go back to a school that went from branding me a criminal to patting me on the back, saying "we knew you were innocent the whole time?"
It is really hard to imagine being one of those players, especially after an incident like the alleged rape of a stripper turning into a national headline. I mean, one day you are squeezing between exam dates and "coffee" dates. The next day, your classmates treat you like you are a registered sex offender, even though you continuously deny you did anything.
One would probably say, "Well, that could happen to anyone." Sure, it could.
However, I would think a good district attorney would carefully study the DNA test results and actually use them as evidence, which would prove the three players were innocent and that the stripper was crying "wolf."
Unfortunately, former Durham County prosecutor Mike Nifong was not a good legal representative, as he resigned from his post and can no longer practice law because he knowingly kept the results that could have cleared the players several months earlier.
Now, I do not condone the activity the players did. Party strippers are a disgusting example of a "good time" and set our generation several hundred years back for drooling over mostly naked women like dogs.
At the same time, though, what they do privately is their business and within legal boundaries if they were actually safe.
How would SIUE athletics respond to an incident like this? What if, say, a men's basketball player gets caught up in a murder case just because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time?
Universities work so hard to keep a squeaky-clean image, sometimes dusting bad stuff underneath the rug if necessary. Would the university stand behind the players' back, or only care so much about how good the "e" looks that the player is at the hands of the unruly public?
Duke indirectly forced the lacrosse coach to resign and shut down the program for the entire 2006 season, according to the Associated Press. Does that mean someone with a winning pedigree like Volleyball Head Coach Todd Gober or Women's Basketball Head Coach Wendy Hedberg becomes a target and should leave?
Just like the lacrosse players must feel, there are several others in addition to them who can no longer show their faces in public for unfair reasons.
SIUE can learn from Duke's example and stand strong behind its athletes, through thick and thin.
If I were one of the Duke lacrosse players, would I want to go back to a school that went from branding me a criminal to patting me on the back, saying "we knew you were innocent the whole time?"
It is really hard to imagine being one of those players, especially after an incident like the alleged rape of a stripper turning into a national headline. I mean, one day you are squeezing between exam dates and "coffee" dates. The next day, your classmates treat you like you are a registered sex offender, even though you continuously deny you did anything.
One would probably say, "Well, that could happen to anyone." Sure, it could.
However, I would think a good district attorney would carefully study the DNA test results and actually use them as evidence, which would prove the three players were innocent and that the stripper was crying "wolf."
Unfortunately, former Durham County prosecutor Mike Nifong was not a good legal representative, as he resigned from his post and can no longer practice law because he knowingly kept the results that could have cleared the players several months earlier.
Now, I do not condone the activity the players did. Party strippers are a disgusting example of a "good time" and set our generation several hundred years back for drooling over mostly naked women like dogs.
At the same time, though, what they do privately is their business and within legal boundaries if they were actually safe.
How would SIUE athletics respond to an incident like this? What if, say, a men's basketball player gets caught up in a murder case just because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time?
Universities work so hard to keep a squeaky-clean image, sometimes dusting bad stuff underneath the rug if necessary. Would the university stand behind the players' back, or only care so much about how good the "e" looks that the player is at the hands of the unruly public?
Duke indirectly forced the lacrosse coach to resign and shut down the program for the entire 2006 season, according to the Associated Press. Does that mean someone with a winning pedigree like Volleyball Head Coach Todd Gober or Women's Basketball Head Coach Wendy Hedberg becomes a target and should leave?
Just like the lacrosse players must feel, there are several others in addition to them who can no longer show their faces in public for unfair reasons.
SIUE can learn from Duke's example and stand strong behind its athletes, through thick and thin.
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