Faculty, administration rushed to judgments

I applaud Randall Drain, Trinity '05, for his courageous and poignant column published in the June 15th issue of The Chronicle.

I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Drain that the lack of support for the men's lacrosse team has been appalling. A mere accusation set off an unforgivable rush to judgment in which the Duke faculty and administration willingly participated.

Eighty-eight professors signed an ad calling "what happened to this young woman" a "social disaster" and decrying the racism on Duke's campus.

Professor Houston Baker accused the team of hiding behind a "silent whiteness." Professor Peter Wood took the opportunity to complain about, of all things, attendance in his class. Professor Melissa Malouf suggested the "condoms theory" to counter the exculpatory DNA results.

As recently as June 17, Professor Joseph Dibona published a letter in the Durham Herald-Sun complaining that the decision to reinstate the team ignored "whether the team will be found guilty."

This attack comes after recent evidence suggests that not only are the accused players innocent but that the claim of a three-person, 30-minute sexual assault is, and always was, impossible.

Given this evidence and the recent accusations against the district attorney regarding truthfulness, where are the faculty members decrying the injustice that has been done to these students? Do all 88 professors still stand behind their signatures?

Yet instead of protests and media quotes, all we hear is silence and equivocation.

Why are we in the Duke community leaving the accused players and their families to bear the burden of this injustice alone?

As a proud Duke alumnus, the cowardice and opportunism of the Duke faculty and administration causes me to shake my head in disgust.

Under normal circumstances, such weakness would be shameful. Given the magnitude of the attack on our University, it is unconscionable.

Greg Kidder

Trinity '99