Common will remain a headliner for the Last Day of Classes concert, LDOC Chair Beth Higgins confirmed Sunday night.
The rapper's slated April 25 performance at Duke was called into question last week when it was brought to light that he had denounced the men's lacrosse team while freestyling at a concert at Emory University April 19, 2006.
"We obviously do not condone or endorse anything he said at the time, but we did book him and sign a contract that is legally binding on the basis of his talent and student appeal," said Higgins, a senior.
She added that the LDOC committee has spoken with Common's agent, who assured committee members that any statements made in the past would not affect the performance.
"The agent said it would not be a problem with Common to play here," Higgins said. "He made these statements two days after the lacrosse case went public.... He's still a really great artist and willing to play at Duke."
Higgins added that she is still working to get a formal statement from Common's agent.
His agent did not return requests for comment from The Chronicle. Higgins said that at the time the committee booked Common for the LDOC concert, she was not aware of the statements he had made.
During a freestyle section of his performance at Emory, Common rapped, "You know I never get lost, yo f- them damn n-s from Duke lacrosse," according to a video recording of the concert.
Common mentioned Duke again approximately 40 minutes later in his performance, said students who attended the concert.
"He's talking over the music and says something like, 'You know I've talked about this before, but I really believe in my heart that those boys at Duke lacrosse did it-that they raped a black princess,'" said Tal Hirshberg, Trinity '04 and a third-year law student at Emory.
Some students have expressed disappointment with the statements Common made last year and his imminent visit to Duke's campus.
"It's not like I'm going to not go to LDOC because Common's coming. I'm not going to make a sign. I'm not going to go protest actively. But that doesn't mean that I think he was right in what he was saying," said sophomore Drew Keaton, who created the Facebook group "Keep Common out of LDOC," which had 129 members as of Monday evening.
Sophomore Moses Lee said that though Common's statements in April came at a time when many people assumed the guilt of the lacrosse players, he should acknowledge the comments when he performs at LDOC.
"I'm pretty sure a lot of Duke students thought they were guilty at the time," Lee said. "[But] he should definitely make some kind of statement to the student body."
Eric Bishop contributed to this article.
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