Miller's view of last spring's events is too narrow

I find it ironic that Stephen Miller called his review of recent events a "history," as if to suggest that all one needs to know to judge the response to these two incidents begins circa 2006 ("Racial hypocrisy," Feb. 26). If after four years of a world-class education Miller cannot comprehend why reasonable people would respond differently, and why race continues to matter, then I cannot help him.

But as a member of the paranoid racial left that Miller rants against, and because it appears that he has not actually spoken to anyone who did demonstrate last spring about why they are not now, I would like to explain that for me, last spring was not just about race. I demonstrated because I was angry about student-on-student sexual assault, and angry at the University for not acting more quickly to mitigate the damage done to Duke's good name. There is also a difference between an organized team activity that was alleged to have erupted into gang rape, followed by the University's silence, versus the alleged actions of an individual who happened to be present at a party thrown by a fraternity. I suspect that if the latter became the standard by which all fraternity parties were judged, then there would be very few fraternities in existence.

This isn't to say that the fraternity shouldn't be punished if evidence of collective wrongdoing is found-it should. And we as a university community should support the victim and redouble our efforts to make sure that victims feel safe in seeking justice; even better, that sexual assault ceases to be epidemic on university campuses. Sexual Assault Awareness Week is March 27 to March 29 this year.

Alex Cho

Fuqua '07

Clinical Research Training Program '07