Harding's jersey should be retired

While I applaud the attention Chronicle columnist Gregory Beaton gave to the subject of Duke's decision to retire Lindsey Harding's basketball jersey ("Lindsey hardly belongs in Cameron rafters," Jan. 15), I have a radically different conclusion regarding her being worthy of having her jersey retired.

Beaton agrees that Harding's achievements on the basketball court meet the criteria recently set by Duke to have one's jersey retired. She set a school record in career assists and won National Player of the Year awards as well as the National Defensive Player of the Year. Beaton's sole issue is the handling of Harding's one-season suspension from playing in games.

The only people who really know why she was suspended are Harding, former head women's coach Gail Goestenkors and some members of Duke's administration. Everything else is rumor, pure and simple. It has been stated publicly that she made a mistake and apologized for doing so to all appropriate parties affected by her mistake. Harding's mistake did not involve any known judicial process, inside or outside Duke.

What happened after her apology? Harding was welcomed by her coach and team to practice all season, and to sit on the bench at home games. She was welcomed back to the team the next season and played all four years of her eligibility. Her senior season, Harding led Duke to an undefeated regular season and displayed exemplary character on and off the court and has continued to do so following her graduation from Duke. The same cannot be said of some of the men honored with jersey retirement, most recently J.J. Redick.

Lindsey Harding is a wonderful role model for all of us, showing us that a person can face the public humiliation of having to acknowledge a mistake and suffer the consequences. More importantly, she showed that a mistake does not have to determine the rest of one's life, but that a person can endure the consequences gracefully, learn the lesson and decide to move forward and live her life differently. Lindsey is exactly the kind of person who has shown herself worthy of Duke's ultimate athletic honor and is exactly the kind of role model I want for my teenage daughter.

Sue Unruhe

Staff assistant, Duke Center for Human Genetics