Junior Year

During the past several years, Duke students have witnessed their campus culture questioned and criticized, but rarely have Duke student interactions and relations defined a year as it did in the Class of 2008's junior year. With allegations of rape, sexual assault and kidnapping against three former members of the men's lacrosse team still pending, students returned to a University community in a state of turmoil in Fall 2006, as it struggled to identify and remedy problems on campus. While students moved in after a long summer, Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, was busy working to change the Duke social scene in his own way. Coming in at approximately $10 million when it opened to returning students in August, the 40,000 sq.-ft. West Campus Plaza has provided a new venue for performance groups, food vendors and tablers as students and visitors file through the new hub of West Campus. Looking to change dining experiences at Duke, Compass Group took over this year from ARAMARK Corp. as the new dining management company. The Marketplace welcomed new caterer Bon Appétit, and freshmen were armed with Duke Dining Durham Dollars-a $50 gift card for food aimed to push freshmen beyond the East Campus walls and into the Durham community. Yet despite improvements in some areas on campus, Duke dropped to eighth in its U.S. News and World Report ranking in 2006-its lowest undergraduate ranking since 1999. Pretrial hearings in the lacrosse case continued through the fall, but it became clear that the tide was turning as allegations of possible misconduct by Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong and investigators began to circulate. In December, the North Carolina State Bar charged Nifong with mishandling the case in its pretrial stages by making extrajudicial statements condemning the accused players. In January, the Bar added an additional charge for withholding information from defense lawyers regarding the results of DNA testing. Under fire, Nifong dropped rape charges against the three indicted players and stepped down from the case, in the midst of Winter Break, requesting that North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper fill his place. Commissioned by President Richard Brodhead in the aftermath of last March's allegations, the Campus Culture Initiative ended its nearly one-year study of Duke's campus culture in the spring. A 36-page report was released in February to mixed reviews. Many students cited recommendations regarding alcohol policies, athletics and selective living groups-as well as a general lack of student input and empirical data in the report's findings-as weaknesses. The opening of the 280,000 sq.-ft. French Family Science Center, funded by a $30-million gift from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was one of a number of contributions made by the foundation to encourage education outside of the classroom. With a $15-million gift to foster undergraduate community service projects through DukeEngage and another $10 million to support Brodhead's Financial Aid Initiative, it was the year of Melinda French Gates, Trinity '86, Fuqua '87 and the foundation's co-chair. Spring also brought with it another small solution to a big problem as two students collaborated to launch DukePlays, an organization dedicated to the motto: "Work hard, play well." In February, the new lacrosse season kicked off as players burst through the tunnel to a sold-out crowd. The team's victory over Dartmouth in the first game was indicative of a season of success for the players. April was a month of good news for lacrosse at Duke: Cooper dropped all remaining charges against the three indicted former players, declaring their innocence in the case and criticizing Nifong's behavior in the case. Later in the month, the 2006-2007 men's lacrosse team marched off the field, ACC trophy in hand. Other parts of the athletics program, however, did not fare quite as well, with a disappointing winless season for the football team and less-than-perfect endings for both the men and women's basketball teams. Despite a rough season for the men's team, students held on to hope for the promising women's team-undefeated through the regular season-and for the chance of a run for both teams to the national championship. Hopes were crushed when the men fell in the first round of the tournament for the first time in 11 seasons and the women faced a heartbreaking loss to Rutgers in the Sweet Sixteen. The loss for the women's team was followed by another-this one off the court. In April, popular women's basketball head coach Gail Goestenkors announced her decision to leave Duke to coach at University of Texas. Weeks later Duke welcomed a new coach, Joanne P. McCallie, or "Coach P," as the new head coach for the team. But through it all, it was a year of promise. Promise for a University, gaining new footing after a year of uncertainty and reevaluation. Promise for a student body, led to understand campus politics in a new light by outspoken and persistent Duke Student Government President Elliott Wolf, and promise for a campus, as leaders urged students to reimagine what a University should and could be.