Too little too late for Duke in Lacrosse rape case

Long after the Duke Lacrosse rape case has been settled, Duke University President Richard Brodhead now offers a feeble apology for not supporting the three accused students before the investigation proved they were not guilty. He now wants to capitalize on the situation and try to save face by telling the world that accused defendants should not be prejudged before evidence has shown guilt or innocence no matter how a situation appears.

He now says "by not repeating the need for the presumption of innocence equally vigorously at all key moments, we may have helped create the impression that the university did not care about its students. This was not the case, and I regret it as well." He also stated "some faculty made statements that were 'ill-judged and divisive' and Duke should have done more to underscore that these were the beliefs of individuals, not the university as a whole.

Reporters, bloggers and media representatives have long said that the university faculty and officials were wrong to not back the accused students during their time of need. Now that the dust has settled, it would seem to be only a face saving measure on the part of the university to come forth with such a statement as Brodhead has made and the damage to the school's reputation will take years to recover, if it ever will.

The reality now is that university officials and faculty failed to follow principles that should have mattered most. The university has lost three outstanding students and the reputation of those accused has been damaged forever when the outcome could have been so much better...

News & Observer
September 30, 2007
Jane Stancill and Anne Blythe, Staff Writers

Duke leader apologizes in lacrosse case

DURHAM - Duke University President Richard Brodhead apologized Saturday for the school's lack of full support for the three lacrosse players falsely accused last year of raping an escort service dancer.

It was Brodhead's first public apology for the university's handling of the case, which drew worldwide media attention.

Brodhead said his own biggest regret was "our failure to reach out to the lacrosse players and their families in this time of extraordinary peril. Given the complexities of this case, getting the communication right would never have been easy. But the fact is that we did not get it right, causing the families to feel abandoned when they were most in need of support. This was a mistake. I take responsibility for it, and I apologize."

He added that some faculty made statements that were "ill-judged and divisive" and Duke should have done more to underscore that these were the beliefs of individuals, not the university as a whole.

And, he said, by deferring to the criminal justice system and "not repeating the need for the presumption of innocence equally vigorously at all key moments, we may have helped create the impression that the university did not care about its students. This was not the case, and I regret it as well."

Brodhead, who did not take questions, made his remarks during a speech at the Duke Law School. He was there as part of a two-day conference focused on the lacrosse case and how it was reported by the media.

"If there's one lesson the world should take from the Duke lacrosse case," Brodhead said, "it's the danger of prejudgment and our need to defend against it at every turn." Read more...