I’m sure you’ve all heard about the Duke University lacrosse team by now and all the horrible things that some of the members of that team allegedly did. If you haven’t heard, I will of course fill you in on what has happened.
On March 13, the Duke lacrosse team hosted a party at a house off campus, possibly celebrating their two-point victory over the University of Loyola Maramount. At that party, there was a 27-year-old black woman who was an exotic dancer. The next day, the woman at the party went to the Durham Police Department to report that she was sexually assaulted by three white men at the party.
Because of the accusations, the team’s season was canceled just two games later and Duke’s head coach Mike Pressler resigned. The suspects denied it, of course, but a little over a week ago, two of those men were charged with sexual assault and a possible third male might be charged at a later date.
I think many issues need to be addressed with this story. First, the whole thing has been made into a case of race. The woman was black, the men were white, and so it must be about race, right? I’m not so sure.
I think it has more to do with drunken men seeing an attractive woman and making a very stupid decision. Mixing alcohol with the wrong men, or women, can lead to a bad situation. It’s horrible, but I just don’t think it’s about race. I understand that Duke is a private school that is primarily Caucasian. And, I understand the city of Durham has a very high population of African Americans. Even so, the story is about alcohol and rape.
OK, so let’s move on from the race thing. How about the fact that Duke’s season was canceled? I know it’s not nearly as big of an issue as the situation itself, but is that really fair to all those players that weren’t involved? Canceling the entire team’s season, a season that could have ended in a national championship no less, is wrong. Duke’s administration jumped to conclusions and punished every player on the team. That’s ridiculous. That’s like saying I should be punished for a crime that my friend did. Ridiculous.
What about Duke’s coach resigning? It’s weird that he would choose to leave one of the best teams in the country after he’s been there for 16 seasons. I’m guessing, and this is just a guess, that he was forced into retirement.
Not only did Duke’s administration punish the rest of the players on the team, but they punished the coach too. Again, ridiculous.
These two men, along with a possible third, ruined a Lacrosse team’s season, forced their coach to resign and, more importantly, may have ruined this woman’s life for many years to come.