When I first heard the accusations that members of the Duke men's lacrosse team had sexually assaulted an exotic dancer during a party on March 13, I hesitated to write anything on the controversy.
Whether right or wrong, athletes get accused of a lot of things , and while I understand that every athlete isn't a saint, I had a feeling that this was one of the times media were blowing the issue out of proportion.
The Blue Devils were then the No. 2 ranked lacrosse team in the nation, and I really can't comprehend players so athletically and academically gifted (they do go to Duke) throwing it all away by doing something so incredibly stupid. And why would they do it? At the risk of sounding crude, these are guys who shouldn't have a problem finding a girl on a Saturday night.
InsideLacrosse.com, a site that has gone above and beyond in its coverage on the case, posted the following testimony on March 31 which only fueled my skepticism:
Two men who live next door to the house at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. said that the athletes had been drinking and-
and that one player shouted a racially related insult at the car containing the alleged victim as it sped off.
So, was there a rape, or did an ethnic slur snowball into something bigger?
Duke officials were taking all the proper steps, canceling the Blue Devils' upcoming games against Georgetown and Mt. St. Mary's while the Durham police continued to conduct their investigation. Eventually, the team captains released a statement denying all charges.
Although Duke seems to be following protocol, authorities also seem to be taking the steps to make headway in the case. The 46 members of the team were photographed and DNA samples were collected. In the meantime, police continued to look for new evidence showing probable cause.
Perhaps that's why Wednesday's events shocked me so much. Duke President Richard Brodhead released this statement on http://www.dukenews.duke.edu:
The court released today a previously sealed warrant whose contents are sickening and repulsive. I have canceled the men's lacrosse season and all associated activities effective immediately. Lacrosse coach Mike Pressler has submitted his resignation to Athletics Director Joe Alleva
effective immediately.
Although the exact information that the Duke president found so disgusting was not released, a pretty disturbing piece of evidence has made its way onto the Internet, at http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0405061duke1.html.
Yesterday local authorities uncovered an e-mail. It was written an hour after the party on March 13, by Ryan McFadyen (No. 41), a member of the Duke lacrosse team. The e-mail was used to establish probable cause and to gain a search warrant allowing police to further investigate McFadyen's dorm room and apartment.
I apologize for the following vulgarity, but this new piece of evidence really swayed my views on the entire case, and I feel it is necessary to include the contents of that e-mail in this article:
To whom it may concern: tommrow night
after tonights show
ive decided to have some strippers over to edens 2c. all are welcome.. however there will be no nudity. i plan on killing the bitches as soon as they walk in and proceding to cut their skin off while cumming in my duke issue spandex.. all in besides arch and tack please respond G
suckie $5 were discovered. Twenty dollar bills were also found around the room and, while money is hardly overwhelming evidence, the victim said her attackers stole $400 from her in 20's.
The worst part of all is that the victim's father, who didn't even know his daughter was an exotic dancer, found out when a reporter knocked on his door to interview him about the case.
It knots your stomach to think about, and now, after all that has happened, I can finally choose a side.
I hope the people who did this are found out and punished to the fullest extent of the law. However, I also hope Duke, its lacrosse program and, most importantly, the victim of this tragic event, can all make a full recovery.
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Mark Shugar
