Not sure if venue changes are possible in civil cases but I agree that the players are dead meat in any trial in Durham.
I think this will have a devastating effect on Duke's athletics. Duke is now seen as being a school where the athletes are the enemy of a large part of the student body and of the town.
I see the lacrosse program being disbanded for at least a few years. Football recruiting will also suffer - not the Duke is a traditional powerhouse anyway.
Unless a player just has a real attraction to Duke, I don't see them being able to attract athletes in baseball or other sports either.
I'm not so sure. I think the DNA evidence swung a large part of the students. The ones you see on TV are cherry picked for the agenda the TV producer wants to follow. There have been writeups recently that the Duke University Store can't keep Duke lax shirts in stock. I think any student who has ever had a drink before 21, who has ever been hassled by a Durhamite, and who has ever done anything "wild and crazy" has got to feel a certain sense of solidarity with the players even if they do "swagger".