"Your response was, “Duke is private property, so they (Duke) can do what they want,” and “No one is preventing the students from going downtown and registering.” You said that you had not heard any complaints from the students themselves and would like to hear from them directly. You also questioned whether or not Duke students would be eligible to vote."
If he was
1) that ignorant of what is going on; or
2) that indifferent;
then I don't want to see someone like that on the federal payroll. Duke receives lots of federal money; the feds require a great deal of schools that get federal money (even in only via the payment of student scholarships).
I assume it might even be alleged that Duke, which knew
of the intention of this group to register voters beforehand and then tried to stop them, might even be
guilty of attempting to intimidate persons from registering
on the basis of their political viewpoint.
(Does Duke
ever allow anyone else to register to vote on the campus? Have there ever been drives to register voters by any other on or off campus group? Feminists? NAACP? Peace and Freedom party? ACLU? If those are allowed, on what exact basis do they single out this group--students for an ethical Durham--and exclude them?) Anyone know a good civil rights lawyer? Maybe the students can sue?)
It was obvious in my phone conversation with Mr. White from the getgo that it was a lost cause. He had no interest whatsoever in pursuing the issue. So I decided the best course of action was to document every conversation I have with them.
My next phone call will be to his boss, the USA for that district. I will then document that conversation and copy the DOJ. They'll at least have to start a file - bureaucrats are genetically incapable of throwing away paperwork lest it come back to bite them.
I figured from the start that it was unlikely to make any progress with them. But at least they know we're watching every move made on this issue. And they know we know...
If he is that ignorant and indifferent it actually explains why he is on the federal payroll. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I have relatives on the federal payroll myself. I'm just aggravated because the post office lost a package of mine.