Fewer apply early at Duke
Lacrosse case seen as one factor
Jane Stancill, Staff Writer
Applications for early admission to Duke University dropped by nearly 20 percent this year in the aftermath of the lacrosse scandal.
This year, 1,198 students applied early to Duke, committing to enroll if they received an offer of admission. That is a decline from 1,496 early decision applicants last year.
The university sent offers this week to 469 high school seniors from around the world for a spot in the Class of 2011.
A Duke official said the slide is probably partly attributable to months of negative news about the case in which three Duke lacrosse players were accused of raping a dancer from an escort service at a team party in March. The players have denied the charges.
"It would have surprised us if all of the media coverage hadn't had some effect," said Christoph Guttentag, dean of undergraduate admissions.
But he pointed out that early decision applications declined this year at other highly ranked schools, including Yale and Rice universities. That could indicate a trend against early decision, which has been the topic of media attention since Harvard, Princeton and the University of Virginia announced plans to drop the practice this year, Guttentag said. Early decision has been criticized because it tends to attract more affluent students.
"I don't think it's unreasonable to think that the critical view of early decision as a whole might have affected some people's decisions overall," he said.
Duke typically fills about 30 percent of each class during the early admissions process, but there is no specific target for the number of students to be picked early. Guttentag said the overall quality of the admitted students was the same as last year. "I'm very pleased with where we ended up," he said.
It remains to be seen whether the decrease in early applicants foreshadows trouble for Duke. The university's regular admissions deadline is Jan. 2, and the vast majority of students apply in December, Guttentag said.
Staff writer Jane Stancill can be reached at 956-2464 or janes@newsobserver.com.
http://www.newsobserver.com/1185/story/521622.html
Poll at LS:
Who da baby daddy?, Name your choice before parternity tests
Who is the father of the accuser's child?
Irving Joyner [ 0 ] [0.00%]
Mark Gottlieb [ 0 ] [0.00%]
Jakki O'Knight [ 1 ] [16.67%]
Brian Taylor [ 0 ] [0.00%]
Bill Bell [ 0 ] [0.00%]
Linwood Wilson [ 1 ] [16.67%]
Steven Chalmers [ 0 ] [0.00%]
Matt Murchison [ 1 ] [16.67%]
Destine Couch [ 2 ] [33.33%]
Benny Himan [ 0 ] [0.00%]
Patrick Baker [ 0 ] [0.00%]
Brian Meehan [ 0 ] [0.00%]
Jarriel Johnson [ 0 ] [0.00%]
Cash Michaels [ 1 ] [16.67%]
Total Votes: 6
Duke Lacrosse Accuser Gives Birth
Posted: Dec. 14 5:56 p.m.
Updated: Today at 5:54 a.m.
Chapel Hill — WRAL's Julia Lewis has confirmed that the accuser in the Duke lacrosse case gave birth late Thursday at UNC Hospitals.
Her pregnancy had not been public knowledge until now.
When WRAL called her boyfriend's home Thursday evening, the person who answered the phone had no comment and then hung up.
The 27-year-old gave birth nine months after she alleges she was raped by three Duke University lacrosse players at a March 13 team party.
After the party, she was taken to a local hospital to be examined.
A defense attorney tells WRAL that a test taken at the hospital showed that she was not pregnant at the time of the party and that she was given emergency contraception commonly referred to as the morning-after pill.
The suspects in the case -- David Evans, 23, Collin Finnerty, 20, and Reade Seligmann, 20 -- have denied the allegations.
This week, attorneys in the case filed a motion in which they said male DNA from multiple sources was found on the accuser, but none from their clients. In another motion, they ask that the judge presiding over the case throw out the photographic lineup in which she identified the defendants, saying the IDs were the result of a "tainted procedure."
At the time of the alleged incident, the woman, a divorced mother of two, had worked for an escort service to help support her children and to pay for classes at North Carolina Central University.
* Reporter: Julia Lewis
* Web Editor: Kelly Gardner
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/1107413/