Alumni money must have dried up.
I will withold comment until the DA presser.
First reaction: reinstatement does not equal return
This just in...
http://www.newsobserver.com/1185/story/528213.html
Published: Jan 03, 2007 01:37 PM
Modified: Jan 03, 2007 01:37 PM
Two lacrosse players allowed back at Duke
By Jane Stancill
Duke University will allow two former lacrosse players accused of sexual assault to return to campus as students in good standing.
The university informed Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty in letters dated Jan. 2 that they were welcome to come back to Duke for the coming semester. They they had been placed on interim suspension and then administrative leave of absence. The third accused player, David Evans, graduated from Duke last year.
It's unclear whether Seligmann and Finnerty will accept Duke's offer to return this semester. The next court hearing in the case is scheduled for Feb. 5.
The gesture reflects the university's new stance toward the three former players. After rape charges were dropped in December, Duke President Richard Brodhead issued a statement calling into question Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong's handling of the case and the fact that kidnapping and sexual assault charges remain against the three men.
In a letter to Seligmann, Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, wrote: "As circumstances have evolved in this extraordinary case, we have attempted to balance recognition of the gravity of legal charges with the presumption of your innocence. Now with the approach of a new term, we believe that circumstances warrant that we strike this balance differently."
The letter was released by Seligmann's lawyers.
Duke officials offered the former players academic advising and help with making arrangements for housing, either on or off campus. "Reade, it is my sincere hope that you will choose to return for the spring semester," Moneta wrote. "Please let me know how I may support you during this time."
The Seligmann family issued a statement thanking Brodhead for his recent comments about the case. "We are also glad that Duke University has now made it clear that Reade is welcome to return to the University and look forward to the day that he can return to living a normal life and continuing his education as a full-time student," the statement said.
"By now it should be plain to any person who has any objectivity that the charges against Reade are transparently false," the statement continued. "Reade is absolutely innocent and we will continue to fight this injustice. We are not going to rest until Reade's good name has been cleared and those who have been responsible for this injustice have been held fully accountable."
Staff writer Joseph Neff contributed to this report.
Staff writer Jane Stancill can be reached at 919-956-2464 or janes@newsobserver.com
Students at a major University were accused of a serious crime. Immediately, the school administrators appeared to assume the guilt of the students. This is disturbing because the parents want at least some peace of mind that the University will at least try to give helpful legal counsel if the students need it. At the very least, the parents don't want the University acting as an agent of the District Attorney or the police. Faculty members, who should have known better, signed a letter which was improperly accusative of the accused, and the University tolerated "wanted" posters of the accused that were posted in public, on the campus. The District Attorney used a rubber stamp Grand Jury, to which he provided little information while excluding exculpatory information, and then proceeded to file charges anyway and made public statements which inflamed the community against the students. The media cooperated and also inflamed the people against the students. The community surrounding the University was hostile to the students. Race hustling black "leaders" made their usual appearance to whip up hate against the accused. Violent black activists were allowed on campus and in the court room where threats were made to the accused. Finally it was learned that there was no reliable evidence to indict the students and the story of the victim changed repeatedly. Further it was learned that the District Attorney and the head of the lab (Meehan) where evidence was examined agreed to withhold information which was favorable to the accused students. (The surrounding community, meanwhile, elected the DA, ostensibly because it was pleased with his actions.) After the testimony of Meehan, and after 8 months, the DA finally had the victim interviewed, and the story changed yet again. The DA dropped the rape charge, but kept other charges intact.
The conclusion being made by parents who might be considering a University in North Carolina as a choice for a University might be that it is a "third world" state, where white people are hated, and justice can quickly become a matter of "lynch mob" proportions. Their son or daughter has little legal protection against a vengeful DA, the University will assume their guilt, and the surrounding communities will pressure the DA for a conviction if the accused are white, regardless of the evidence. Statements will be made in public to the effect that they deserve to be convicted because of past "injustices" to blacks. One conclusion is that those who are caught up in the justice system of North Carolina are up against a horrifying ordeal, and it is a system not in agreement with reasonable standards of justice that people expect in this nation. The Alumni of Duke and other North Carolina Universities had to be stunned and ashamed, and parents could only ask:
WHO IN THE HELL IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WANTS TO SEND THEIR SON OR DAUGHTER TO A UNIVERSITY IN A STATE LIKE THAT!!!!