At Duke, hard questions about lacrosse culture

On any given day, one might find students from Duke debating social responsibility for the Darfur genocide, hammering nails for Habitat for Humanity, or learning how to conduct ethical business at the Fuqua School.

It's all part of the Southern university's charm and respect, wrapped in the warmth of the Sarah Duke Gardens and the volcanic stone facade of Duke Chapel.

But that image was tattered last month when allegations emerged that members of the school's elite, and almost entirely white, lacrosse team had been involved in a sexual assault on a black exotic dancer hired to come to a house off campus.

To some, it's a story of power and entitlement gone awry - a perfect storm of race, class, and sex, where racial taunts and other boorish behavior turned brutish, even brutal.

The university is vowing a deep "self-study" into the lacrosse culture. This may point, some hope, a direct spotlight on the pitfalls of privilege, power, and excess that are often envied, not criticized, in the upper echelons of American campuses - and society.

"All of the imagery, all of the symbolism of American hierarchy of what's viewed as powerful and desirable, really finds its most immediate symbol, in this case, in lacrosse players," says Chris Johnson, a 2001 Duke graduate who now works on Capitol Hill.

The incident has exacerbated tensions between Duke and Durham, but at the same time both students and townspeople have come together for near-daily protests over the incident and the university's handling of it.

The details of what happened on March 13 are still emerging. A party at the captain's university-owned house was to feature two hired African-American exotic dancers, one of whom turned out to be a student at historically black North Carolina Central University, across town.

The women have told police they were confronted by "aggressive" men hurling racial insults and insinuations. They left once but were coaxed back into the house, at which point one of the women was allegedly assaulted by three players.

No charges have been filed, but District Attorney Mike Nifong lined up 46 players for DNA tests. He has said the woman's injuries indicate an assault took place.

The team says no attack occurred. Bill Thomas, an attorney for one of the players, told the Associated Press that the men have been wrongfully vilified. On Sunday, Mr. Thomas said he had time-stamped photographs that show the woman was already injured when she arrived at the party.

Neighbors have told police that they heard one of the men yell to the women, "Thank your grandpa for this nice cotton shirt." Even if the attack didn't take place, students and faculty say such comments are part of a long litany of boorish, rude, and racist slurs uttered by what some deem untouchable princes of the campus.

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