Duke debacle has defenders – but most miss the mark
I can't wait to read less about the Duke debacle that has transfixed a weary national media starved for stories grounded in sex, greed, wealth, race, privilege and good ole Southern boys. Nascar-itis, you may call it. Why aren't the TV talking heads made famous by OJ and Kobe wringing hands over more profound campus issues such as binge drinking, student suicide, and the near elimination of public funding for higher education. How is it that the State of Virginia can cut funding to higher ed by 27% in one year with little more than a blip on the radar screen?
The media feeding frenzy is fueled, in large part, by many of us in higher ed tripping over our wingtips to defend Duke, an institution whose mismanagement of the crisis has it now spinning fully out of control . I have echoed that thought in interviews in recent days with reporters ranging from USA Today to ESPN and the London Times. Since when is Duke important to the London Times?
ACE General Counsel Shelly Steinbach, a good friend and bombastic media darling, contended in USA Today this week that Duke has done all it can to respond to the furor. "What more do you want them to do? Have summary executions on the main quad," he asked.
This is what more Duke can and should do: be part of the conversation about the alleged victims. These two African American women have been portrayed by the media as everything from un-virtuous to street-walking hookers. I must have missed the court case that ruled that exotic dancing - the heart and soul of Las Vegas, I might add - has become illegal. Why are the players innocent until proven guilty and the alleged victims guilty until proven innocent?
Duke must recast the conversation by asking this simple question: has Duke accidentally, unwillingly or purposefully created a campus environment that is inhospitable to women and people of color? And, how can the Duke campus, tucked behind its tuition-rich, ivy-covered walls, be so out of touch with the local community, which is nearly half African American, many of modest means?
Until Duke takes a less superficial look at the crisis, expect "Durham, NC" datelines to pepper national newspapers and TV news.