May-June 2006
The View of a Lacrosse Parent (2)
I am from a Duke family. My wife and I graduated from Trinity in 1980. My parents, mother-in-law, sister, four brothers-in-law, cousins, aunts, and uncles all went to Duke. When my second son arrives as a freshman in the fall, he will be the 18th member of my family to attend Duke. I have always been very proud of my family's ties to Duke University. However, the most defining point in my connection to Duke may be that my oldest son is a rising junior and a member of the men's lacrosse team.
My son made the team as a walk-on his freshman year. I was very proud that his years of athletics had enabled him to become a NCAA Division 1 athlete and especially a Duke athlete! The first time I met Mike Pressler, the former head coach of the men's lacrosse team, he talked about the team's GPA and the number of players who were named to the ACC academic honor roll. It became clear to me that he cared very much about academics, and I wondered if my son would live up to the standard. Mike's nickname is "Iron Mike", earned because of his belief in hard work. My son's experience on the lacrosse team was very positive for him and gave his life at Duke discipline, direction, and led him to academic success. I was and continue to be proud of my son because of his hard work, dedication, and connection to Duke Lacrosse.
The last few months have been painful since the fateful party on the evening of March 13th. The article in the last issue of Duke Magazine, "A Spring of Sorrows" did little to ease that pain because it didn't tell the full story of the young men on the team. That Monday night in the middle of March, these young men ignited a debate in the Duke and Durham communities, the basis of which was laid by many generations before them.
This pain has often resulted from the characterizations of the young men on the team. All the members of the team were vilified and found immediately guilty by the press and many in the Duke community as well. This story is one that lends itself to extreme depictions. The story of young rich white men raping a young poor black mother was an easier sell than the complex truth. Given the media frenzy led by the likes of Nancy Grace and others, it is amazing that there was not riot in Durham. One of the great successes of the last few months was the dialogue of cooperation between NCCU and Duke in the wake of the often-polarized press coverage. Full credit goes to NCCU Chancellor James Ammons and Duke President Dick Brodhead for this accomplishment.
One editorial writer, Kathleen Parker, asked her readers to identify a college group. She went on to say, "The group has a 100 percent college graduation rate. Sixty percent have a 3.0 grade point average or above. During the last four years, 80 percent have made a national honor roll. Members regularly volunteer at more than a dozen community agencies, building houses for the homeless and serving in soup kitchens, while raising more money than any other group for the Katrina Relief Fund." She pointed out that, although no one would know it from the press coverage, this group was the Duke men's lacrosse team.
More pain followed from watching some people use this event as a platform for their causes. Rush Limbaugh and Jesse Jackson weighed in, although on different sides. Houston Baker, then a Duke professor, used it to further his ideological agenda on racism and sexism at Duke. He was part of a group of 88 professors who bought a full-page ad in the Duke Chronicle to discuss the current "Social Disaster." Much of this dialogue was and is important. However, it is difficult for those of us so close to the center of the storm because it often used caricatures to make a point with less regard for the truth than normal. The pain peaked when the New Black Panther Party, an extremist group known to protest while carrying guns, appeared in the media telling us that they would "interview the players individually" to ensure that the "prosecution" was carried out. As a parent, and one who has trusted our system of justice, this terrified me. That weekend, it puzzled me that no one at Duke thought to call and let the lacrosse parents know what was being done to protect their sons.
In the case of the Duke Magazine article, the pain was not caused by the author's desire to discuss the culture at Duke, nor was it due to a retelling of the story. Rather it was the result of a total void of any positive statements about the young men on the team. This was another example of the whole story not being told. Clearly these young men displayed behavior unbecoming to a member of the Duke community. However, they were also good students, athletes, and volunteers, and worked tireless hours each day at a sport for which they held great passion. The Coleman Committee, created by Dr. Brodhead to examine the culture of the men's lacrosse team, stated in their report, "The lacrosse team's academic performance generally is one of the best among all Duke athletic teams." They went on to say, "In 2005, twenty seven members of the lacrosse team, more than half, made the Atlantic Coast Conference's Academic Honor Roll, more than any other ACC lacrosse team. Between 2001 and 2005, 146 members of the lacrosse team made the Academic Honor Roll, twice as many as the next ACC lacrosse team."
The Duke men's lacrosse team was a very tight group brought together by the amount of time they spent together during the season and off-season. Regarding this, the Coleman Report said, "The committee has not heard evidence that the cohesiveness of this group is either racist or sexist. On the contrary, the coach of the Duke women's lacrosse team has expressed her sense of camaraderie that exists between the men's and women's team; members of the men's team, for example, consistently come to the women's games. The current as well as former African-American members of the team have been extremely positive about the support the team provided them." However, these are young men growing up, and they are not perfect.
I have learned many lessons, some of which are the following: Don't pay too much attention to press coverage, because they are selling newspapers and not always reporting the truth. Don't ever prejudge anyone regardless of what one reads in the press. Free speech is good, but the down-side is having a public that can say anything and a press that can print anything. Beware of the 24-hour news cycle and reporters claiming to be your friend. An independent justice system is good, but it doesn't always work perfectly.
My son has learned lessons as well, and I know there will be many more. Early after the allegations became public, when responding to a message from his uncle, he said, "Never again, regardless of the information presented, will I pass judgment on any other person or group, before I know the facts." The week following the news of the allegations, my son was in class and was subjected to a professor's personal editorial barrage regarding the guilt of the entire team. He left the class rather than be subjected to assertions that he knew were not true. During his next class, two hours later, another professor led his class through a balanced discussion of the racial issues surrounding the news of the party and allegations. My son learned much from both professors that day; some that he will emulate and some that he will not.
As I think about the future, I hope and pray that my son is better as a result of this situation and the ensuing chaos, dialogue, and healing. I hope he emerges less judgmental than many who have participated in the debate. I hope that he is less naïve. I hope that he has a better understanding of the power of unintended consequences. I hope that he is able to believe in our system of justice, as I always have, until now. Finally, I hope that the caricatures of the team which have been painted in the press are realized by all to be untrue. David Brooks, in a May 29th New York Times editorial said, "Maybe the saddest part of the whole reaction is not the rush to judgment at the start, but the unwillingness by so many to face the truth now that the more complicated reality has emerged."
Some poignant moments come to mind from the last few months. One was a few days after the news of this event became public, when I had to explain to my 11 year-old daughter the definition of rape. That day my wife and I discussed with our five daughters that sexual assault was wrong in any form, but that false accusation was as well. Watching my other children all find ways to support their oldest brother has been touching. One wore a Duke Lacrosse hat to school each day; another talked proudly about her brother; and one prayed for the team in youth group at church before the story became a fixture in the press.
With time the pain will subside and while this may shock you, I believe as a result of this experience my son and family will be better. I hope the Duke community will be as well.
George K. Jennison, T'80, P '08, P '10