A letter was posted in today's Chronicle, from a friend of mine, and a man for whom I have great respect. The letter is here.
I felt I had to respond. This letter will appear in tomorrow's Chronicle:
To the Editor:
I write to disagree with the view of my good friend and colleague, Dr. Ole Holsti, that the lacrosse players should now apologize.
Dr. Holsti criticizes "the parents of the lacrosse players." The "lacrosse players" are not a homogeneous group; they are not equally blameworthy for the party. Some attended, some left in disgust, and some were never there.
Further, the organizers of the party have apologized, in several different forums. These heartfelt apologies came immediately after the events being apologized for. Whether the events at the party required an apology is moot; those responsible have apologized, and the entire team had its season cancelled. Surely that is enough, more than enough, apology and punishment.
Finally, I am not so sure that President Brodhead's apology went "beyond what was necessary," as Dr. Holsti claimed. I do know that a lot of time passed between the events and the administration apology.
Nonetheless, I would hope that the players, and parents, accept Dr. Brodhead's apology in the sincere spirit in which it was offered, and without qualification.
Mike Munger, Chair
Department of Political Science
Duke University
4 comments:
Thank you. As Coach Pressler said in his book , the only ones who have acted as adults and apologized( at time of printing) were the players. We will never really know the extent of the players' pain and suffering, survivor's guilt, fear and anxiety for Collin, Dave, Reade and Coach Pressler. Others will never know the extent of the pain of all the parents , siblings, grandparents, other family members, coaches and their families. For a Duke professor to intentionally add to the distress is very sad. Add this to the list of shameful treatment of the team, along with the Wanted posters allowed on campus, ads, rallies,media harassment of students, harassment in class, grade retaliation and more.
Thank you Professor Munger, for responding to this horribly ill-judged letter in this manner. Your response was very much needed and makes a great deal of sense.
Dear Professor Mumger:
Thank you for speaking up for the players.
With regard to President Brodhead's apology: I don't think he went nearly far enough. Example: he didn't say a word about Reade Seligmann or the racists who shouted threats, including death threats, at him.
On March 29, 2006 President Brodhead issued an immediate, full, unconditional and written apology on behalf of the University to the woman who was then known publicly as "the first 911 caller" and her "friend" based on the caller’s disputed allegations that she and her friends were the victims of racists slurs shouted by men coming out of a house the University owned.
That was considered a proper thing for President Brodhead to do. He was praised for his statement.
Now he issues a apology in which he doesn't even mention the name of a student who was the target of what were indisputably threats from racists. His failure to mention the student or criticize the racists has drawn no criticism that I've seen; and Brodhead is praised for his apology.
There's a double standard at work.
Thanks for giving me the chance to comment.
John in Carolina
Sadly, the lacrosse players and parents can not accept Brodhead's "apology." It wasn't directed to them but to a Law Conference on a Saturday afternoon, attended by a BOT member to assure Brodhead did as he was told.
Where is the real apology, esepcially for the intent of Duke to give-up these boys for the sake of appearances.
The money was all Duke offered.
Twaddlefree
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