Have you Heard about Duke's Lacrosse Team? Options

[Crich323]

I just read an article in Newsweek about Duke's Lacrosse-team. It said that the entire lacrosse team went to a house that the 3 captains rented to party and hired 2 stippers and apparently one of the strippers ended up being raped by 3 different players. The stripper that was raped was African American so this whole race issue is being brought in consideration too because 46 out of the 47 students on the lacrosse team are white. Do you think this could ruin the school's reputation?

(MODS:: I'm not sure if this should go under sports, school, or debate so feel free to move this subject if you feel the need.)

[eunie03]

The coach resigned and the season was cancelled... Previous to this encounter, various members of the team (including Colin Finnerty, who was involved in this fiasco as well) have been charged with public urination and homophobic bashing and assault.

I'm sure their reputation is something they want to lose, at this point.

[*Zatanna*]

I think their reputation is already a little shaded now. Regardless of the court decision, the allegation(s) will have already tainted public opinion.

I heard on NPR yesterday that there are already more preliminary allegations in the works for similar cases. Also, I believe that an entire campus investigation is in the works that would investigate overall campus lifestyle.

[Crich323]

I guess nobody else heard about it.

I was talking to a teacher and he said that the DNA for all of the lacrosse players showed up negative?
So do you think the girl was making it all up?

[chasingvictory]

yea.. its like constantly on the news down here in the state of VA. I think they are going to dismiss it or whatever because of too much media attention or what not. (thats what my physics/calc. teacher said)

[silver-rain]

Yeah, it's kind of a big deal here in NY because two of the accused players are from NY, from rich preppy schools no less either, so the media is saying there's more to this than the usual race discrimination.

[sm0kinm0nky]

its a shame, duke had a good lacrosse team.

i remember i saw it on yahoo, anything with the word 'lacrosse' catches my eye lol

[vash1530]

yea i had heard about this, and, ironically, i heard that the lacrosse merchandise was selling like crazy on campus and the area around where duke is located, raleigh, nc.

[*mipadi*]

It's an interesting case. Based on media reports, I'm not convinced an actual rape happened. The victim does not seem that credible. But it's clear that something happened. The season was cancelled because the team as a whole would not cooperate with the authorities. A college sports team is not going to sacrifice their entire season for that reason, unless they have something to hide. I just don't know if what they were hiding was rape per se.

[eunie03]

^ Hmm... Why do you say the victim doesn't seem credible?

[*mipadi*]

She filed another rape case once before, which was dismissed; and now it seem that people have mysteriously forgotten the details of the complaint, including her father. If a rape happened, people don't just suddenly "forget" taking the case to the police.

Her story doesn't completely add up, either. There are some inconsistences in her testimony, and the testimony of the other woman at the house has changed since the story first came out. One of the women also contacted a PR firm to see how to "spin the story" her way, which is a bit suspect. And the second woman also has financial incentive to side with the DA on the case, which might partially explain why her story has changed since the beginning.

Overall, there's something very fishy about this whole thing. Something clearly happened, something that the lacrosse players want desperately to keep hidden, but it's murky what exactly that is. It's possible that a rape occurred, but it's just as likely that one didn't. I do think, though, that something happened to that woman at the party.