Richard ”Whatever they did was bad enough” Brodhead Statement
I join with everyone who cares about justice in welcoming the North Carolina State Attorney General’s announcement that the remaining charges have been dropped against David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann. This announcement comes at the end of an extraordinarily painful year for the young men and their families. They have carried themselves with dignity through an ordeal of deep unfairness.
Let’s be clear about what was said today. The Attorney General did not dismiss the allegations on narrow, equivocal or legalistic ground. He determined our students to be innocent of the charges and said they were “the tragic result of a rush to accuse.” In short, he used the strongest language of vindication.From the outset, I have been careful to note that these students were entitled to the presumption of innocence and I looked to the legal system to determine the merit of the charges. Now, finally, that process has given us a decision based on a thorough and objective review of the evidence. This is what we have all needed from the start. I trust the State Bar’s review will be equally thorough so that we can understand the District Attorney’s conduct in this case. As for Duke, while not reliving the past year, we won’t be afraid to go back and learn what we can from this difficult experience.
During the past year, the world has known these young men, their teammates and a great university largely through the filter of unproven allegations. I trust that today’s decision will begin a new day for all involved.
26 comments:
What joke...this guy should have apologized for his initial reactions and his later inactions. He should have apologized for the poor treatment afforded three of his Duke students. Then he should have apologized for the leftist professors who unethically condemned these boys. And that should have been the end.
This man is a lying, ass-covering mealy-mouthed coward. I hope the three young men sue him for everything he'll ever have and then go after the Gang of 88 too.
May Brodhead rot in Hell. What a freakin' hypocrite!! But what can you expect of an Ivy League puke?
What a weasel. He should resign immediately.
What a weasel. He should resign immediately.
Betrayers of Duke
Group of 88, the Admin of Duke,
Moneta, Burness, Steele and Dickhead too!!
Tee shirt for the alumni weekend
Any takers
I think Brodhead has lost any respect he had left with his statement. Even if his attorneys told him not to apologize, he should have. Duke needs to be sued for their part in trying to deny their own students due process. Lets see if the trustees will still stand behind Brodhead when the huge civil judgement against Duke occurs. Thank God Cooper had the guts to do the right thing.
A new will begin when Duke gets a new President.
What a little, little man.
Tex
Entitled to the presumption of innocence, but cancel the LAX season and suspend the accused from school....rightttttttttt!!
What a fool. I hope Duke pays dearly for the clueless "leadership."
It's time to really put some pressure on the Duke trustees. In addition to being responsible for Brodhead, they themselves should be coming forward to apologize for their own bumbling inaction.
Oh my God!!! Oh my God!!!! This is the President of Duke University???? A fired coach, a cancelled season, suspended students, whatever happened was bad enough???? What an abysmal, feckless, unmitigated idiot!! Doe's he think we were all born yesterday, that we are as stupid as he is???? INCREDIBLE!!
Just saw megyn kelly on Fox Report...she sees no basis for a law suit against Duke, the 88 brainless twits or......brodhead! When you look up "Stupid Blond Jokes" in the dictionary, you will find a picture of kelly.
I am deeply embarassed for my school.
Trinity60
What do you expect from a guy named Dick (Brod)head? I had my doubts about dickhead since they announced his appointment. Curious to know how fundraising is coming along.
it was so obvious to educated people, that the real racism in the duke lacrosse team prosecutions didnt start or end with the players---
BUT the rascism began with the well organized collaborations of the local black community and the prosecutors TEAM, LED ON by the viscious LEADERS OF the GROUP OF 88, whose provided the intellectual moral authority to lynch and crucify the three great young men on a cross...the Group of 88 misused its moral authority to ignore the facts and the truth that was so obvious from the beginning as it is so obvious in the end
i thank you for taking the careful time to look at the secondary legal and criminal justice personnel
in this case, whose incompetence and bias was only strengthened by the Group of 88..
i thank you for asking the question about apologies from the Group of
88,as they still continue to teach their viscious form of white hatred
as a matter of their right of passage to vilify.
duke hasnt learned anything
because no Group of 88 has been fired and in fact many have been
promoted to even higher positions of authority...and the new arrogant Duke spokesman is as incendiary as the faculty that refuses to
acknowledge its complicity
when most of the Group of 88 are FIRED as their allies remarkably demand of IMUS, only then will there be justice
may they be forced to pay their own legal expenses in civil procedings that hopefully stem from their positions as alleged activism in this CASE OF INJUSTICE...may the wheels of justice grind slow over them, for the harm they brought to innocents
the Group of 88 didnt hammer the nails into the players hands BUT they cheered on those who did and who lifted the cross into place
may the cry "BOOT THE DUKE 88" be heard until the day theyre gone
Brodhead and Duke: AAPPOLLLOGIIIZE!
His name needs to appear under the heading DEFENDANT on the civil suit.
This man hung these kids out to dry along with Nifong.
I can only hope he gets sued as well.
The only way to educate this university is to hit its deep pockets. Maybe if they lose enough money they can cut some of the idiots off the payroll (group of 88) and replace them with persons of honor, integrity and vision
Kethra
I hope some of Duke's hefty endowment finds its way to these three young men to in some manner compensate them for the way Duke has treated them in the past year.
Lame. Even coming from a neutered housepet.
How pathetic- suggest the following as a tee for the upcoming alumni weekend.
Betrayers of Duke
Shame, shame, shame
Group of 88
Moneta, Burness , Steele
and Dickhead too!
What a blockhead! Obviously his lawyers told him not to admit responsibility; the university is gearing up to stonewall and betray its own students, again.
Sadly,
You can't fire a tenured professor that easily.
Most of the Gang of 88 are perfectly safe and secure in their isolated ivory towers.
But today, it was oh so nice to see the lacrosse players and their lawyers tossing some well deserved criticism up into those towers.
Every once and a while, the chinks in the academic armor are pierced.
Doesn't happen often enough however. You would have to eliminate tenure entirely to get true accountability back into the academy.
lawsuits can penetrate tenure...as fiduciary responsibility requires trustees of the university to take actions that protect the college brand name
the group 88 wasnt commenting on their areas of scholarship in a scholarly manner and they did INFRINGE upon the reputation of thousands of alumni that BUILT this university brick by privately earned bricks
they need to walk the plank and the board needs to act as responsibilty when they created the sullivan principles...
the Duke Board needs to CREATE the NIFONG PRINCIPLES and use them to boot the duke 88
This was sent to members of the Duke community on Wednesday by Trustee Chairman Steel. Note what he says about Brodhead in paragraph 4.
From: Duke Board Chair [mailto:boardchair-announcement@duke.edu]
Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2007 12:13 AM
To: Duke community
Subject: A message from the chair of the Duke University Board of Trustees
Dear Member of the Duke University Community,
I write to you on behalf of the Trustees of Duke University.
Today the North Carolina State Attorney General announced that all remaining charges against David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann have been dropped and should never have been brought. This announcement explicitly and unequivocally establishes the innocence of David, Collin and Reade, who with their families have suffered an unimaginable year of accusation and public scrutiny. They deserve our respect for the honorable way they have conducted themselves during this long legal ordeal that ends with their exoneration.
The Attorney General determined that there was no credible evidence to support the charges that were brought, with so many statements of certainty, by the Durham District Attorney last spring. Many have suffered from his actions, these three students and their families most of all. The Attorney General's investigation places responsibility for this miscarriage of justice with the District Attorney, and we now look to the proceedings of the state bar to call him to account before his peers.
Much as we wish that these three young men, their teammates and their families and indeed the whole community of people who love Duke could have been spared the agony of the past year, we believe that it was essential for the University to defer to the criminal justice system. As imperfect and flawed as it may be, it is that process that brings us today to this resolution.
Throughout the past year President Richard Brodhead consulted regularly with the trustees and has had our continuing support. He made considered and thoughtful decisions in a volatile and uncertain situation. Each step of the way, the board agreed with the principles that he established and the actions he took. As we look back and with the benefit of what we now know there is no question that there are some things that might have been done differently.
However, anyone critical of President Brodhead should be similarly critical of the entire board.
In closing, we express our relief for today's outcome and recognize the character that our three students, their teammates and all of their families have shown over the past year. Furthermore, we hope that the resolution of this unfair, divisive and painful episode can serve to unite us all. There is much to learn from the events that we have lived through, and we intend to put this learning to use. Duke is a great university that steps up to challenges and opportunities, and together we will use this moment to make our community stronger.
Robert K. Steel, Chair, Duke University Board of Trustees
It is fine for Mr. Brodhead, now, to voice praise for due process of law.
But I will never forget the way he turned his back, so callously, on the three accused players, when the charges were first made. I will never forget the statement he made, back then, about being "so sorry that woman was abused.
I cannot believe he didn't know how prejudicial these words would be, coming from the president of the university. I cannot believe how someone in his position could
impute guilt without even speaking to the accused beforehand. These were his students, and he was prepared to jettison them for the sake of "public relations."
He could have been a voice for justice and due process back then. Instead, he truckled to a rabble of pot bangers, both within and outside his own faculty.
I don't see how he can look at himself in the mirror each morning.
Bill Mays
The contrition of the University is somewhat mollifying, but true lessons in life are learned from pain...and the University must experience that pain in order to learn its lesson properly..
The appropriate way to punish the University is through economic tribulation or by firing the University President....that is, the parents of those boys must extract the economic equivalent of that pound of flesh...
There is no lonelier or more painful place on earth then when your universally condemned and you know your innocent...and those that were formerly your friends are now your enemies
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