Durham Native Lodges Complaint with NCAA
Text of email sent to David Price, NCAA Vice-President of Enforcement Services, by Durham native Emmett Gill in response to the exoneration of the falsely accused victims of the Durham Hoax:
May 10, 2007
David Price
P.O. Box 6222
Indianapolis, IN 46206-6222
Sent via email to: dprice@ncaa.org @ 4:48 pm, May 10, 2007
Dear Mr. Price:
I am a native of Durham, a longtime fan of Duke athletics, and I too have grown tired of the Duke lacrosse case. As a sports scholar and fan I have mixed feelings about student-athletes who held a sex party and shouted racial epithets and were punished with time served. Nevertheless, President Brand, before we close the door on yet another scandal in college sports I would be remiss if I did not alert you to the hundreds of thousands of dollars in improper benefits the Duke lacrosse student-athletes were given for their legal defense. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) bylaw 16.11.2.1 states, “A student-athlete may not accept money for unspecified or unitemized expenses from any organization or individual”.
If you recall between 1999 and 2000 the NCAA suspended 18 basketball student-athletes. In order to cleanse the culture of men's college basketball, the NCAA suspended then Michigan University freshmen Jamal Crawford because of living arranges that enabled him to attend prep school in Seattle (NY Times, March 5, 2000). During the same year, Erick Barkley a sophomore from St. John's University was suspended for exchanging cars with a friend (NY Times, February 12th 2000). The NCAA also suspended Kareem and Jaron Rush because they allegedly received cash from then AAU coach Myron Piggie (NY Times, April 14, 2000). Between 1999 and 2000, the NCAA also suspended Richard Jefferson (ticket to NBA Finals), Andre Williams (prep school tuition), Demarr Johnson (offense), and Chris Porter (accepted cash to avoid mother's eviction).
Fast forward to 2007, the Duke lacrosse rape allegations, and the Raleigh News & Observer article which reported the Association for Truth for Fairness (AFTF), a charitable organization formed in part to help the Duke student-athletes with legal expenses, had raised $750,000. The AFTF, which has now raised $910,000, allows individuals with no affiliation to the student-athletes to donate between $50 and $10,000 online at www.truthandfairness.org. The AFTF even has a course of action whereby parents, through a formal process, requests funds and the board deliberates and distributes funds to parents in “need”. In addition to the AFTF, Duke sororities, fraternities, non-revenue sports teams, and alumni hosted cookouts to help underwrite the lacrosse student-athletes legal obligations. Furthermore, on May 28, 2007 at the men’s lacrosse Final Four, The Friends of Duke (FOD) will auction a 2007 Chevy Tahoe to bankroll the lacrosse student-athletes legal costs. FOD also sold wristbands for $3.00 and solicited $100 donations online for the troubled Duke lacrosse players. No one has said one word about the hundreds of thousands of dollars in improper benefits received by the unindicted and indicted Duke lacrosse student-athletes. I wonder why?
If Barry Henthorn, the president of Innovative Communication Technologies and the gentleman who furnished Jamal Crawford with a room, spending cash, clothing, and a Jeep Cherokee, when the Michigan recruit was in prep school, would have been so overt with his illegal subsidies I wonder what would have happened? The only differences between the 18 basketball student-athletes suspended between 1999 and
2000 and the 2007 Duke lacrosse student-athletes are their sport and their race.
The irony of the comparison between Duke lacrosse players and the 18 basketball players suspended by the NCAA between 1999-2000 is that one of the players was Duke basketball student-athlete Corey Maggette. Maggette was accused of receiving $2,000 from Myron Piggie, but unlike the other 17 players Maggette was not suspended or asked to repay the money. The next year he entered the NBA draft and the Duke basketball program was not sanctioned. The entire Duke lacrosse episode is unfortunate in light of the actuality there was not enough evidence to have a trial, but there is no one to blame but the student-athletes who conceived the sex party, hired sex workers, paid the sex workers, and watched the sex workers. Moreover, just because society decided to shine a light on the misbehaviors that the Duke lacrosse student-athletes engaged in while in the dark; the Blue Devils should not be entitled to a free pass.
Should Reade Seligman and Colin Finnerty be allowed to compete in Division I lacrosse if they decide to resume their playing careers? More important, should the unindicted players, who received funds, be allowed to compete in the upcoming NCAA Division I lacrosse championships?
I hope that you will investigate the improper benefits received by the Duke lacrosse student-athletes and if warranted hand down sanctions that reflect equal justice across type of sport and race. At the end of the day, Mike Nifong, the Durham District Attorney, did not have a case against the Duke lacrosse players, but if they go unpunished for improper benefits, the 18 former basketball student-athletes may have a strong case against the NCAA.
Sincerely,
Emmett L. Gill, Jr., PhD, MSW
31 comments:
MSW = Masters degree in Social Work.
Wouldn't surprise me to find out that Gill is a disgruntled colleague of that esteemed social worker, Cy Gurney (aka Mrs. Mike Nifong).
From the article
“A student-athlete may not accept money for unspecified or unitemized expenses from any organization or individual”.
The key here is UNITEMIZED or UNSPECIFIED expenses. I'm sure the lawyers will be happy to itemize and specify the expenses. There is a difference between accepting money to make sure I can play a sport and accepting money from a charity to help pay the bills on a railroading charge. In reading that letter, it almost sounded to me like he was trying to whine.
Emmett L. Gill, Jr., PhD, MSW has a malicious mind!
The truth is, the Duke Innocents will always be victimized now that their name is in the news and forever associated with rape on the Internet.
I would trust the team of Duke lacrosse players, in spite of their rediculous party, way ahead of the vicous fascists like Emmett Gill.
Meanwhile, I hope the Duke 3 successfully sue so their families can recoup monies spent for their legal defense, because Nifong and that SANE nurse and the police were not sufficiently interested in the facts.
Gill is trying to ingratiate himself with the NCAA in order to further the number of grants he receives from them:
http://www1.ncaa.org/membership/ed_outreach/health-safety/drug_ed_progs/speakers_listing
Also notice his past or current Rutgers affiliation.
I think Gill is trying to take advantage of some issues here. Maybe its typical of some people like gill. I doubt very much if the students themselves got (or get) any money to pay for much of anything. If not on scholarship, then who pays their tuition and other expenses? even if on scholarship I betcha they write home for cash. Probably from their parents or rich uncle. Looks to me that any money given in this case is going to the parents anyway, not for "profit" but for subsidizing their own expenses. Cant see any ncaa violations over that issue. I would guess gill is not really a Duke U fan if he looks for all the negative with Duke U sports. Oh yea, one more thing. I believe the women were strippers and the party was not a sex party. Amazing how things change over time. Originally these women were exotic dancers then strippers and now sex workers. Just amazing isnt it.
....another wana be athlete...i am sure this writer accepter plenty of $$$$ in minority grants!
Most MSW programs allow students to choose a clinical track, which focuses on direct practice with clients, and a community practice track, with a focus on political advocacy, community organizing, policy analysis and/or human services management.
These soft degrees are a joke.
Some people in Durham just want to make a name for themselves. The city has real problems
UNBELIEVABLE! I am flabbergasted by the evil lurking in the souls of people in this country. I do hope that what goes around comes around for "Dr." Emett L. Gill, Jr.
TexasMom
Is Gill suggesting that all NCAA athletes who hire "sex workers" are guilty of a crime?
I don't see the parallel with the other cases at all. The Duke 3 were accused of a sexual assault that DID NOT OCCUR. It was a fabrication fanned into flames by ideologues like Gill. They were prosecuted, not because of a sex party but precisely because of their school, their sport and their gender.
If I had been a supporter of the Lie in Durham, I would be wearing a bag on my head out of shame, not putting my name on a silly complaint to the NCAA. If I were still a supporter of the Lie, after all of the facts have come out, my family would have put me on medication as delusional.
The boys are NOT "student-athletes". They are NOT enrolled at Duke, and the lacrosse season was cancelled. There is no violation.
Carolyn says:
It's useless to argue facts with Gill. For those WANT to believe Reade, Dave and Collin are guilty, no facts are possible.
Shame on him! What ******* would write that letter after the State AG released his report clearly saying the players were innocent.
What a degraded person! What slime!
As a sports scholar and fan I have mixed feelings about student-athletes who held a sex party and shouted racial epithets and were punished with time served.
@ of them were not at the party when the epithets were exchanged. None of them said it. It was not a sex party.
Million in legal fees, lost college time. And he saids "punished with time served"?
I hope he wants to punish all black athletes who listen to racially inappropriate hip hop music.
Or is he just seeking "street cred" in his hood?
What spite! How could a person attack Reade & Collin at this time? The NCAA is not that stupid.
What is Emmett Gills' degree in "supidity". When Reade, Collin and Dave got defense fund money, they were suspended and not students. His complaint is absolutely bogus.
What he is trying to do is prevent Reade & Collin from getting their eligibility in the future and dig at the Larosse Team before the NCAA championship!
It is mean spirited.
Does anyone have an email address for the esteemed Mr. Gill? I want to send him my best wishes (seriously) and tell him I will pray for him.
I'll pray that he is never victimized by a false accusation and that he never faces 30 years in jail for soemthing he didn't do. I'll pray that he and his family are never forced to come up with several millions of dollars to defend himself against something he didn't do.
I am sure he will reply that the players should not have hired strippers as he is certainly completely without sin and justified in casting his stones.
What a self-righteous jerk. Don't tell me let me guess.....Mr. Gill is um.....African American?
The other day someone noted that the North Carolina Conference Of District Attorneys' current attempt to water down the state's Open Discovery Statute is a subtle attempt of support for Nifong by some local D.A.s in the state.
When I read that, it was like a light literally came on in my mind. It made perfect sense. For some D.A.s the blind desire to win and get a conviction can out weight the truth of a case.
Now as I read this NCAA complaint I think it is undeniably clear of another group seeking to persecute the Lacrosse boys out side of the court system. It is clear that Emmett Gill is a Trinity Park resident. It must be remembered that long before the Duke 3 tragedy, because of student parties, tensions between Duke students and the Trinity Park neighborhood had been coming to a boil for a long time. Before the Hoax Trinity Park wanted Duke students out of the area. When the Hoax broke Trinity Park saw this as their chance to finally achieve their goal. They were the first to call for immediate punishment for the players. Now that the boys have been found innocent, Trinity Park has still called for Duke to remove student housing from the neighborhood.
The Trinity Park Neighborhood Association is a formidable organization who's ultimate desire is to remove all Greek and student-athlete housing from their neighborhood.
Too bad for Dr. Gill the organization was set up for the parents of the players. I guess he forgot that little tidbit.
I also love the little spin of "not enough evidence." Try "zero evidence." Try "because they did nothing illegal."
Next.
-Esquire-
-Maryland-
Actually, by the letter of the NCAA regulations, Mr. Gill may have a point. The NCAA regs prohibit athletes from receiving gifts based on their athletic ability or their potential to repay the benefactor.
The gray area here is if the money raised for the players' defense funds was based on their athletic ability or their situation. Given the relatively low profile of lacrosse, it's hard to state that anyone giving money for their defense was motivated by their athletic ability. Still, it is an area with some ambiguity.
From there however, Gill leaves reality and exposes his motivations behind the letter. Specifically he notes that the only differences between the athletes suspended in 1999 and 2000 and the 2007 Duke lacrosse players are their sport and their race. That's not true however because the basketball players that he cites all took money while in high school and the bylaw that they were found to have violated deals specifically with the preferential treatment of athletes while in high school.
Gill also shows a bias against Duke with his recap of the Maggette incident when he states that "unlike the other 17 players, Maggette was not suspended or asked to repay any money." Gill follows up that comment with "The next year he [Maggette] entered the NBA draft and the Duke basketball program was not sanctioned."
What Gill omits from his commentary is that the investigation into Maggette's alleged actions did not begin until after he had played his last game at Duke. As such, it would be difficult for the NCAA to suspend him. Nor could they ask him to repay any money since the other players were told to repay money as a condition for regaining their eligibility; something that Maggette had already forfeited by signing with an NBA team. Gill also shows his bias by stating that the Duke program wasn't sanctioned because of Maggette but he fails to note that no other program has ever been sanctioned for the actions of a player who had received preferential treatment prior to enrolling so long as the person providing the extra benefits was not a booster of the school.
Of course, there's also all the other drivel about there being nobody but the players to blame for the hoax, but I'm pretty sure everyone's up to speed on that.
RodNReg
Check out vintagesportsapparel.com.
Owned by the Emmett Gill family of Durham--black university apparel and memorabilia.
From the Rutgers faculty page, scroll down to Emmett Gill:
Emmett Gill
Dr. Gill's research interests include student-athlete identity development, substance abuse in collegiate athletics, collegiate sports policy, and Race & Gender in Sport.
egill@rci.rutgers.edu
http://socialwork.rutgers.edu/faculty.html
The NCAA enforcement people have taken some incredibly illogical steps to keep college sports "fair". Who knows how the heck they will react. Does Mr. Gill suggest that the right to counsel in a criminal investigation runs afoul of NCAA rules? Or that student athletes must choose between continuing to play college sports and defending themselves? If so, who would this rule hurt most, the rich or the poor? Most assuredly the poor - and compared to the cost of good lawyers most everyone is poor. pro bono work would be a violation as well. If Gill wins, everyone but the rich lose. Is that really what he wants?
“A student-athlete may not accept money for unspecified or unitemized expenses from any organization or individual”.
I'm sure all the expenses are specified and itemized.
It's pretty obvious Mr. Gill can't stomach that the Duke 3 were found innocent.
I sincerely doubt that people donated to the defense fund because of players athletic ability. For instance, I personally couldn't care less about players athletic ability. I didn't even know what lacrosse was before this case.
It's not exactly a popular sport.
What an asshole.
Thank god he's stuck at a shitty school for "nappy-headed hos" in NJ.
I agree that the time is now for the NCAA to do the right thing. I just happen to disagree with him on what the nature of the "right thing" is. See, I actually believe that the NCAA should act with fairness in protecting all student-athletes, and an excellent first step would be getting rid of assholes like him.
"The entire Duke lacrosse episode is unfortunate in light of the actuality there was not enough evidence to have a trial,..."
This guy is actually very funny.
He just can't face reality.
Once again, Dr. Gill, the Duke 3 were innocent. Not let go with time served or any other such nonsense.
I doubt even the NCAA will give much consideration to Dr. Gill's letter.
Maybe Dr. Gill should become more familiar with more recent news -- that of a Clemson football player who was given PERMISSION by the NCAA to receive assistance in raising his younger brother.
If he looked at a pictures of the brothers, Dr. Gill would discover that they are NOT white, but African American.
Story 1 (Sept. 06):
NCAA: Clemson may aid player raising younger brother [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2583647]
Story 2 (Oct. '06)
Fund for McElrathbey brothers raises nearly $50,000 [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2611288]
The most ironic thing to do is to use this idiot's ramblings to actually raise money for the legal defense fund. I have found the link if any wants to give: https://www.online-donation.com/truthandfairness/
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