Duke University puts up a Wall of Silence

The Chronicle is reporting the Duke Board of Trustees meeting will be held without access to reporters or interested public. Normally some parts of the meetings were open to the public since 1971 where students and alumni could listen in on the meetings. Traditionally reporters have been allowed to Q & A with the Duke President and Chairman of the Board, BUT not this year.

The Board of Trustees has taken a critical eye to its practices in the past year, and the conclusions of an internal evaluation will result in fewer people taking a close look at them.

When the Trustees gather this weekend, all parts of the meeting will be closed, from the plenary session to a press conference that once gave media an opportunity to ask questions of President Richard Brodhead and Board Chair Robert Steel, Trinity '73.

"Just to be frank, when you have an open session, what it means in effect is that the Trustees are no longer engaged in the kind of confidential conversation about open questions of the University," Brodhead said, adding that the Trustees hope to improve efficiency, given the limited time weekend meetings afford them.

Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations, said there was no particular impetus for the changes, apart from a desire to assess how the Board could best operate. He noted that such evaluations are typical of nonprofit boards, and in general can be driven by external events that highlight a need to increase oversight or otherwise evaluate how well a board is serving its purpose... Chronicle

Hiding from Reporters?

So why the wall of silence this year? Could it be that Brodhead and Steel do not want to take questions about their management of the University? The cost of the defense on the Duke Lacrosse Case is soaring for the City of Durham to over $1.2 million and one can only imagine a similar amount for Duke.

Wall of Shame: Wachovia CEO Bob Steel

Then there is Steel's abject failure with his management of Wachovia Bank which cost billions to investors. Never has a new CEO lost so much money so fast. After appearing on CNBC Mad Money to reassure investors two weeks ago the stock value of Wacvhovia dropped 80% in one day.

Just two weeks ago, Wachovia CEO Bob Steel told Mad Money viewers that out of $500 billion in loans on the bank’s books, only $10 billion were bad. Today, Citigroup bought Wachovia “for a pittance,” Cramer said, because the actual total was $42 billion, and the FDIC was about to seize Wachovia. Mad Money

Crammer went on TV yesterday and apologized for his having Steele on his program and placed him on his corporate Wall of Shame! See Video

Boo-yah!

Duke Lacrosse Hoax/Frame awaits in the wings.

There is the very real possibility that Duke University will be held liable for tens of millions of dollars and it could be much worse if it is discovered that the University knew the players were innocent and threw the whole team under the bus as is alleged in the two lawsuits filed in the case. In the Ekstrand lawsuit Senior Duke Administration officials were alleged to have attended critical meetings with the City of Durham , DPD, and Nifong where there were told of the lack of evidence and Duke employees joined in doing the Durham Shuffle! Brodhead & Steel are alleged to have known of the innocent of the players very early and appeased the angry Durham mob incited by some of their very own faculty.

See Quasi's Thread over at the Liestopper's Forum

It is no wonder that Brodhead and Steel will be in hiding!