INC NEWS - community holds vigil for victim (today's N&O, Herald-Sun)

[John Schelp]

N&O (3/24/06): "Duke University is monitoring the
situation and cooperating with officials, as are the
students." 
--John Burness, Duke's senior vice president for
public affairs and government relations 

Herald-Sun (3/25/06): Cpl. Addison said police
approached the lacrosse team with the five-page search
warrant on March 16, but all of the members refused to
cooperate with the investigation.  

****

Lacrosse team forfeits games: A Duke official says the
players deny sexual assault but admit they hired women
to dance (by Samiha Khanna, N&O, 26 March 2006)
 
Duke University officials decided Saturday to forfeit
two men's lacrosse games because of the team's conduct
at a party earlier this month at which a woman says
she was raped.

The action allayed some criticism of the university
for allowing the team to continue to play, despite a
police investigation into whether three teammates
raped and sodomized an exotic dancer at the party,
held in a house rented by three of the team's
captains.

Director of Athletics Joe Alleva said he was
"dismayed" by the party, held March 13 at 610 N.
Buchanan Blvd., next to the Duke campus.

Alleva said that although players deny the woman was
sexually assaulted, several have acknowledged hiring
women from an escort service to dance at the party and
that alcohol was served to underage team members.

"The judgment of the team members to host and
participate in this event is inconsistent with the
values of Duke Athletics and Duke University and is
unacceptable," Alleva said in the statement, posted on
the university's Web site.

Late Saturday, Duke President Richard H. Brodhead
promised "very serious penalties" if the charges are
verified and added that "the facts are not yet
established.

"Physical coercion and sexual assault are unacceptable
in any setting and have no place at Duke," Brodhead
said in a statement.

Durham police have not filed charges in the case.

The woman says she was pulled into a bathroom by three
men at the team party and beaten and sexually
assaulted for 30 minutes, according to court documents
filed by police.

Duke officials said earlier in the week that the
university's athletics department is not conducting an
internal investigation. On Thursday, 46 members of the
team submitted DNA samples for the police
investigation. Brodhead said some of those tested did
not attend the party.

The announcement to forfeit home games Saturday
against Georgetown University and Tuesday against
Mount St. Mary's University came just before fans
gathered at Koskinen Stadium on the Duke campus. A
stack of news releases greeted spectators who braved
chilly wind and rain to watch the game.

Nearby, residents from the neighborhood where the
party took place held up signs in protest of the team.

"Don't be a fan of rapists," read one of the signs,
made by Jo Darby, whose house in the Trinity Park
neighborhood shares an alley with 610 N. Buchanan
Blvd. She urged others to hold signs.

Ian Grady, a 17-year-old from Cary, plays lacrosse for
his high school and has met many members of the Duke
team through various lacrosse events, calling them "a
bunch of great guys.

"I can only dream to play at the level they do,"
Grady, a junior, said of the team, runners-up in the
NCAA Division I national championship last year.

If the allegations are true, he said, "It's not going
to change my opinion of them as players. Just as
[people]."

A change in plans

Some boycotted the game altogether. Andy Cummins of
Raleigh did not allow his son to attend the Duke game,
as previously planned. He said it would be
inappropriate to show support after police have said
team members who know what happened are not coming
forward.

"People get accused of things," Cummins said. "What
really upset me is that the team ... decided not to do
an internal investigation and that everyone's being
quiet about it. These are young men at a prestigious
university, and they should speak up."

Later Saturday, more than 200 protesters lined up
along Buchanan Boulevard. Candles shined tiny spots of
light along the sidewalk, stretching from Dacian
Avenue to Markham Avenue.

Resident Janene Tompkins said the vigil was to support
the woman who reported being raped and to acknowledge
the courage it takes to come forward.

"This is to let her know that we're with her,"
Tompkins said. "If anyone could come and take a piece
of her grief, we would."

Religious groups, neighborhood associations, and
students and faculty from the university sang "Amazing
Grace" and prayed.

Allyson Van Wyk challenged parents of the lacrosse
players to talk to their children.

"The parents need to make them stand up and be men,"
she shouted.

One by one, protesters blew out their candles and
placed them on the steps of 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. to
send a message -- they are watching.

A group of Durham residents announced a "Wake-Up Call
Against Sexual Assault" to be held in front of the
house at 9 a.m. today. They planned to stand on the
sidewalk, which is public property, and bang pots and
pans to protest the incident. They said they would
disperse quietly if asked by police.

caption: Tim Tyson, center, who teaches at Duke
University, and Craig Kocher, right, join more than
200 protesters during a candlelight vigil in front of
610 N. Buchanan Blvd., a house occupied by three
captains of Duke's men's lacrosse team. A woman says
she was raped there during a party held March 13. 

****

Vigil held for victim of alleged sex crime
by BriAnne Dopart, Herald-Sun, 26 March 2006

Dozens of people holding candles and singing gathered
near Duke's East Campus as night fell Saturday to
protest an alleged sexual assault involving members of
the university's lacrosse team. 

The vigil came hours after Duke officials, buffeted by
the allegations and mounting community anger, issued a
statement by President Richard Brodhead and announced
that the team would forfeit Saturday's lacrosse match
with Georgetown and next Tuesday's with Mount St.
Mary's. 

"Physical coercion and sexual assault are unacceptable
in any setting and have no place at Duke," Brodhead
said. "The criminal allegations against three members
of our men's lacrosse team, if verified, will warrant
very serious penalties." 

But, he added, the facts of the incident remain in
dispute, no charges have been filed and people must be
presumed innocent until proven guilty. Many members of
the team, including some asked to provide DNA samples,
did not attend the party, he said. 

Still, he concluded, "Whatever that inquiry may show,
it is already clear that many students acted in a
manner inappropriate to a Duke team member in
participating in the March 13 party." 

At the vigil, held in front of 610 N. Buchanan where
the alleged attack occurred, about 75 people held
candles and sang "Amazing Grace" in what organizer
Janene Tompkins called a "show of support" for the
victim. 

Duke graduate Ned Kennington said he was "outraged
that 40 Duke students know what happened and won't
come forward" and angry that it took Duke two days to
decide to cancel Saturday's game. 

Jennifer Minnelli, who lives three doors from the
house, said she attended the vigil to protest the
"wall of silence" she feels the Duke athletes are
standing behind. 

Trinity Park resident Bettie Criegler agreed. 

"If there were 40 of them there, somebody must know
something," she said. 

During the gathering, several police cruisers were
parked across the street and down the block from the
house at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd., where the lights were
out and no one appeared home. Under a streetlight on a
nearby corner, a handful of mostly male Duke students
stood uneasily, eyeing the crowd and police. 

Earlier, in announcing the forfeits, Duke Athletic
Director Joe Alleva said he was "dismayed by the
party," but said the players deny the criminal
allegations. 

"We continue to monitor the situation and will respond
accordingly to further developments as the facts
become known," he said. "Several players who were
present acknowledge, however, that they did hire
private party dancers and that underage drinking
occurred. The judgment of the team members to host and
participate in this event is inconsistent with the
values of Duke Athletics and Duke University and is
unacceptable." 

At practice Friday, Coach Mike Pressler told The
Chronicle, Duke's student newspaper, that the players
were in good spirits and that a two-day break from
practice stemmed from a tough loss Tuesday to Cornell.


He described the players as energetic and focused on
beating Georgetown on Saturday. 

But by early afternoon Saturday -- as talk heated up
on community e-mail bulletin boards about the attack,
a plan to protest at the lacrosse match and plans for
the vigil -- Duke officials announced the forfeits. 

Several people making comments on the e-mail bulletin
boards cited Saturday's Herald-Sun article, in which
police said all members of the team had refused to
cooperate in the investigation of the alleged attack. 

The Buchanan Boulevard location is across from East
Campus, an area notorious for rowdy student parties --
including one last year involving bikini-clad female
students cavorting in baby oil. 

Earlier this month, after years of complaints from
neighbors, Duke bought more than a dozen rental houses
in the area with plans to sell them to
owner-occupants. The goal is to improve the appearance
and atmosphere of the neighborhood. 

Police say the alleged gang rape involved a woman --
reportedly an N.C. Central University student who
worked as an exotic dancer and escort -- hired to
dance at a lacrosse team party. 

The woman said she and another hired dancer grew
frightened by the partygoers' "excited and aggressive"
behavior and left the house. As they got into their
car and were about to drive away, the woman said, a
man approached them, apologized and asked them to
return to the party. 

When they did, the women were separated. The alleged
victim told police the man then took her into a
bathroom where he and two other men sexually
assaulted, sodomized, beat, kicked and strangled her. 

The Herald-Sun doesn't identify victims of rape and
other sex crimes. 

On Thursday, 46 of the team's 47 members reported to
the Durham police crime lab to be photographed and to
provide DNA samples. The 47th member was not tested
because he is black, and the alleged victim described
her attackers as white. 

Duke spokesman John Burness, senior vice president for
public and government relations, said the players
"were invited downtown by authorities." 

In an e-mail posted later to the Trinity Park e-mail
bulletin board, Burness called the team's conduct
"both stupid and inappropriate," but again said that
until someone is charged, the university will not
presume "one version of the events is either true or
false." 

Burness added that Duke hoped the police investigation
would shed light on what occurred at the party. 

"Until [police] do so, everything is just hanging out
there," he said. "We had the chance to have some
understanding of what went on, there was some
discussion that occurred yesterday, with some of the
players. ... Right now there are conflicting versions
of what happened." 

Police say they went to the 610 N. Buchanan Blvd.
house on the morning of March 14 but that no one
answered the door. They returned March 15 with a
search warrant. Police said they approached the team
on March 16 with the five-page warrant but that every
member refused to cooperate and "denied participation
or knowing anything." 

Police then got a "non-testimonial" order to obtain
the players' DNA samples. The order allows police to
threaten suspects with legal consequences if they
choose not to hand over evidence. 

****