INC NEWS - [Fwd: Re: Moneta co-chairing presidential committee???]

[kjj1 at duke.edu]

Dear Regina:

I wrote President Brodhead to share some of my concerns, and he passed my 
letter to Larry Moneta, with whom I have had a series of exchanges with 
Larry Moneta. I have never said, in my criticisms of Larry Moneta's e-mail, 
that it was inappropriate to caution students or to act to protect and 
advise them in very tense and volatile circumstances. I have voiced 
concerns that after Duke administrators spent a week admonishing everyone 
not to rush to judgment until facts are in, a high-level Duke administrator 
sent an e-mail based on unvalidated, third-hand rumors with a troubling 
racial subtext to thousands of people. I said to President Brodhead and to 
Larry Moneta, and I repeat it here, I cannot understand how sending a 
broadcast e-mail that opens by informing thousands of people about 
unverified, third-hand rumors helps stem the tide of "spreading 
mis-information" rather than contributes further to it. I cannot understand 
how a potentially explosive situation was defused by sending a broadcast 
e-mail to every Duke student, an e-mail whose message and manner of 
distribution played into the very town-gown divisions that have erupted so 
painfully.
As the letter I sent to the city council, mayor, city manager, and police 
chief states, my concerns have to do with the insensitivity and seeming 
lack of regard for the implications of his memo and the effects it might 
have on the community that exists beyond the reaches of "all 
students at duke.edu."

Among the questions I asked President Brodhead and Larry Moneta:

How did you attempt to substantiate this rumor up the chain of command at 
the Durham police department?

Did police officials view your e-mail as an effective public safety measure?

How could such an e-mail be an effective public safety measure for anyone 
beyond the reach of the broadcast Duke-student lists? Or was the impact on 
general public safety no concern at all?

These questions remain unanswered.

I am concerned that the committee investigating "campus culture" have a 
deep understanding that that culture extends beyond the grounds of Duke 
itself. If "campus culture" was limited to the campus, we would not be 
caught up in the chaos and confusion we find ourselves in today. I can 
appreciate that it would look odd not to have the Vice President for 
Student Affairs on the committee investigating "campus culture." I trust 
that Dean Thompson and others on the committee bring deep commitments to 
looking at campus culture and its relationship, impact, and responsibility 
to the broader community of which it is a part.

Kelly Jarrett


--On Thursday, April 13, 2006 10:58 AM -0400 Regina deLacy 
<rdelacy at hvfnorth.com> wrote:

> I guess it comes down to whether you prefer to swim at a beach where the
> lifeguard clears the water on report of sharks or waits until he sees
> blood in the water.
>
>  From your lack of other commentary, I assume you agree that he is
> otherwise well qualified and well placed to do the job.
>
>  - Regina
>
> kjj1 at duke.edu wrote:
>
>> Dear Regina deLacy:
>>
>> You might be interested in the following statement, which was released
>> last week by the Durham Police Department. We must have missed the
>> blanket e-mail Duke sent its students to clarify the unsubstantiated
>> rumors.
>>
>> Kelly Jarrett
>>
>> From: Michael, Kammie
>> Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2006 5:00 PM
>> Subject: Response to Rumors
>>
>> Several media agencies have asked about rumors that circulated over
>> the weekend about possible gang retaliations against Duke students as
>> a result of the Duke lacrosse rape allegations. These rumors are
>> unsubstantiated and no such incidents have occurred in the area of
>> East Campus.
>>
>> There was a reported incident early Friday at Cookout restaurant on
>> Hillsborough Road where a Duke student said he was assaulted, but no
>> charges have been filed at this time. Other alleged incidents have
>> been unsubstantiated. Duke and Durham police departments are
>> continuing to cooperate and to maintain a presence in the areas near
>> East Campus, Ninth Street and Trinity Park.
>>
>> Kammie Michael
>> Public Information Officer
>> Durham Police Department
>> (919) 560-4322, ext. 259
>> Kammie.Michael at durhamnc.gov
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --On Monday, April 10, 2006 10:12 PM -0400 Regina deLacy
>> <rdelacy at hvfnorth.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear KJJ1 -
>>>
>>>
>>> Larry Moneta reports directly to Richard Brodhead.  That means the CCI
>>> will get the president's ear without filtering.  That is a good thing.
>>>
>>> As VP for Student Affairs, he also knows the territory better than
>>> anyone.  He is best positioned to get information  and recommendations
>>> as to how to effect what will have to be a massive culture change.
>>>
>>> And wouldn't you want your own children to be warned of threats against
>>> their safety?  In the current hostile feelings so many local citizens
>>> have against the megalith of Duke, it seems that Dr. Moneta was being
>>> prudent.  Some Duke students have been assaulted.  The threats weren't
>>> all empty.
>>>
>>> Sorry to be preachy, but I think it would be better to have a little
>>> faith, or at least wait and see.  It takes a long time to turn an ocean
>>> liner around.
>>>
>>> We should watch carefully, but we should wait and see what he, and the
>>> other blue ribbon committees come up with.
>>>
>>> - Regina deLacy
>>>
>>> kjj1 at duke.edu wrote:
>>>
>>>> Am I the only one who is dismayed to learn that President Brodhead has
>>>> appointed Larry Moneta to co-chair the Campus Culture Initiative
>>>> committee?  The same Larry Moneta who sent out an e-mail to EVERY
>>>> single
>>>> student,  warning them of retaliatory, drive-by shootings at the
>>>> lacrosse house? An  e-mail based on unsubstantiated, third-hand rumors?
>>>> An e-mail that  represented Durham to students as a dangerous city of
>>>> predatory  gang-bangers and was picked up in the New York Times and
>>>> other national  news outlets?
>>>>
>>>> This is the person President Brodhead has appointed to chair the
>>>> committee  charged "to evaluate and suggest improvements in the ways
>>>> Duke educates  students in the values of personal responsibility,
>>>> consideration for  others, and mutual respect in the face of difference
>>>> and disagreement."
>>>>
>>>> Are we to take it that the administration approves Moneta's e-mail and
>>>> considers it an appropriate example of "personal responsibility . . .
>>>> and  mutual respect in the face of difference and disagreement"? Or
>>>> does
>>>> responsibility to and respect for  Durham not factor in to Duke's
>>>> examination of campus culture?
>>>>
>>>> Surely Moneta could have warned students to be careful and mindful in
>>>> these  tense and difficult times without engaging in blatant,
>>>> irresponsible fear-  and rumor-mongering.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>