If Duke Were In Bushland
by sarabeth at 6:00 am on April 19th, 2006 in
General,
Podium Spin
Here’s how the Duke lacrosse team rape allegation story has played out so far:
At 1:22 am on March 14, the alleged victim reports the alleged rape to police.
At 1:58 am on March 14, just a couple of hours after the alleged rape took place, Ryan McFadyen, 19, an alleged human being, sends a truly disgusting email to multiple recipients.
Members of the Duke lacrosse team refuse to cooperate with police. Investigators say players are sticking together and not talking. (This continues to the end.)
On March 23, DNA samples from the 46 white players on the lacrosse team are sent for analysis.
On March 27, police conduct a search of McFadyen’s apartment, after his email is turned in to them by a confidential source who was a recipient of the email.
On March 28, the Raleigh News and Observer reports that 15 of the 47 members of the Duke lacrosse team have been previously charged with misdemeanors stemming from drunken and disruptive behavior in the past three years. Most charges were resolved in deals with prosecutors that allowed the players to escape criminal convictions.
On March 28, Duke University president Richard Brodhead suspends the team from play.
On March 29, McFadyen attends a “Take Back the Night” march on campus, protesting sexual violence against women.
On April 5, McFadyen’s email becomes public. The email said (all illiteratese is McFadyen’s own work; he is allegedly an “Atlantic Coast Conference honor roll player”; that probably tells you all you need to know about college athletics today): “tommrow night, after tonights show, ive decided to have some strippers over to edens 2c. all are welcome.. however there will be no nudity. I plan on killing the bitches as soon as the walk in and proceding to cut their skin off while cumming in my duke issue spandex.. all in besides arch and tack please respondâ€
On April 5, Brodhead calls the e-mail “sickening” and “repulsive.”
On April 5, McFadyen’s lawyer, Robert Ekstrand, suggests the email tends to prove there was no rape that night: “the e-mail itself is perfectly consistent with the boys’ unequivocal assertion that no sexual assault took place that evening.”
On April 5, McFadyen is suspended from Duke University, and “removed from campusâ€.
On April 5, coach Mike Pressler offers his resignation, which is promptly accepted.
On April 5, Brodhead announces that five separate commissions will investigate the team’s behavior and the school’s response to the scandal. (It is now 22 days after the alleged rape.)
On April 5, the lacrosse team’s season is cancelled.
On April 5, late in the evening, McFadyen switches lawyers.
On April 11, defense attorneys disclose that DNA test results are negative for all 46 player samples. The attorneys hold triumphant press conferences and appear endlessly on TV.
On April 17, a grand jury hands down two sealed indictments on charges of first-degree rape, first-degree forcible rape and kidnapping.
On April 18, Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty, both 20, are arrested, and released on bail of $400,000 each.
(For those looking for links, most of the facts summarized above – and additional details – can be found here, here, here and here.)
Things that might have played out differently if Duke University officials had followed the Bush administration playbook:
The story would be broken by the landlord of the lacrosse team member at whose residence the alleged rape occurred.
Fifteen of the 47 members of the Duke lacrosse team would never have been previously charged with misdemeanors. Or if they had, the records would have been classified and sealed, and stamped “To Be Leaked Only On President’s Orders”.
Richard Brodhead would not suspend the team from play, to start with. In response to calls for suspension, Brodhead would say: “Of all the hundreds of strippers the lacrosse team has been entertained by in just the last year, it is hardly surprising if one or two end up making rape allegations. That’s all they are, allegations. You know we never comment on allegations. And it’s just her opinion she was raped, isn’t it? Let’s not rush to judgement, I’m sure there are unknown unknowns here. And reputations at stake too, let’s not forget. By the way, Pressler’s doing a heck of a job with these kids.â€
At roughly the same time, lacrosse team members would stop greeting each other by saying: “Dude! Committed any good rapes lately?†In public, that is.
Brodhead would declare that if indeed there was a rape then he was certainly troubled by it, that he very much wanted to know who, if anyone, was responsible, and that he would definitely expel any student who was guilty of rape. Having said that, Brodhead would be seen to be doing absolutely nothing to help find out the identity of the rapists.
After McFadyen wrote his email, his officially assigned academic tutor or the university Office of Cummunications would move in and un-illiteratize it (so that it wouldn’t reflect poorly on the university if it ever came to light).
After McFadyen’s email surfaced, Pressler would not offer his resignation. Brodhead would not comment on the content of the email: “We do not comment on ongoing legal investigations.†He would not comment on whether Pressler would be fired: “I never speculate about personnel matters.†Brodhead would order an immediate investigation of who leaked the email to the police. There would be no question of suspending McFadyen, but the leaker would be expelled, if found.
The next day, university spokesmen would explain to the press that McFadyen’s email had been an assignment for his creative writing class. While privacy rules did not permit them to reveal McFadyen’s grade on the assignment, they could say that he had been relieved to receive a grade, and pleased with the grade he received.
Brodhead would flip a coin to decide if Pressler should be given a medal, or banished to the boondocks. When the coin came up heads, he would hold his head up high, and award Pressler the Duke Medal of Honor for all his multifarious contributions to the honor of the university. (An unfortunate Freudian slip would have him accidentally saying “nefariousâ€.)
Brodhead would resist any and all calls for university investigations into the incident.
The University would sponsor fundraisers to help pay for the legal defense of lacrosse team members.
Brodhead would arrange to leak the results of the DNA tests to the press well before they had even been conveyed to defense attorneys.
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