Too little, too late

I'm reading UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT about this case, perhaps the most depressing book I've ever read for what it says about American culture today. Most depressing to me was the behavior of too many of Duke's faculty, my colleagues in professional spirit. I'll have more to say about this when I finish the book. But almost everyone became irrational and hysterical in this sad moment, from the rogue DA to the cowardly university prez to faculty jumping on the band wagon for their own agenda to a mainstream media pandering to the commercial scandal at hand. Shameful. A bright spot was the student newspaper and student journalists, who kept their cool and waited for evidence before they started making proclamations. And there were individual faculty heroes, like a black woman professor who backed the lacrosse players from the beginning because she'd had many in her class and didn't see such behavior in their character. You have to prove this before I'll believe it, was her all too rare attitude. Good for her. Good for the student journalists. And shame on many more. (An interesting note: no professor in the hard sciences jumped on the band wagon, not one, as if by training they knew what evidence and proof are, something too many history, English and women's studies professors neglected to care about. These kids were privileged, white, rich, obviously they must be guilty, look at history, appeared to be their attitude.).

clipped from news.yahoo.com Duke apologizes to lacrosse players By AARON BEARD, Associated Press Writer DURHAM, N.C. - Duke University President Richard Brodhead apologized Saturday for not better supporting the men's lacrosse team and their families after three players were falsely accused in last year's highly publicized rape scandal.