ASHE SCHOW: No remorse from administrators in Duke lacrosse rape hoax.
It’s been nearly 10 years since members of the Duke University lacrosse team held the party that would destroy their lives due to a false accusation of rape.
None of the campus administrators who branded the young men as rapists before the evidence was collected ever faced consequences, and it appears they have no remorse for their actions.
Richard Brodhead is still president of Duke, and in an interview with the Duke Chronicle, said he was “certainly at ease in my conscience” regarding the way he and his administration treated the innocent students who were falsely accused. Brodhead also said “I don’t spend my time looking back on this” and said the whole incident “was distracting.”
Oh, so sorry that forever tarnishing the reputations of innocent students was “distracting” for you, Mr. president.
In 2007, Brodhead showed a little more remorse, calling his actions “a mistake” and apologizing for what he had done. Yet now, Brodhead appears to be just fine with what he had done to the students and their families.
K.C. Johnson, who co-wrote the book on the case, pointed to a statement Brodhead made in 2006, in the heat of the accusation, where he presumed the guilt of his own students and blamed them for possibly being falsely accused.
“If our students did what is alleged, it is appalling to the worst degree,” Brodhead said back then. “If they didn’t do it, whatever they did is bad enough.”
This is victim-blaming, yet those who perpetuate the belief that rape is rampant on college campuses won’t admit that the falsely accused are victims, too.
Richard Brodhead is a horrible human being who brings disgrace upon Duke University and academia as a whole.