Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Sympathy for the (non-raping) Blue Devils

I've met a lot of Duke alumni, and almost all of them, I like a lot. They're like Michigan grads only they dress better and use hair products.

Maybe I've just met the good ones, but Duke is one of those schools -- like Berkeley, Dartmouth, and NYU Law -- that I don't have any connection to but feel warmly about. No fancy reason, they just produced good people who love their schools as much as I love mine.

Nonetheless, today Duke is the most disgusting institution in America. The underlying lacrosse horror is bad enough, but the university administration doesn't give any indication that it knows it's in the center of a race-and-class shitstorm. As with any Washington scandal, it looks like the head honchos are circling the wagons and taking small steps in hopes of placating the critics.

If I were a Duke alumnus, I'd be pissed; if I were a Duke senior, I'd be outraged. And if I lived in the surrounding neighborhoods, I'd be gathering the torches and pitchforks.

Lastly, here's a good rule of thumb. It equally applies to politicians, gang-raping frat guys, and sixth graders. Whenever a person's rallying cry to the public is "Innocent until proven guilty," instead of, "Hey, I'm innocent, and I'll prove it to everyone," it's safe to assume that this person has screwed up.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

i don't agree with this. people who are innocent don't have to prove it to anyone. and sometimes when you're accused, the smartest thing to do is just shut up.

Flop said...

Someone else raised the same point to me in conversation. I can't quarrel with the sentiment, but will only add that when a public case relies on procedural safeguards instead of claims of substantive innocence, there's usually a reason.