Brodhead note – 12-26-06

In comments here, offline and in phone calls many of you have expressed disagreement with Friends of Duke University’s response to Duke President Brodhead’s press release issued following the dropping of the rape charges last Friday, Dec. 22, against three innocent young men – one a recent Duke grad; the other two Duke students still under suspension by the university following their indictments on multiple felony charges.

You can read both Brodhead’s comment and FODU’s response to it here at FODU.

I’ll comment on both statements late this afternoon.

For now I’ll just call attention to a few things I said in my Dec. 23 post, BRODHEAD’S FAILED. (If you haven’t already done so, please read the entire post.)

[…]It’s a plus for justice whenever someone goes from silence in the face of Nifong’s travesties to endorsing what Coleman and so many others have asked for.

But excepting that, I’m not cheering Brodhead’s statement. It’s too little, too late and obviously self-serving. […]

How tough was it back on May 18 to speak out against the racists attacking Seligmann; or to say supporting words to him and his family? And if for some reason Brodhead didn’t think May 18 was the right day to speak, why hasn’t he spoken since?

What kind of university president remains silent for seven months about events like those of May 18?

Brodhead’s failed Duke and Durham. He needs to move on. The sooner, the better.