The Group of 88 is the term for those professors at
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist Jam ...
in North Carolina who in April 2006 were signatories to a controversial advertisement in
''The Chronicle'', the university's student newspaper. The advertisement addressed the
Duke lacrosse case
The Duke lacrosse case was a widely reported 2006 criminal case in Durham, North Carolina, United States in which three members of the Duke University men's lacrosse team were falsely accused of rape. The three students were David Evans, Collin ...
that had arisen in mid-March, in which an African-American woman claimed to have been raped by three white members of
Duke's lacrosse team at a party where she was hired as a dancer.
The incident was under police investigation when the ad was published, and the signatories were criticized for commenting on the case at that stage. They said they were trying to start a dialog about issues of race and sexual assault at the university. Because of the lack of forensic evidence and other issues, about a year later the
North Carolina Attorney General
The Attorney General of North Carolina is a statewide elected office in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The attorney general is a constitutional officer responsible for representing state agencies in legal matters, supplying other state offici ...
dropped all charges against the players and declared them to be innocent.
Background
Duke lacrosse case
Crystal Mangum
Crystal Gail Mangum (born July 18, 1978) is a former exotic dancer and convicted murderer from Durham, North Carolina, who is best known for having made false allegations of rape against lacrosse players in the 2006 Duke lacrosse case. The fact ...
, an African-American student at
North Carolina Central University
North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a public historically black university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliation with the Chautauqua movement in 1909, it was supported by private funds from b ...
who worked part-time as a stripper, was hired to perform at a party held on March 13, 2006 at the house of two of the lacrosse team's captains in
Durham, North Carolina
Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...
. Several hours after the party, after becoming involved in an altercation that required police assistance, Mangum told police that three white Duke University lacrosse team members had raped her. Her allegations were later shown to be false and without basis.
Background of the ''Chronicle'' advertisement
Publicity about the scandal spread quickly. National media highlighted the class and racial differences between Mangum and the players. Many commentators and observers rushed to judgment.
At an African & African-American Studies forum on March 29 at Duke, organizers invited students "to voice their frustration with the current situation and, it became apparent, with the university as a whole".
[Yaeger, Don, and Mike Pressler. ''It's Not about the Truth: The Untold Story of the Duke Lacrosse Case and the Lives It Shattered''. New York: Threshold Editions, 2007 pp. 119-121, 256.] The students' remarks formed the basis for the advertisement.
The ad, entitled "What Does a Social Disaster Sound Like?", included compiled quotes from students at the forum, who were expressing concerns about conditions at Duke.
The page cited anonymous student claims of sexism and racial harassment at the Duke campus. Students were encouraged to continue to express their concerns. Some 88 professors signed their names to the open letter; they came from across various departments and sections of the humanities at the university.
Commentary and criticism
National media
John Podhoretz
John Mordecai Podhoretz (; born April 18, 1961) is an American writer. He is the editor of ''Commentary'' magazine, a columnist for the ''New York Post'', the author of several books on politics, and a former speechwriter for Presidents Ronald ...
wrote in the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' that: "The school has perhaps 700 professors who teach undergrads. So, at a moment when Duke students were being shadowed by a rape accusation, one-ninth of their professoriate had effectively declared that those students did not deserve the
presumption of innocence
The presumption of innocence is a legal principle that every person accused of any crime is considered innocent until proven guilty. Under the presumption of innocence, the legal burden of proof is thus on the prosecution, which must present com ...
– primarily because so many of their fellow students were supposedly being victimized by the atmosphere of 'racism and sexism. Podhoretz quoted Stephen Baldwin, a professor of chemistry who said: "There was a collision between
political correctness
''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...
and
due process
Due process of law is application by state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to the case so all legal rights that are owed to the person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual pers ...
, and political correctness won."
In Howard Wasserman's book ''Institutional Failures'' (2010), he cites a university investigation at the time into the lacrosse players' personal behavior by
Duke Law School
Duke University School of Law (Duke Law School or Duke Law) is the law school of Duke University, a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. One of Duke's 10 schools and colleges, the School of Law is a constituent academic unit th ...
professor
James Earl Coleman
James Earl Coleman Jr. (born December 1, 1946) is an American attorney at law, attorney. He currently serves as the John S. Bradway Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Criminal Justice and Professional Responsibility at the Duke Univer ...
. He found that the players charged with alleged rape were "good students who caused no problems in the class, treated Duke staffers with respect...and had no record of sexist, racist, or other forms of anti-social behavior."
[Wasserman, Howard M. (ed.), ''Institutional Failures: Duke Lacrosse, Universities, the News Media, and the Legal System'', Ashgate Publishing, December 16, 2010.]
Duke students and faculty
Kim Curtis, a visiting associate professor in the Political Science department who specializes in political and feminist theory, was among the signers of the April 2006 piece in ''The Chronicle''.
That semester she failed two members of the lacrosse team who were in one of her classes. When one of them appealed the grade, Duke did not act immediately. Eventually the university administration raised his grade from "F" to "D". Kyle Dowd and his parents sued Curtis and the university. Duke later settled, and recorded his grade as "Pass".
[ Johnson, K.C. & ]Stuart Taylor Jr.
Stuart Taylor Jr. is an American journalist and author with conservative political leanings. He also served as a Nonresident Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and practices law occasionally. He was a reporter for the ...
(2010-04-01). ''Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and the Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case'' (Kindle Location 4568-4578). Macmillan. Kindle Edition.
Michael Gustafson, a Duke engineering professor cited in Johnson and Taylor's 2010 book, expressed concerns that restrictions on stereotyping had not been observed and after the scandal broke, the student athletes were assumed to be guilty. He suggested that the accused lacrosse players had not been evaluated as individuals, but as caricatures, making it easier for commentators to criticize them.
[Johnson & Taylor. (2010-04-01). ''Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and the Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case'' (Kindle Locations 3114-3121). Macmillan. Kindle Edition.]
English professor
Cathy Davidson
Cathy N. Davidson (born 1949) is an American scholar and university professor. Beginning July 1, 2014, she is a professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
She was a professor of English at Duke University in 2006. She ...
was among those who signed the ad. She published an Opinion piece in the ''
Raleigh News & Observer
''The News & Observer'' is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county sea ...
'' in January 2007, saying that the ad "expressed the anguish of students who felt demeaned by racist and sexist remarks swirling around in the media and on the campus quad in the aftermath of what happened on March 13 in the lacrosse house."
[Davidson, Cathy. "In the Aftermath of a Social Disaster", ''Raleigh News & Observer'', January 5, 2007, pg A18; Quoted in the book ''Institutional Failures''.]
In 2007, ten months after the April 10 open letter or advertisement in ''The Chronicle'', a group of 17 economics faculty signed an alternative petition, stating "the Group of 88 does not speak for all Duke faculty".
Clarifying letter
Numerous professors who had signed the open letter continued to be concerned as the case was investigated. They established a website entitled Concerned Duke Faculty. On January 16, 2007, "An Open Letter to the Duke Community" was posted at the website. It was signed by 87 faculty members, many of whom had been among the "Group of 88".
They said that the original piece had had been misinterpreted and that they had intended it to address issues of racism and sexism in the community, not to prejudge the Mangum alleged rape case: "We reject all attempts to try the case outside the courts, and stand firmly by the principle of the presumption of innocence." They also refused "to retract the ad or apologize for it." Their January letter said that Duke fosters an "atmosphere that allows sexism, racism, and sexual violence to be so prevalent on campus."
[Johnson & Taylor. (2010-04-01). ''Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and the Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case'' (Kindle Locations 6881-6886). Macmillan. Kindle Edition.]
Aftermath
In 2007 the
North Carolina Attorney General
The Attorney General of North Carolina is a statewide elected office in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The attorney general is a constitutional officer responsible for representing state agencies in legal matters, supplying other state offici ...
dropped charges against the lacrosse players and declared them innocent.
A 2007 poll of Duke faculty found that 82 percent of those responding were "troubled by the actions by the Group of 88."
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References
External links
{{Duke University
2006 in lacrosse
2006 in North Carolina
2007 in North Carolina
Academic scandals
Duke Blue Devils men's lacrosse
History of Durham, North Carolina
Mass media-related controversies in the United States
Race and law in the United States
Duke University faculty