Duke examines impact of lacrosse incident

Much to the chagrin of Duke administrators and supporters, for many Americans the word "Duke" is now subconsciously followed by the word "lacrosse."

The allegations stemming from a March 13 party and the subsequent media storm have extended the incident far beyond the three lacrosse players indicted in the criminal case.

Aside from more serious criminal charges, the ripples of the incident have been more like waves. The Department of Athletics has been charged with a lack of action that was caused by, at best, poor communication, and, at worst, gross negligence. Members of the administration have faced scrutiny for their failure in proactively addressing growing trends with the men's lacrosse team.

Now a month before the start of the new school year, the athletic department is busy devoting its efforts to repairing the damage to Duke's reputation-and trying to prevent future mishaps.

"Perception is reality"

Prior to the March 13 incident and the subsequent media storm, Duke athletics was said by many in the sports world to have a pristine image.

The success of the Duke athletics program on the field--the Blue Devils own eight national championships and have finished in the top 10 of the Director's Cup standings each of the last two years--and its high academic standards have made it an object of envy. Over the years, there has been a great deal of positive media attention focused on the men's basketball program and its head coach, Mike Krzyzewski.

The image of Duke athletics, however, has taken a significant hit in the national media since the March 13 incident became public, not only because of the alleged events of that night but also because of other facts that have been made public in its aftermath.

David Plati certainly knows what Duke is going through. Plati, assistant athletic director of communications at the University of Colorado at Boulder, went through a similar scandal when nine women made allegations that they were raped by Colorado football players in 2001, and the Boulder County district attorney launched an investigation into claims that the program had deliberately used sex and alcohol to attract recruits.

Plati believes that even if the coverage of Duke's case is extreme, "With a certain percentage of the public, the perception is the reality."

Will Leitch, editor of the popular sports blog Deadspin, agreed, saying nationally this incident will leave a legacy, even if it is not immediately noticeable. "Even lacrosse aside, when someone from Duke gets into trouble, it's much bigger news because it doesn't happen often," Leitch said. "[Now] if someone else from Duke gets in trouble, people will be far less shocked than they would have been a year ago.... It's kind of sad for them because that lofty image is gone."

Jon Jackson, Duke's assistant athletic director of communications, is one of the many officials charged with the responsibility of repairing Duke's public perception. Jackson said that while the presence of basketball and its academic reputation had been enough to get out a favorable message about Duke nationally, the communications staff may now have to make concerted efforts to ensure the media and public take notice of the positive stories surrounding Duke athletics.

That likely includes trying to garner greater publicity for Duke athletes' efforts in the community, including the Emily K Center for Family Life and Ted Roof's mandate that each one of the football players complete a community service project.

"We have always done a tremendous amount of community service but we haven't tooted our own horn, bragged about it," Duke Director of Athletics Joe Alleva said. "We're going to work more closely with University people like Michael Palmer, who heads up the Duke-Durham Initiative. We're going to work more closely with him to perhaps better organize our community service."

The athletic department also plans to let its student athletes shape public perception as the media continues to pay close attention to the University.

"This isn't a place that discourages our kids from talking to the media, because, quite honestly our kids are our best ambassadors," Jackson said. "Those who were involved with speaking to the media in the spring represented us in an unbelievable manner."

Communication breakdown

The most pointed criticism, both internally and externally, has been directed toward the communication both within the athletics department and the University. Highlighted by the fact that President Richard Brodhead discovered the incident through reading about March 20 in The Chronicle, the publication that broke the story, the lines of communication between top officials seemed to break down both before and after the events of the March 13 party.

Jackson and Alleva both cited improved communication as the most pressing need, a need that is still being addressed. Despite Jackson's assertion that student athletes would be free to speak to the media, two men's soccer players declined to comment for this story, one saying he and a teammate were told by their coaches not to provide comment for this story.

"The biggest change is better communication," Alleva said. "That better communication will make for better procedures and better awareness about what's happening. Between the University and athletics, and between administrators and coaches, and coaches and players, I think the whole communication pattern will be much better and clearer."

Although Duke's internal communication suffered breakdowns, many said its public communications during the spring might have helped its image.

While some alumni and parents criticized Brodhead for his delay in responding to the situation, the president has been the University's most consistent voice throughout the situation. Plati said Duke's steadfast message might make its effort to repair its image swifter and easier than the one he has been facing at Colorado.

"One advantage for Duke is it has seemed to have pretty much one voice--the president--speaking for the school throughout this process," Plati said. "In our case, we had the president, the chancellor, provosts and different regents speaking up as well as the athletic director and the football coach, sometimes saying the opposite of each other."

Alumni weigh in

Throughout the controversy, the athletic department kept in close touch with its financial lifeblood, the alumni. The department sent out regular updates to all athletic donors, usually emphasizing Brodhead's message of patience. Not all alumni, however, have been accepting of the situation.

Feinstein has been one of the most vocal alumni, calling for the firing of Alleva, Executive Vice President Tallman Trask and Senior Vice President for Public Affairs and Government Relations John Burness in a May 8 column for AOL sports. He echoed that sentiment in a recent interview with The Chronicle.

"Joe Alleva, even more so Tallman Trask and John Burness, should all be out of work now. It's extremely disturbing Mike Pressler was the only fall guy for all of this," said Feinstein, who was publicly opposed to Alleva's hiring as athletic director in 1998. "You can't just say coach and players alone were responsible for this, you have to look around and ask who was in charge."

Feinstein also said in his May 8 column that Brodhead should have been fired if he had not dismissed Trask and Alleva by the May Board of Trustees meeting. Feinstein cited the pair's disregard of the October 2004 report on the lacrosse team's behavior as the primary reason Brodhead should have fired Trask and Alleva.

Feinstein was not alone in his criticism. The Chronicle ran a staff editorial April 10 calling for Alleva to be fired and Randall Drain, Trinity '05 and an African-American Duke men's lacrosse program alumnus, called for alumni to halt all donations pending an apology from Brodhead in a June 15 column.

Alleva made news himself when he received 42 stitches to his head following a boating accident June 23 in which his son, J.D. Alleva, was charged with operating the vehicle while impaired. The 52-year-old, however, has dismissed calls for his firing as lacking the full story, and Burness said in late April that the University's support for Alleva had not changed.

"I don't think the public always has all the facts and understands," Alleva said. "It's easy to point the blame at someone for something. I have 600 athletes. You have to do the best you can to make sure they're doing things the right way but you can't know what they're doing every minute of every day."

Athletic donor and former trustee John Koskinen, '61, said he believes most alumni still support Alleva, whom Koskinen said should learn from this situation. Koskinen said he has heard some criticism from alumni, but that it has been varied.

"You're always going to have a bell-shaped curve," said Koskinen, whose namesake, Koskinen Stadium, serves as the homefield for the lacrosse team. "But most supporters, like myself, feel the University responded very well to the maelstrom that arose and feel the leaders are doing a good job trying to address these underlying problems."

Any alumni outrage has yet to show up on the bottom line, as Alleva said fundraising efforts since the incident have been successful, and half of the $14 million raised for the new Center for Athletic Excellence has been brought in since October.

Tom Coffman, director of athletics development, also said the fiscal year, which ended July 1, was the best ever for the Iron Dukes in total contributions. Coffman noted, however, that any negative effects resulting from the lacrosse incident would likely be felt in the coming year.

"This occurred after most people had made their pledges for the year, so we will know more as things play out in the coming months," Coffman said. "We have heard from parents who were disappointed in the situation, and it surely has affected their giving, but it's just too early to tell the total effect of the situation."

After all the public criticism and a few months that Jackson described as internally and externally "trying and full of raw emotion," most in the athletic department have finally begun to look forward.

"This department will end up being better in the years to come because of what has transpired this spring," Alleva said. "This incident has bonded the department together, and everyone is going to work harder and do things to show the country that Duke does do things the right way, and we're going to continue being one of the best athletic departments in the country."

Greg Beaton contributed to this story.