Duke forbids exotic dancers

Changes to the Bulletin of Information and Regulations regarding judicial policies have sparked concern among a number of student leaders this year.

Leaders said they are questioning, among other modifications, a provision that prohibits students from hiring exotic dancers to perform at events. The University makes additions and alterations to the bulletin every year.

Like the other changes, the rule regarding exotic dancers is effective this academic year.

In Chapter 5 of the bulletin, "Event Guidelines and Registration," the new rule states "strippers may not be invited or paid to perform at events sponsored by individual students, residential living groups or cohesive units."

Stephen Bryan, associate dean of students and director of judicial affairs, said the change was not an addition but rather the inclusion of an accidentally removed policy.

A clause regarding exotic dancers originally existed in the bulletin until the 2003-2004 academic year but was inadvertently omitted in 2004 when fire safety guidelines for themed parties were expanded, he explained.

This year, the provision was reinstated following an exotic dancer's accusations that members of the men's lacrosse team raped her at an off-campus party in March.

Since then, Duke Student Government leaders have criticized the wording of the clause as unclear, questioning whether the jurisdiction extends to off-campus functions.

McGannon said her observations have led her to investigate broader student concerns about this year's changes to the University judicial policies. She is currently working with other members of DSG to compile a report of rules that students have called into question.

"There are some changes that different people find objectionable," McGannon said. "We're not really sure exactly what student input was put into this."

Bryan said each year alterations to the bulletin stem from a general pool of concerns he collects from students, faculty and staff.

"The changes come about from experiences in the prior year," he said. "Any time there is a significant policy change, there is usually a lot of discussion in the campus community."

Although individual students are encouraged to approach the Office of Judicial Affairs, most communication with undergraduates is filtered through DSG, he added.

DSG President Elliott Wolf, a junior, said, however, students were not sufficiently aware of the judicial policies. In August, Wolf sent a memorandum to Bryan asking him to circulate recent policy changes among students.

"If you're not going to tell students about what rules you're going to change, you should at least tell them about the rules," Wolf said. "As soon as we drew attention to the fact that this wasn't publicized, they started publicizing it."

Bryan said changes to the regulations-which are not available online-are accessible to students in many ways.All freshmen received a hard copy of the bulletin during orientation. Over the summer, Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, sent an e-mail to all upperclassmen with a link to the Judicial Affairs website-where another link to this year's changes was posted.

Bryan said students contractually agree to Duke's judicial policies when they accept their admission to the University. He added, however, that many students make no effort to study the guidelines because most do not disobey them.

"No one really reads this information until there is a reason for it to come under one's radar," Bryan said.

Wolf noted, however, that students have expressed concern about judicial matters to him before.