For Liz Holt, Trinity '81, the conclusion of the lacrosse case last week came as a relief.
"As an alum, I'm happy," she said. "With all the inconsistencies the accuser had in her story, I think it's appropriate that [the charges] were dropped."
Holt is a member of one of 10 classes of Duke alumni that returned to an alma mater this past weekend that has been under intense national scrutiny for more than a year.
Alumni gathered for reunions just days after North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper announced the dismissal of all remaining charges against three members of the 2005-2006 men's lacrosse team.
Charges of rape against David Evans, Trinity '06, Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty were dropped in December, but until last week, the three still faced charges of sexual assault and kidnapping.
In his address to alumni Saturday in a packed Page Auditorium, President Richard Brodhead defended the University's handling of the lacrosse case but also spoke about the importance of working to address issues raised by the case, said John Burness, senior vice president for public affairs and government relations.
"He made the point that we've lived through this for the past year," Burness said. "With the attorney general's decision, there come so many things the University needs to be doing and ought to be doing."
Burness added that the lacrosse situation was not the focus of the speech but said it was necessary for Brodhead to address the issue.
"He spoke about lacrosse last year at this event," Burness said. "It would be pretty hard-given the prominence of the issue for the last year on campus-not to talk about it."
Several alumni said they agreed with the attorney general's decision to drop the charges in light of evidence that favored the three lacrosse players.
"I think that it's great when justice is served," said Seth Squadron, Trinity '97.
Alumni also said their opinions of their alma mater was not largely affected by the lacrosse scandal.
"It hasn't changed too much," said Holt on her perspective of Duke before and after the investigation.
Some added, however, that they hope the administration converts the issues raised during the investigation into real change on campus.
Holt said she believes the scandal will bring to light the inherent problems with the student social scene on campus.
"The attention that was paid to it-the alcohol and parties-was appropriate," Holt said. "That will be a good outcome."
Burness said the atmosphere in Page during Brodhead's speech was distinctly positive.
"There was a pretty warm feeling in the room," he said.
Although a few questions were asked concerning Brodhead's motives in making decisions last spring, Burness said the audience seemed happy with what Brodhead had to say.
"There were several points during which he spoke that people applauded," Burness said.
He added that competition among classes might have stolen the show from the lacrosse issue.
"There were some really funny things," he said.
"One of the guys got up from his class and made the point that his class probably set the record for streaking at Duke," Burness added.
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