studentsound-off

At the height of the lacrosse case, students were asked their opinion of the lacrosse team and the answers were not generally positive. Two years after the case closed, The Chronicle asks students what their perceptions were back then and whether or not those have changed. -compiled by Lindsey Rupp

"I feel like attention has drifted away from [the case and the team]. I don't think about the lacrosse players, I don't know any of them and it doesn't really affect me. I feel like a lot of other stuff has gone on since then and taken people's attention away." -Sarah Freitas, sophomore

"I'm from northern New Hampshire, and it's interesting-that's the one thing people think of when they think of Duke, besides basketball, whenever I tell them 'I'm going to Duke.'" -Nathaniel Hill, freshman "I'd say most [perceptions] formed from the Rolling Stone article and crap I heard on the news, but once we got here, it wasn't that bad." -Dillon Barron, junior

"[I was] actually interviewed by a news channel, and I told them I'd just seen what happened, you know, innocent until proven guilty, and other than that I'd just wait for a verdict.... I didn't really have much of a view toward the team to begin with, so it's hard to say it's changed. My awareness of the team increased of the case, but it's over." -Gao Young, senior

"Coming over here [from London] and meeting students involved in the case, I felt like it was so overblown, people just jumped to conclusions and started to judge the players and the girl involved. And now it's over, and I feel like it's still left a mark. It's almost shameful that everyone jumped to conclusions, and I hope people learned from that." -Prisha Dass, graduate student

"I would say there were people on campus who had a negative perception of the lacrosse team even before the incident. I think there was some negative sentiment, but specifically after it happened, the campus formed to support our lacrosse team.... So maybe there were some negative perceptions, but [the consensus was], 'No, these guys are really good kids.'" -Michael Worsman, junior

"At the time it was going on, I had the stereotype that they did do it, but I felt bad about believing that stereotype later. But now the program is fine, people don't really have negative feelings toward them because they're innocent." -Vivek Patel, freshman