Duke's True Confession?

Confession time: I'm no fan of Duke. The school wore out its welcome with the breathless hype of its basketball team in the 90s. I respect Coach K for what he has done there, but I'm tired of hearing about it.

Now comes this from the infamous Duke lacrosse team storyline:
Mark at WannabeAnglican posted a letter from the Duke Trustees announcing their admiration for the character of these young men who are now pronounced innocent by the state DA. It concludes as follows:

Throughout the past year President Richard Brodhead consulted regularly with the trustees and has had our continuing support. He made considered and thoughtful decisions in a volatile and uncertain situation. Each step of the way, the board agreed with the principles that he established and the action she took. As we look back and with the benefit of what we now know there is noquestion that there are some things that might have been done differently. However, anyone critical of President Brodhead should be similarly critical ofthe entire board.

In closing, we express our relief for today's outcome and recognize the character that our three students, their teammates and all of their families have shown over the past year. Furthermore, we hope that the resolution of this unfair, divisive and painful episode can serve to unite us all. There is much to learn from the events that we have lived through, and we intend to put this learning to use. Duke is a great university that steps up to challenges and opportunities, and together we will use this moment to make our community stronger.

But if I'm remembering things correctly there are some other areas that might be addressed by the school:

• a very successful coach lost his job;
• some of the team members transferred to other schools to find a safer place for their education;
• these three lost their reputations, no matter what the DA and MSNBC report;
• faculty and students were allowed to create an atmosphere of hatred for the lacrosse team on campus;
• protests were targeted at the team and these young men specifically;
• relations between town and gown were shredded, not to mention neighboring schools;

I'm certain more could be said.

Now we are supposed to believe Duke leaders that these young men are men of excellent character?

If this were real BS I could power a medium-sized city for at least a year. As it is this is standard Bravo Sierra from people who are hoping the school endowment won't have to pay out too much cash.

My respect for Duke is even less after this.