Brodhead's presidency endures trial by ordeal

Duke University President Richard Brodhead imparted some wisdom to graduates in May: "Your Duke days could never teach you how to cope with every challenge the future will throw at you."

That lesson has been pounded into him the past few weeks.

Brodhead, nearly two years into his first college presidency, has found himself dealing with a crisis that threatens to tarnish Duke's sterling reputation.

The dignified Yale English professor turned dean turned Duke president has had to sit uncomfortably under hot TV lights to be grilled about the sordid details of an investigation into whether a woman was raped at a Duke men's lacrosse team party. The players and their attorneys say no rape occurred.

The incident blew up into a national story, with the caption "Duke Rape?" crawling across TV screens around the clock. The Duke administration's early inaction puzzled many and angered some Duke faculty, students and Durham residents.

The rage subsided somewhat this week, when Brodhead announced a wide-ranging response to the situation. He appointed five groups to examine different elements of the issue, including the lacrosse program, campus culture, student discipline and his own administration's handling of the incident.

"This is a moment of truth for everyone, including him," said Sonia Dolutskaya, a graduate student who attended protests and a meeting last week with Brodhead.

Dolutskaya fears that lasting damage has been done to Duke and Durham. The day she and more than 100 students met with Brodhead, she said, "They have realized that not giving out information and waiting is a strategy that is no longer working."

More than a week ago, Brodhead halted the lacrosse season pending a clearer legal resolution to the police investigation. But that wasn't enough for many at Duke.

"There was a feeling among faculty that the administration could have responded more forcefully and with more vision early on," said Orin Starn, a professor of cultural anthropology.

Behind the scenes, Brodhead and his top advisers met daily. He began to assemble his plan and reached out to higher education leaders, Duke and Durham representatives, and others to serve on groups.

Resignation accepted

Then, on Wednesday, Brodhead accepted lacrosse coach Mike Pressler's resignation after court documents were released that revealed an e-mail message from a lacrosse player's account. The message talked of hiring strippers, killing them and skinning them.

A few hours later, Brodhead announced his action plan. He sent out a lengthy letter to the Duke community, promising to handle the issues in a "positive, substantive and ongoing way."

Tom Beckett, a friend and athletics director at Yale, circulated that letter to 200 people in his department because he said everyone could learn from it.

"Thankfully for all of us, Dick Brodhead is at Duke because this is a watershed moment for all of us to do things the right way," Beckett said.

A lifelong Yalie, Brodhead arrived at Duke in the summer of 2004 with plenty of administrative skill as dean of Yale College.

But he had no experience in the world of big-time college athletics. On his first day in the president's office, he was faced with what then seemed a crisis: Mike Krzyzewski, the Duke basketball coach, had a job offer from the Los Angeles Lakers. Brodhead joined a student rally in support of Coach K, something that surprised some people who viewed the whole affair as a power play by the coach.

Working the phones the July Fourth weekend, Brodhead negotiated with Coach K to stay.