Lacrosse will return to Duke

The school's president gives the sport another chance but says that its culture will change

DURHAM -- Calling it a gamble, Duke University President Richard Brodhead resurrected the school's troubled men's lacrosse program Monday.

He promised new rules and tighter oversight of a team that has been in limbo since a woman alleged she was raped at a team party off campus March 13.

"I told the team, when I met with them early in the month of May, that if and when Duke was to resume the playing of lacrosse, we simply could not return to the status quo as of March 12," Brodhead said at a news conference where he also vowed to personally oversee athletics at Duke.

Brodhead placed the lacrosse program in the hands of 25-year-old Kevin Cassese, a Duke assistant coach this past season and captain of the 2003 Duke team. Cassese will serve as interim coach until a permanent coach is hired.

The announcement came two months after Brodhead canceled the team's season and accepted Coach Mike Pressler's resignation while a rape investigation swirled around the players and fueled intense national media coverage. Three players have been indicted on rape and kidnapping charges; they maintain their innocence.

The university will impose tougher rules that prohibit underage drinking, disorderly conduct and harassment on the basis of race, sex or sexual orientation.

The lacrosse team standard -- written by players and approved by Brodhead -- requires athletes to notify the coach and athletics director of any violation within 24 hours. Penalties include counseling and community service for a first offense; a three-game suspension for a second offense; and suspension for the season for a third violation.

A faculty committee that investigated the culture of Duke lacrosse reported in May that the team had a pack culture and an alarming pattern of alcohol-related misconduct -- but no evidence of racial or sexual violence. Last week, Duke player Matthew P. Wilson of Durham was suspended from the team after being charged with driving while impaired and possession of marijuana.

Probationary decision

"I am, I know, taking something of a risk in reinstating men's lacrosse," Brodhead said Monday. "The reinstatement is inevitably probationary. If we begin to see patterns of irresponsible individual or team behavior familiar from the past, the athletics director and I will have no choice but to revisit this decision, and we won't hesitate to do so."

But, he added, "If we did not allow these players the chance to take responsibility for creating a new history for their sport at Duke, we would be denying another fundamental value: namely, the belief in the possibility of learning through experience."

Parents of Duke players were happy with the decision Monday.

"That was good news, allowing the boys to get back to the sport they love," said George Jennison of Richmond, Va., whose son Jay is a rising junior. "My son -- like the rest of them -- he's thrilled about it ... but foremost in everyone's minds is the defense of those three young men who we all feel are innocent."

Dr. Robert Gutman, a former professor who lives in Trinity Park, where the lacrosse party occurred, said university leaders initially were too slow to act in the lacrosse case. But more recently, he said, "they're recognizing the issue is character, leadership and clarity of purpose and responsibility."

Now, Gutman said, Duke has set the stage for real change among athletes and among Duke students in general. "We had to go through all that in order to see Duke wake up."

Besides specific new rules for lacrosse, the university is developing a code of conduct for all Duke athletes. And further, Brodhead said he would assume direct responsibility over athletics.