DSG and Lacrosse
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As the voice of the Duke undergraduate population, DSG has a significant role to play in responding the lacrosse incident and the associated media coverage, and in participating in the institutional response. The DSG officers present during all or part of summer 2006 spent significant time working on initiatives and attending meetings that related directly or indrectly to the lacrosse allegations, and we expect that many of our activities and agenda items undertaken over the next year will be associated with them. Media inquiries
All media inquiries should be directed to Paul Slattery or Jordan Giordano; reporters should not come directly to the DSG office without an appointment.
We have been fielding media requests throughout the spring and summer in order to disseminate students' perspectives on the events of March 13 and the ensuing turmoil, and will be working throughout the 2006-2007 schedule to accurately and publicly portray Duke students to the world. Many students have expressed to us their feeling that Duke undergraduates have been unfairly portrayed in the media, and we as students are in the best position to address that.
We also recognize that, in many cases, Duke Student Government executives and senators are not the best people to address certain issues. Our primary responsibility is to represent all students and to act as the student voice in as broad a capacity as possible, and thus we are currently looking for students outside of DSG and with different perspectives/backgrounds than our own to refer media requests to. If you are willing to discuss the lacrosse situation or other aspects of Duke culture publicly, please contact Genevieve Cody, Vice President for Community Interaction.
Our role in the institutional response
The lacrosse incident has prompted deep introspection on the Duke campus and among Duke students about various aspects of our institution and ourselves. Much of the institution's response to the events are outlined in statements from President Brodhead, which are linked from Duke's Office of News & Communications.
DSG President Elliott Wolf is a member of the steering committee of the Campus Culture Initiative, one of the committees created by President Brodhead in the wake of the lacrosse allegations. He is the only undergraduate student member to have attended meetings during both summer sessions, and will be continuing on the committee and seeking to further involve undergraduates as students return in the fall.
Members of DSG are also actively involved in discussions of policy changes in the wake of the lacrosse incident that may take effect as early as the fall semester.
DSG's independent initiatives
The lacrosse incident has also provided us with the impetus to undertake projects and pursue relationships that we might not have otherwise. Over the summer, DSG executives and cabinet members have been working closely with North Carolina Central University in order to find ways to bridge the gap between ourselves through collaboration and interaction. We recognize that this relationship would not have come about without the lacrosse incident, but are coming together to for the benefit both of our respective institutions, student bodies, and the wider Durham community.
The lacrosse incident has also increased our resolve to better acclamate students to the Durham coummunity. As part of that effort, we sought and received administrative funding to bring the Durham Herald-Sun to campus through our Newspaper Readership Program, and it is now available at five different locations on-campus free for undergraduates. For more information on this our other community outreach efforts, click here. From the 2005-2006 scool year:
