Spring Break
Dowd suit settled, but not closed
Issue date: 5/17/07 Section: Editorial
Last update: 5/17/07 at 9:44 AM EST
Last update: 5/17/07 at 9:44 AM EST
A full year after the final indictment came down on David Evans, closure to the lacrosse case finally seems to be at hand these days.
All charges have been dropped, the media has gone away and just this week, former men's lacrosse player Kyle Dowd's lawsuit against the University has been settled out of court. This past January, Dowd, Trinity '06, said Professor Kim Curtis unfairly gave him a failing grade in a Spring 2006 class because he was a member of the lacrosse team.
"This lawsuit has been settled through mediation to the mutual satisfaction of Kyle Dowd and his family and Duke University, and without any admission by any party of legal liability," the joint statement reads. Dowd will receive a 'P' on his transcript and pass the course.
The settlement is reassuring and even has lacrosse blogger KC Johnson and some of the administration's harshest critics commending Duke for taking the high road. Justice, it seems, has finally come to Wonderland.
But the settlement also carries a sweep-it-under-the-rug feel to it, and its details are still murky and need to be cleared up.
Throughout the lacrosse case, the administration has consistently preserved a place for freedom of speech while disapproving of hate mail and threats against any side. Duke has been, for the most part, forthright in its handling of the so-called "Group of 88" professors who signed the social disaster ad in The Chronicle last year. In addition, the University is now moving toward a new grade-appeal policy.
The end of the Dowd case, however, sets a bad precedent. It's over, both sides appear to be happy, but there are still a number of loose ends to a story that raises crucial questions of academic freedom and campus culture. Students want to know how the University will step in if a teacher crosses certain lines, and they also want to know whether they should still take a class with Kim Curtis-the major actor in this story, who the administration did not respond to in its settlement.
It's unnerving that Duke hasn't been transparent in this case. The administration's handling of the Dowd suit sets a bad precedent for how Duke may handle other similar cases in the future and how it is moving on in the aftermath of the lacrosse case.
Closure is now in sight for a campus that has been rocked in a major way this past year, but closure will also be hard to come by if Duke opts to start cleaning up by sweeping crucial matters like the Dowd case under the rug.
All charges have been dropped, the media has gone away and just this week, former men's lacrosse player Kyle Dowd's lawsuit against the University has been settled out of court. This past January, Dowd, Trinity '06, said Professor Kim Curtis unfairly gave him a failing grade in a Spring 2006 class because he was a member of the lacrosse team.
"This lawsuit has been settled through mediation to the mutual satisfaction of Kyle Dowd and his family and Duke University, and without any admission by any party of legal liability," the joint statement reads. Dowd will receive a 'P' on his transcript and pass the course.
The settlement is reassuring and even has lacrosse blogger KC Johnson and some of the administration's harshest critics commending Duke for taking the high road. Justice, it seems, has finally come to Wonderland.
But the settlement also carries a sweep-it-under-the-rug feel to it, and its details are still murky and need to be cleared up.
Throughout the lacrosse case, the administration has consistently preserved a place for freedom of speech while disapproving of hate mail and threats against any side. Duke has been, for the most part, forthright in its handling of the so-called "Group of 88" professors who signed the social disaster ad in The Chronicle last year. In addition, the University is now moving toward a new grade-appeal policy.
The end of the Dowd case, however, sets a bad precedent. It's over, both sides appear to be happy, but there are still a number of loose ends to a story that raises crucial questions of academic freedom and campus culture. Students want to know how the University will step in if a teacher crosses certain lines, and they also want to know whether they should still take a class with Kim Curtis-the major actor in this story, who the administration did not respond to in its settlement.
It's unnerving that Duke hasn't been transparent in this case. The administration's handling of the Dowd suit sets a bad precedent for how Duke may handle other similar cases in the future and how it is moving on in the aftermath of the lacrosse case.
Closure is now in sight for a campus that has been rocked in a major way this past year, but closure will also be hard to come by if Duke opts to start cleaning up by sweeping crucial matters like the Dowd case under the rug.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 27
Mike Lee
posted 5/17/07 @ 11:09 AM EST
This article is on the right track but does not go nearly far enough. The students, alumni, and parents deserve to know if Kim Curtis is guilty of the offenses Dowd alleged. (Continued…)
anonymous
posted 5/17/07 @ 11:30 AM EST
First a minor correction to the editorial: Curtis did not flunk Dowd because he was "a lacrosse player", but because he was a WHITE lacrosse player.
But when you think of it, did Curtis do anything not in the Duke spirit? I mean, Duke does the same thing to whites every year at admissions time, right? It makes no sense that the university can arbitrarily discriminate against whites but that a university employee cannot. (Continued…)
Savant
posted 5/17/07 @ 7:12 PM EST
I agree with Mr. Lee.
The adults finally stepped in on the lacrosse business and let us know, without equivocation, that the three players were completely innocent and victims of a rogue prosecuter. (Continued…)
how were grades calculated?
posted 5/17/07 @ 7:47 PM EST
In some courses, grading is done in a very murky way where students don't really know what is expected of them nor do they know how to calculate their own grade. (Continued…)
Jay
posted 5/17/07 @ 10:13 PM EST
Kim Curtis is an a**hole and should clearly be fired. Isn't that abundantly clear? Any other result is a craven whitewash. This is not even debatable on the known facts. (Continued…)
sara
posted 5/18/07 @ 8:11 AM EST
It is sad that this professor permitted the zeal of her radical ideology to overcome her sense of humanity and honor. There were 88 professors who joined her in this cause of zero sum hate and injustice. (Continued…)
Savant
posted 5/18/07 @ 10:53 AM EST
5/17 @ 9:52 PM
Good question, soon to be payer of three college tuitions.
The issue with Curtis is that her alleged behavior flies in the face of Duke's policies as I understand them. (Continued…)
Anon
posted 5/18/07 @ 8:21 PM EST
There is a relatively new site (to me at least) that could be of interest to people who have been following the Lacrosse Rape Hoax and the Ensuring Hilarity. (Continued…)
Mrs. Reality
posted 5/19/07 @ 1:39 AM EST
Ms. Curtis,
Your career is officially a disgrace. Your lack of ethics, prejudice and bigotry has been exposed.
Until your last dying breath on this planet, you will be remembered as a pitiful excuse for a teacher who forever lost the respect of your students and peers. (Continued…)
sara
posted 5/20/07 @ 8:55 AM EST
To David Wynn:
"...I think the question we have to ask ourselves is who should ultimately decide the makeup of the student body in a university. Should it be the people, selected through textbook merit and other student based quantitative measures (thus disregarding legacy, other university donations and other extraneous possibilities), regardless of how diverse the body may turn out to be, or do we allow universities to put a higher value on the student body as a whole, a component of which may be diversity and gender distribution, over the individual students?. (Continued…)
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