Grab a Gun, Lock the Door!
Posted 4 years ago, at the start of May.
Yesterday morning a rally was held off Duke’s campus by the New Black Panther party in response to the ongoing rape investigations of the lacrosse team. The group led a prayer vigil, assembled peacefully in front of an off-campus house, and held a press conference on behalf of the exotic dancer alleging she was raped. How did the university respond? They locked the doors and hired security.
For this past weekend, Duke has been in lock-down mode. Student access cards, which usually grant full access to all dorms and most buildings were placed in restricted mode, only allowing students to enter their own dorms (all non-dorm buildings were still accessible). Security guards wandered the quad, protecting us from invaders which never came. And all of this was in response to a press conference.
In an email to all students and faculty at Duke on Saturday, President Broadhead wrote the following concerning a communication between Duke police and the Panthers:
[…] “This afternoon, Duke Police were in contact with representatives of that organization [the New Black Panthers]. Duke Police were told that the group plans to hold a press conference/demonstration on Durham city property outside West Campus on Monday at 10:00a.m. They informed Duke Police that they have no intention of entering the campus to be disruptive in any way. They also assured us they will not have guns.” […]
Don’t get me wrong – I understand the concern arising from a historically militant group congregating outside campus. But don’t you think this type of issue could be better addressed through communication rather than lockdown? Duke’s public image isn’t so hot right now, and in my mind this response only serves to make us look more like a school filled with a bunch of pretentious rich kids.
Furthermore, I fail to see how inconveniencing Duke-card carrying students by not allowing them to enter friend’s dorms could enhance security. Yelling up to a friend’s windows to let me in (during reading break no less) or shadowing a resident through the door to visit a friend is a rather stupid inconvenience and in my mind only served to weaken security if it had any impact whatsoever.
I strongly believe that this school is an institution largely free from bigotry or hate. Duke may be located in South, but you would never guess that looking by at my fellow students. They’re a pretty amazing group of people, and should not be lumped in with the idiots who threw that party. So please, turn off ESPN, Fox News, CNN, and ABC - we’re not all rapists.
Interesting perspective on the rape trial. I think the media often over-covers events like because they know it will attract an audience.
Just a thought. The photo you have associated with this article portrays the Black Panther Party, a group drastically different from the group which visited our campus.
On a lighter note, the new design kicks ass.
David, agreed 100% percent that the New Black Panther Party != The Black Panther Party. I chose the photo for it’s irony - I wanted to emphasize how stupid our reaction to their visit was. The NBPP spelled it out very clearly to Duke police that they would not enter campus or bring weapons, but for whatever reason we seemingly prepared for an invasion by posting inept security guards along the quad and locking us out of other dorms. So I wanted an image that looked meanacing.
And besides, that photo is so bad-ass.
I agree.
Bad-ass.