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Some at N.C. Central Wonder, "Did She Ask for It?"

Photo credit: Roderick Heath/Campus Echo Battista McNeil, a senior in criminal justice at North Carolina Central, holds a candle during a moment of silence during an April 3 vigil.

By Larisha Stone
Black College Wire

Students at North Carolina Central University and Duke University have a lot to say about the role of the accuser's profession in the events that led to accusations of rape against members of the Duke University lacrosse team.

The accuser is a North Carolina Central student, a 27-year-old mother of two and a former Navy enlistee. She said she had been working for an unidentified escort company for two months when she was hit, kicked, strangled and sexually assaulted on March 13 by members of the Duke lacrosse team.

Did the alleged victim "ask for it?" some wonder.

Many students say no, but some have mixed feelings.

Christopher Bridges, a senior in criminal justice at North Carolina Central, gave a scenario.

"If someone told me not to go to the edge of a cliff because the rocks were loose, I would avoid the cliff as much as possible," he said.

"A rational person would walk far away from the cliff to avoid danger. If you do go near the cliff, you're tempting fate. If you fall off the cliff, then fate got you."

Bridgette Moynahan, a junior nursing student at Duke, said no woman deserves to be raped, no matter what.

"Women have a hard time claiming ownership of their bodies in a society of rape culture," she said.

"If she was lying naked on the sidewalk, she deserves to be helped, not taken advantage of."

Media outlets have claimed the victim worked for an escort service.

A representative of A Better Service Escort Service claimed there was no way that that could be true.

"They say she was a dancer, but worked for an escort service," the representative said.

"Dancers work for entertainment services and there's a difference. Why was she there without a bouncer? She went there with no one. She didn't deserve it, but she was a fool," the representative continued.

Wes Ray, owner of Bare Minimum Limousine and Entertainment Service, has been in the entertainment business for 11 years. "The entertainers never went unassisted," he said. "Male security met clients at the door."

Ray said he never had a problem with disruption or disrespect of his dancers at Duke University functions, but added, "if those boys called an escort service, they knew they had a better chance of getting more than entertainment."

The lacrosse team members acknowledge hiring of the exotic dancers and underage drinking at the house, owned by Duke and rented by captains of the lacrosse team, but in a statement issued by the team captains, clearly denied a sexual assault or rape occurred.

They called the allegation “totally and transparently false,” adding, “the DNA results will demonstrate that these allegations are absolutely false.”

On March 28, Duke University President Richard H. Brodhead announced the lacrosse season would be suspended until the facts of the case were clearer.

Chancellor James H. Ammons of North Carolina Central is pleading with students to be patient and wait for the results of the investigation.

In a April 3 news release, Ammons said the “allegations are disturbing, inhumane and insensitive,” adding that the university will support the alleged victim as much as it can.

“Our students, faculty and staff are outraged by what has been alleged, but are also mindful of the fact that an investigation is still underway, and no charges have been filed,” Ammons said.

“While we await the outcome of the investigation, we are taking steps to express our support for the victim, and we also are appealing to the NCCU community to be patient and give the legal system an opportunity to bring this to closure.”

Larisha Stone, a student at North Carolina Central University, writes for the Campus Echo. Deneesha Edwards, editor-in-chief of the Campus Echo, contributed to this report.

Posted April 10, 2006