Photo credit: Bryson Pope /Campus Echo

Members of VOX: Voices for Planned Parenthood of North Carolina Central University, lead a forum on ways to support a student who allegedly was raped by members of the Duke University lacrosse team.

North Carolina Central University is rallying behind a student at the school who allegedly was gang raped by members of the Duke University lacrosse team. The charge has led to suspension of the season for the nationally ranked athletes.

North Carolina Central President James H. Ammons said his Durham school would establish a student support fund for the educational and family needs of the woman, a 27-year-old mother of two who worked for an escort service to help pay her way through school.

In a March 29 meeting organized by the student group, VOX: Voices of NCCU, about 50 students gathered to develop ways to support the woman. The student organization, which is dedicated to raising awareness of domestic violence, planned a candlelight vigil for April 3.

"We as a university do not accept this," said hospitality and tourism junior Maya Jackson, a VOX: Voices of NCCU member. "This is an issue that affects all of us."

The incident has created a firestorm across Durham and on the campus of Duke University, where Duke University students and hundreds of members of the surrounding community have been holding candlelight vigils and protest rallies, placing fliers on the house where the incident took place. It has attracted national media attention.

The escort service that employed the student was not identified. She was hired with another woman to dance at a party March 13 at a house owned by Duke and rented by captains of the lacrosse team. The house had a neighborhood reputation for its raucous parties, and police had been called there four times since September.

The police application for a search warrant gave this account: The women went to the house to dance for five men, but when they arrived, the student said, there were more than 40 men in the house.

When she and the other dancer started to perform, the men made racial slurs and became aggressive.

The women became concerned for their safety and decided to leave, but as they got into their vehicle, one suspect apologized and talked them into staying and dancing.

Once inside, the two women were separated. The student said she was pulled into the bathroom by two men who closed the door. Three men were inside. One said, "Sweetheart, you can't leave," according to this account.

The student said she was hit, kicked, strangled and sexually assaulted anally, vaginally and orally for about 30 minutes.

A security guard placed a phone call at 1:22 a.m., when the victim arrived in a vehicle at a Durham grocery store, the account continued.

Jason Bissey was on the porch next door during the party and saw the women. He told Raleigh's News & Observer that some men were saying they wanted their money back.

"When I was outside, one guy yelled at her, 'Thank your grandpa for my cotton shirt,' " he said.

After hearing that a rape had taken place, Bissey said he wished he had called police, who might have prevented the incident, the News & Observer reported.

On March 23, Durham police collected DNA samples from 46 members of the lacrosse team.

Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong plans to take charge of the prosecution and was pushing to get the DNA results back quickly. The examination was being expedited at the State Bureau of Investigation lab in Raleigh, the state capital, and results were expected April 2.

"Every rape is a serious case," Nifong told Durham's Herald-Sun. "But some speak to the community in a different manner. This is one of them." Nifong described the racial aspect of the incident as "particularly abhorrent."

No one had been charged as of March 29, but police said they thought at least three men were responsible, according to the search warrant application. The allegations are felonies. The crimes described include first degree forcible rape, first degree kidnapping, first degree forcible sexual offense, common law robbery and felonious strangulation.

Lacrosse team members acknowledge hiring the exotic dancers and that underage drinking took place at the residence. But in a statement issued by the team captains, they unequivocally 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."

According to Durham County court records, team members have been charged with 15 criminal violations for offenses related to underage drinking, public urination, noise and other alcohol-related violations. In most cases, the students were given deferred prosecution, an agreement that gives them probation and requires community service.

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

"In this painful period of uncertainty, it is clear to me, as it was to the players, that it would be inappropriate to resume the normal schedule of play," said Brodhead. "Sports have their time and place, but when an issue of this gravity is in question, it is not the time to be playing games."

Ammons said Duke University and North Carolina Central have had a close and strong relationship. He said the two institutions collaborate on several community programs.

"Our hearts go out to her, and we'll do everything to support her," Ammons said of the student. "We throw our arms to our student with moral and financial support.

"There's no place for racial discrimination or sexual violence," Ammons said. "We stand firm in our stance."

Deneesha Edwards and Rony Camille are students at North Carolina Central University. Edwards is editor in chief of the Campus Echo and Camille is assistant editor.

Posted March 30, 2006