Monday, May 24, 2010

Character

Times of stress can reveal character.

Newsdayhas profiled Collin Finnerty upon his graduation from Loyola. The entire article is here (alas, behind Newsday’s paywall), and is very much worth reading, since it discusses the particular difficulty that Finnerty faced (because of his recognizability) in the case. Two quotes of particular note:

Loyola president Rev. Brian Linnane, commenting on Finnerty’s receipt of the John R. Moller award for achievement in academics, athletics and character: “It is a huge honor. It is a very significant award, and it reflects the way he fit into the team. It’s unimaginable to be accused the way he was, and the way he moved beyond that with great grace and became a leader, it says a lot about him and his family.”

Chaminade High School president Rev. James Williams: “The biggest temptation has been to become angry, which would have been justified . . . Instead he was moved, his family was moved, toward reconciliation. Despite the pain [the accuser] and others were causing, while they were still upset with her they knew she came from a difficult and troubled background and they had compassion for her . . . And the anger never won.”

Contrast those evaluations with the performance, since the case to which they attached their professional reputations imploded, of the Group of 88.

Who showed character in this affair: the falsely accused college student, or dozens of professors at one of the country’s leading universities?

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Exceptional post, K.C.

NotMyRealScreenName said...

Most if not all the article can be found here.

Anonymous said...

Is Farred a Communist?

Michael McNutt said...

When if ever will this case be brought to trail?

Parker Smith said...

Is that a trick question?

Anonymous said...

I know one of the 88 fairly well. Recently overheard to comment that anybody with a brain knows what really happened that night....(at the party, gang rape)...and that Duke and the rich white folks (apparently) bought Cooper and the entire NC justice system. I guess OJ didn't kill anybody and Atwater dropped the pistol and it blew up and accidentally killed the wonderful UNC student. Sad. Sad. Sad. And shame on Duke University for promoting such blind bigotry and racism.

Quasimodo said...

"I know one of the 88 fairly well. Recently overheard to comment ..."

If this comment was made in anything other than a social setting (but was, say, before a class), then that may have violated the settlement agreement with the Duke Three (assuming all parties agreed not to bad mouth one another).

"And shame on Duke University for promoting such blind bigotry and racism."

Ditto. One would expect a great university to be the last place to promote bigotry, stereotyping and judgments based on race.

Quasimodo said...

"When if ever will this case be brought to trail?"

When was bringing out the full truth about what happened in 2006 ever a priority for anyone in the political establishment in NC?

Anonymous said...

11:14 -- That attitude is consistent with what Duke Administrators comment. THey will go to their graves insisting "something happened" that night. To believe otherwise would be to consider the possibility that their theory is fatally flawed. That is unacceptabe and too horrible to contemplate, so it must be because of some unseen forces manipulating the truth to conceal "what happened." "What happened" is rarely defined but it is bad. To close the loop, those unseen forces are not people but concepts like privilege and wealth. It is a very sad commentary on academia that it is narrow minded, and the only new or different thoughts revolve around insane conspiracy theories.

Ironically, these knuckleheads in academia are only helping the falsely accused players in the civil suits to demonstrate that the damage to their reputations were permanent. Will be easy to establish that the lies and deceit wer eso pervasive that even now, 4 years after being publicly disproven, Duke officials continue to spread malicious slander.

-- Haunches

William L. Anderson said...

K.C.,

Your point is well-taken about character, and who shows it and who does not. Has ANYONE who originally signed the infamous ad shown any decent character since that incident? I'm serious. I am wondering if any of these people have done anything useful or decent or demonstrated anything other than their usual self-absorbed academic gibberish that has defined these people for years.

If Grant Farred is typical, I think we safely can say that this self-absorbed bunch is useless. And to think that Duke University is willing to pay these people a salary.

Anonymous said...

Bill Anderson

I believe one of the 88, whose name was, I recollect, something like Petters, said publicly afterwards that he had not intended to be part of something that gave pain to anyone and declined to move forward with further petitions, etc. I'm sure KC can and should correct me if my recollection is wrong.

If I am right about Petters, his signing on to the original statement indicates that he has little or no sense, but his later actions indicate at least a modicum of decency and, in the social and ideological context of Duke, some moral courage.

Again assuming I am right about Petters, his importance is that he reminds us of a fundamental truth about the human condition. We all do wrong and err; those of us worthy of respect recognize, admit, and regret doing so. So I except Petters from the intellectual depravity of the remaining 87 so-called people of conscience like the execrable Davidson.

JeffM

William L. Anderson said...

Jeff,

Thanks for the update on that. One out of 88.

One thing for sure, Duke University is not interested in its faculty members showing any character. Yes, there are plenty of faculty members there who do have good character, but from what I can see, Duke rewards those whose lack of character defines their very lives and careers.

Quasimodo said...

Finnerty and Seligmann were both just named to the 2010 "Scholar All-American" list.

http://www.usila.org/ScholarAApdfs/2010ScholarAA.pdf

I guess you can meet the demanding practice schedule of athletics and still be an outstanding student (Orin Starn notwithstanding...)

Anonymous said...

If you go to Brown's lacrosse website (http://www.brownbears.com/sports/m-lacros/index)and to his individual player profile, you will see that Reade Seligman's tenure at Brown has also been quite accomplished, including the IMLCA Boston Market Humanitarian Award in 2008, and this year first team All-Ivy and All-New England recognition as well as USILA Scholar All-American recognition. Colin and Reade have shown themselves to be the outstanding individuals Duke believed they could be when it recruited them. Yet Duke was willing to cast them to the wolves in order to curry the favor of 88 members of its faculty. The actions of Duke's administration and BOT in this matter will be a stain on the University's reputation for a long time.

Anonymous said...

Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann were also named to the Division I and II North [Reade] and South [Collin] All Star Teams.


The 2010 Lax World/USILA North/South games will be held on Friday, May 28 at Goucher College in Towson, MD. The Division III game will start at 3 p.m. at Beldon Field, while the Division I/II contest begins at 5:30 p.m.

Congratulations to two outstanding athletes and gentlemen.

No Justice, No Peace said...

Inre: Quasimodo, "One would expect a great university..."

In a black congregation, the preacher introduces, to great fanfare, his nephew, the piccolo player.

The boy begins to play, and as he muddles his way through the piece someone can take no more. So, in the middle of the service he yells, "The piccolo play is a "MF".

Of course everyone is shocked into silence. Especially the preacher.

After collecting himself the preacher calls out, "This is a house of God, I want to know who called the piccolo player a MF?"

Silence.

"Okay then, if that's the way we're going to play it, then I want the man-next-to-the-man who called my piccolo player a MF to please speak up."

Silence.

"Well then. I'd like the man-next-to-the-man-next-to-the-man who called my piccolo player a MF to please stand tall."

Silence.

"I'll remind you all this IS the house of our LORD. Will the man next-to-the-man-who-is-next-to-the-man-who-is-next-to-the-man who called my piccolo player a MF please, please stand up."

After extended silence, a gentleman stands up - much to the relief of the preacher.

The preacher feeling relieved calls out, "Sir, are you the man next-to-the-man-who-is-next-to-the-man-who-is-next-to-the-man who called my piccolo player a MF?"

The fellow responds, "No preacher, I am NOT the man next-to-the-man-who-is-next-to-the-man-who-is-next-to-the-man who called my piccolo player a MF. But, I do want to know who called that MF a piccolo player?"

In that spirit I humbly ask who among us NOW considers Duke a "great university". I am no longer among those.

One Spook said...

Anon @11:14 AM writes:

I know one of the 88 fairly well. Recently overheard to comment that anybody with a brain knows what really happened that night....(at the party, gang rape)...and that Duke and the rich white folks (apparently) bought Cooper and the entire NC justice system."

I'm a trained skeptic and find your comment curious at best, and at worst, could have been written by anyone with a modem and a vivid imagination.

Which of the 88 do you know "fairly well?"

When did this person make the comment you report?

What exactly did they say and what did you or anyone else who heard it say in response?

A comment such as yours that lacks in specificity demonstrates precisely one of the major reasons that the wrongs that the members of the 88 did are allowed to flourish with impunity.

A much smarter man than I once said, "All that is required for evil to flourish is that good men do nothing."Edmund Burke (1729 -1797)

If you are really in possession of such facts, do something!

One Spook

Chris Halkides said...

I wonder whether everyone has taken away from the DL affair all of the lessons it has to offer. Surely some people understand better than they did before, that there should not be a rush to judgment about guilt or innocence. However, Collin Finnerty was subjected to a great number of personal attacks, all because of the Georgetown incident. Who is now saying that we should never leap to conclusions about an individual’s character on the basis of scanty information? I see the same hops, skips, and jumps in the Amanda Knox/Raffaele Sollecito case as in the DL case.

Chris

Anonymous said...

Here, here, Chris. Completely agreed.

Observer