First Veterans Day. And second, the federal civil rights complaint filed by Justin Robinette and Cliff Satel.
VETERANS DAY
For the first time in decades, Duke has honored its veterans with an appropriate ceremony on Veterans Day.
This follows a concerted effort by several alumni to force the issue, much of the drive aimed personally at President Brodhead who shamefully over a period of four years never answered a single E-mail on this. Typical line in a letter to the editor: "Our classmates fulfilled their duty and served with courage and honor; Mr. Brodhead, you are shirking yours."
The failure to honor veterans -- on Memorial Day too -- stood in sharp contrast to the University's laying a wreath each year at the memorial for the six Dukies who happened to be in the World Trade Center on 9-11, and for the week long observation of Martin Luther King's birthday.
For Vets Day, a news release stated the alumni office was going to lay a wreath at the Memorial Wall listing those who died in combat. But the official calendar never told us when.
There was an 11 AM ceremony at the Allen Building flag pole -- apparently scheduled for the convenience of the people involved rather than respect for the flag which traditionally is raised at dawn. The speaker was the human rights VP Kyle Cavanaugh, quite down on the pecking list.
There is no information on whether Brodhead or other senior administrators attended any event.
Last year the University -- responding to alumni howls at last -- ended 50 years of neglect and updated the Memorial War to include Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf Wars.
It is not known if Duke will sleep through Memorial Day again or not. It became an official campus holiday for the first time last year.
-----------
More later. Working on details. The federal Department of Education is launching a civil rights investigation into allegations by Robinette and Satell.
