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The Chronicle T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y
WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM
XXXXXDAY, MMMM WEDNESDAY, APRIL XX, 23, 2014 2013
Students, DUPD meet to address campus concerns
ONE ONEHUNDRED HUNDREDAND ANDEIGHTH NINTH YEAR, YEAR, ISSUE ISSUE XXX 118
An exploration of Duke’s sexual misconduct system
Sarah Concert
by Yeshwanth Kandimalla
by Julian Spector
Approximately 15 students met with University officials, including the chief of the Duke University Police Department, Tuesday to voice concerns about DUPD’s treatment of students of color. The meeting, scheduled approximately a month ago, happened to come the day after a Durham resident Jeffrey Velez, 20, was apprehended on campus for allegedly stealing a student’s backpack, said senior Marcus Benning, president of the Black Student Alliance. The arrest, filmed in a video and considered by some to be too overly aggressive by DUPD, did become part of the discussion. University Secretary richard riddell did not permit chronicle staffers to enter the room. “i would describe the meeting as a positive step in the right direction,” Benning said in an interview afterward. “i think we have forged a better partnership.” Some of the specific points raised have long been concerns of black students and other minority students, Benning noted. Many students of color report being asked to produce identification to use Duke Vans when others do not. Many black students develop a sense of “hypersurveillance” by DUPD, often following reports of a crime and a suspect through DukeAlerts. “There has been a continuum of events that have heightened students’ sense of distrust toward DUPD,” Benning explained. “i think it took some of the administrators off-guard.” The meeting resulted in some concrete responses and steps from administrators, Benning noted. Kyle cavanaugh, vice president for
quadrangle. not a Duke student, he is being held at Durham county Jail on $5,000 bond. When Velez initially resisted arrest, officers used pepper spray to subdue him, and a video of the incident taken by a bystander has circulated on social media. Velez has been charged with trespassing on Duke’s campus twice in the past,
*Editor’s note: the students’ names were changed due to the sensitive nature of their experiences. Jean*, a senior, brought a case to the office of Student conduct last May for a sexual assault against her that took place freshman year. She said she returned home drunk after a sorority formal and awoke to find a friend raping her. he refused to stop, despite her protests, she said. in his testimony, though, the accused student pled responsible for sexual misconduct, arguing that they had kissed that night but did not have sex. The hearing occurred last August, shortly after Duke’s guideline change to set expulsion as the starting place for discussions on sanctions when a student is found responsible for sexual assault. in Jean’s case, the panel found the accused student responsible for sexual misconduct but chose not to expel him. “The panel considered expulsion but ultimately determined there was not a preponderance of evidence that rape had occurred due to the lack of witness testimony,” the hearing report stated. “however, considering the full body of information, the panel suspected that more than kissing occurred during the incident and determined there was at least a preponderance of evidence for a sexual misconduct violation.” As a result, Duke suspended the perpetrator for three semesters—the same sanction he received for an academic infraction earlier in his Duke career. Jean recalled that during the hearing it appeared that the panel had found inconsistencies in the accused’s story, leading her to be perplexed by the final outcome. “There’s no really clear process on, ‘We have this much evidence, here’s a
See ARRESt, page 12
See miSconDuct, page 5
The chronicle
See DuPD, page 12
The chronicle
PALLAVI SHANKAR/THE CHRONICLE
Members of Duke University Improv performed a funny rhyme for Sarah Stanczyk, a Duke sophomore who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and is undergoing chemotherapy.
Year before Monday arrest, Velez charged with trespassing at Duke by Emma Baccellieri The chronicle
After allegedly stealing a student’s backpack from Perkins library Monday evening, Jeffrey Alan Velez of Durham has been charged with felony larceny, seconddegree trespass and resisting, obstructing and delaying officers. Velez, 20, was apprehended yesterday by campus police on the West campus main
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