Just a brief oversight, eh Dukies?

By ELIZABETH DUNBAR
Associated Press Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A policy banning strippers from on-campus events is back in the rule book at Duke University, after officials noticed it was missing when members of the school’s lacrosse team were accused of raping an exotic dancer earlier this year.

The policy governs only on-campus events and wouldn’t have applied to the March off-campus lacrosse team party where an exotic dancer has said she was sexually assaulted by three men in a bathroom.

The rule had been a part of Duke’s Bulletin of Information and Regulations long before the lacrosse case surfaced, said Stephen Bryan, the school’s associate dean of students and judicial affairs director. It was left out during a revision before the 2004-05 school year, he said.

“It was a complete error,� Bryan said. “When the lacrosse thing happened, that’s when I looked at it and realized it was inadvertently removed.�

Because the policy applies specifically to organized, on-campus events, students can hire a stripper to perform in an apartment or dorm room on or off campus. There are no plans to change that, Bryan said.

“The bottom line is that strippers are not illegal,� he said. “It’s a moral choice. ... We made a decision that a stripper at a campus event is something that we don’t want to support.�

Student government leaders said they will look at the policy and seek feedback from classmates.

Duke is “based primarily on freedom and liberty and we want to make sure our policies reflect that,� said Maggie McGannon, the student government’s vice president of student affairs. But she said banning strippers from campus events seems reasonable.