c. 2006 Religion News Service

DURHAM, N.C. _ In criminal court, my jury duty in a murder trial lasted eight days. Outside, television crews awaited arrests in an alleged gang-rape at Duke University. Each case illuminated the other.

Selecting a “fair and impartial” jury in our case took longer than anticipated, because its issues _ drunken driving leading to death _ touched so many prospective jurors. Attorneys’ painstaking interviews “renewed my faith in the system,” said one juror.

I saw my fellow jurors accept their civic duty and adapt their lives to an eight-day trial. The Duke trial, if one occurs, will take far longer, but I have no doubt that citizens will do their duty.

Testimony in our case took longer than expected, too, as a determined prosecutor launched a steamroller of evidence grounded in solid police work. If rape charges against two Duke lacrosse team members reach trial, it would indicate a comparable steamroller is under way, undeterred by recent rhetorical flourishes.

Outside the courthouse, the air was filled with pleas like “Don’t rush to judgment” and “Leave it to the courts,” as if a criminal trial many months away could resolve larger issues raised by rape charges, such as racial intolerance, sexual violence, rogue athletes, sour town-gown relations, attitudes of arrogance and entitlement, a campus culture soaked in alcohol, and a slow-to-respond administration.

A jury trial, however, isn’t a venue for addressing systemic issues. Just as our murder trial couldn’t address national issues of alcohol abuse, drunken driving and disregard for others, but had to concentrate on specific crimes, so will the Duke-rape trial focus on fine details of evidence and not the larger matters that this troubled university needs to address.

In my opinion, Duke and other American colleges and universities have work to do.

Community issues matter. Like it or not, big fish in small ponds must deal with public perceptions. Effective community relations require transparency. Nothing fuels suspicion more than closed doors, leaders who prefer the safety of private conversations, and a “none-of-your-business” attitude. The affairs of a large employer and visible neighbor are the community’s business. Athletic programs aren’t enough, especially when they feed a perception of coddled jocks.

If a university is nothing more to its community than service-industry jobs, congested traffic on game days, aggravating student behavior, clubs they can’t use and taxes they can’t collect, then tensions will rise at the slightest provocation, as they did here.

Blaming the media won’t make those tensions go away. They flare because they exist. Neighbors resent students running amok, especially when they behave with an arrogance born in privilege. “Entitlement” is a real issue, not a buzzword.

A worried management consultant in Minnesota tells me, “My corporate staffing buddies are saying that American companies do not want to hire American students” because:

1) they have a strong sense of entitlement (give me a big salary because it is due me)

2) they have no work ethic

3) their education is lacking (yes, even college graduates)

4) they are not good employees.

Those perceptions might be unfair and inaccurate. If so, then Duke and other schools have some expectations to correct. But they probably should pay attention. I recently asked an executive recruiter in Charlotte what she saw, and she echoed the Minnesota report. She blamed “helicopter parents” (always hovering).

Schools have an alcohol problem that is getting worse: underage drinking, binge drinking, death by alcohol poisoning, alcohol-fed date rape _ all reported in recent years at Duke.

Clueless lacrosse players could be the least of Duke’s worries.

MO/PH RNS END

(Tom Ehrich is a writer, consultant and leader of workshops. His book, “Just Wondering, Jesus: 100 Questions People Want to Ask,” was published by Morehouse Publishing. An Episcopal priest, he lives in Durham, N.C. His Web site is http://www.onajourney.org.)