When the allegations of the assault of an exotic dancer by Duke University lacrosse players first surfaced a group of 88 faculty members signed a public statement which pretty much assumed the young men were guilty of the crime for which they were charged.
Now that it looks like the District Attorney prosecuting these students has no case we wonder whether an apology from these august academicians will be forthcoming. Will they publically confess to being intemperately hasty? Will they do public penance for the role they played in making these boys' lives a living hell? Will they confess to the sin of contributing to the destruction of these boys' reputations?
Probably not. Being a tenured academic means never having to accept responsibility for your irresponsibility.