2015/04/02 – The undergraduate student who placed a noose in a tree on the Bryan Center Plaza has come forward and is no longer on campus, Duke announced at a press conference Thursday afternoon.

The student’s identity was discovered after an investigation by Duke University Police and the Office of Student Affairs, and he or she is no longer on campus, said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations. Because of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the student’s name and other personal information—such as year, gender and race—will not be released.

Schoenfeld said that the investigation was aided by information from members of the Duke community. Tips from the community, rather than surveillance video, were responsible for helping to identify the student. Schoenfeld added that the student will now go through the standard student conduct process while the University tries to determine factors such as whether or not other individuals were involved or if there was pressure on the student from an outside organization.

Duke is working with the state and federal bureaus of investigation as they look into potential criminal offenses.

To maintain the integrity of the student conduct process, the University is not in a position to discuss aspects of the incident such as motivation.

Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta said at the press conference that it is “way too soon to determine” what the punishment for the student responsible will be, noting that anything up to expulsion could be possible. He added that students were “very quick” to come forward with information about the situation.

A timeline for the student conduct process is not yet available. The student will be given full due process and will proceed through the student conduct process as normal, Moneta said.

He could not elaborate on the process for removing the student from campus, or say whether or not the student left voluntarily.

Source: Duke Chronicle

Emma Baccellier