DUKE TIPS apology for counselors’ inappropriate conduct with very young campers

Dear TIP Trinity Families,

Last Friday, we sent you an email message informing you of an incident that occurred at Trinity University during the last days of our Summer Studies session there. As our internal investigation continued, we realized that our understanding of the incident was incomplete. We would like to thank the parents, students, and staff who stepped forward to provide more information. We would also like to clarify what happened last week and let you know how we are responding to this unacceptable incident.

On Thursday, June 29, the residential staff had the students line up and walk from the dorm to the dining hall, holding each other’s lanyards, while some staff members berated the students, kept them from using their cell phones, and told them they would post a video of the march to social media. While we are unaware of any such posting, this type of action is completely inappropriate for any Duke TIP site and does not comply with our Community Standard, which is based on mutual respect between staff and students. Although the residential staff considered this a “prank,” we disagree and consider it a serious infraction of our staff standards and our disciplinary guidelines. Duke TIP is no place for such behavior. Therefore, we are taking the following actions:

We again apologize for the impact this incident had on your student’s experience at Trinity. We hope that the many positive learning opportunities your student had at TIP outweighs this unfortunate occurrence. Please contact me if you have questions or other information regarding this situation.

Respectfully,

Shayne Goodrum, PhD

Director of Educational Programs

Duke University Talent Identification Program

919-668-4505 (office)