After a meeting Tuesday, the Duke student government has decided to push for an investigation of the Duke Chinese Student and Scholars Association (DCSSA). DCSSA's website posted personal information of a Chinese student who was trying to moderate protests between pro-Tibet and pro-Beijing groups at a Tibet rally earlier this month on the Duke campus. She was branded pro-Tibet, and has been harassed and receiving threats ever since.
Several Duke organizations along with Duke's Vice President of Student Affairs and the student body president met with several DCSSA leaders. Ken Larrey, president of Duke Students for an Ethical Duke, said, "We discussed the possibility of the group's charter being revoked."
According to Daniel Cordero, vice president of the Duke College Republicans, the Duke student government will form a committee to investigate the matter and make a decision at the first meeting in the fall whether to revoke DCSSA's charter.
Cordero said, "Personally, this is great. I am happy that the Duke student government is stepping up to the plate." He said, "This has nothing to do with ideology. What matters is the right to dissent, to disagree without being persecuted. This is beyond politics, it's about human rights."
Cordero also revealed, "I have on tape [from the meeting] the president of DCSSA saying they receive money from the Beijing consulate."
Duke Student for an Ethical Duke and Duke College Republicans have been joined by other organizations, including Duke Democrats, Duke Conservative Union and Duke Human Rights Coalition, to call for an investigation of DCSSA after the Tibet rally incident.
David Bitner, President of Duke Conservative Union, told The Epoch Times by email that "the Duke Conservative Union is deeply troubled by these events, and fervently hopes that the individual who posted the student's personal information and photograph are found out by the proper authorities and the appropriate measures taken…These actions are contrary to our values, not only as conservatives but as citizens of the United States."
Concerning the Chinese student, Larrey said that "not a whole lot have changed." She is still being harassed with phone calls, text messages and emails. She is also starting to receive more positive messages from supporters, he said.
According to media reports, her parents' personal information was also posted online. Their apartment was vandalized with buckets of feces poured at their front door.
Larrey also said, "There is an on-going investigation supposedly by the Duke police to find the anonymous e-mailers and posters." Larrey said Duke officials have not confirmed the investigation.
The Duke University Police Department has not returned The Epoch Times' call inquiring about their investigation.