In Duke Rape Case Shadow, a Lacrosse Crusader Carries On

May 30, 2006 — -- After a rape investigation that has linked Duke University with North Carolina Central University -- the school where the alleged victim is a student -- it would seem like the last word anyone at NCCU would want to hear is "lacrosse."

But it's quite the contrary: At least one NCCU student wants lacrosse to be part of everyday life -- on the playing field, instead of in the newspaper.

That student is junior Lyle Burnham. And he won't let anything -- even the Duke Lacrosse scandal -- stop his dream of starting an NCCU lacrosse team.

He's off to a good start: Thirty students signed up and ready to play. Five of the 30 are young women -- not enough for a separate team, so they'll have to use the equipment and play by the notoriously rough rules of men's lacrosse.

Before an NCCU student accused three Duke lacrosse players of sexually assaulting her at a party the night of March 13, many NCCU students had only the vaguest idea of what the sport was about. Even fewer had ever held a lacrosse stick.

"Nobody knew what lacrosse was when I first got here," Burnham told ABC News. "I tell them it's like a mix of basketball, football, hockey. That's lacrosse."

Burnham believes he'll have a lacrosse program running by the time he graduates. A criminal justice major, he sees himself joining the Durham police force someday, serving as an assistant coach of the future NCCU lacrosse team in his spare time.

Campus Reaction to Duke Scandal: Angry but Understanding

Burhnam explains that the Duke lacrosse rape allegations rattled nerves at NCCU, but the case has not led to any backlash against the sport or the people who play it on campus.

"Of course, people are angry," he said. "But they're not angry at lacrosse players in general. People realize it's not a lacrosse team. This is something that happened with a few individuals, and you can't judge the whole sport."

More importantly, he said, there has been no decline in interest in the lacrosse club he started or the official team he hopes will come from it.

As a point person and kind of ambassador for the sport at NCCU, Burnham has been asked repeatedly what he thinks about the case.

"I just tell them I believe that the system ... will work things out," he said.

As for the student solidarity it's inspired, with signs and rallies around campus to support the accuser, Burhnam explained, "Eagles stick by their fellow Eagles."

NCCU Lacrosse: Against All Stereotypes

For a sport associated with a white, privileged stereotype, the NCCU club shows just the reverse. At a school that's 13 percent white, the club has 29 black members and just one white member -- founder Lyle Burnham.

At Duke, where the student body is only 11 percent black, the lacrosse team has 46 white members, and only one black teammate.

"I've never believed much in stereotypes," Burnham said. "So when people say it's all about white kids, cocky kids -- that just shows how little they know about the sport, because not everyone is like that."

Luckily for Lyle, one of his most effective ways to recruit is simply playing the game somewhere on campus.

"Whenever we go out for a catch, people wonder what it's all about. People see us ... we explain it ... and we get a lot of contact numbers that way," he said.

An Expensive Team Dream

To build his dream of a team, Burnham has put in for a grant from his school. This fall he expects to get anything from $100 to $1,000, although even the top of that range would not even cover the cost of equipment for the team's 30 members.

A single lacrosse stick can cost anywhere from $35 to $150 dollars. A decent starter kit with helmet and protective gear can cost $200 per person.

To cover costs, he's applying for grants from health and fitness organizations but welcomes support from any source.

"We can barely fund the Ex Umbra [literary magazine]," NCCU's student newspaper The Echo quoted one student as saying. "We should not have a brand-new sport to fund."

What does Burnham think about how the white, privileged image of lacrosse that's been perpetuated through the Duke rape investigation?

"I understand why it has that reputation. That's the way it's always been," Burnham said. "But as the sport becomes diversified it'll be a real national phenomenon. That's what I have in mind."

In starting a club and tearing down long-standing stereotypes, Burnham hopes he'll find the lacrosse team of his dreams. In return, the sport has found its greatest advocate.

Kristen Depowski in New York contributed to this article.