Dancer: Race an issue at Duke party

The second dancer in the Duke lacrosse case told a national publication that tensions built from the start of the evening of the alleged rape, because drunken players were upset that black women arrived instead of the white and Hispanic performers they requested.

In a story scheduled to appear in Vanity Fair tomorrow, Kim Roberts said race played a disquieting role from the outset, when players seemed accepting of her appearance as a woman of Korean and black heritage, but hesitant when the alleged victim, who is African-American, arrived.

"I fit the bill as Hispanic, so they were assuming the next girl would be white," Roberts told the magazine, explaining that she is sometimes mistaken for Latina. "And then here she comes, walking around the corner."

Roberts said the partygoers, all white, were non-committal when the alleged victim arrived at the shabby team house March 13. But she said the players and exotic dancers ultimately agreed to go forward.

Roberts, who acknowledged a past embezzling conviction, said she quickly began to fear for her safety. At least five players urinated off the balcony of the house in her presence, she said. One player grabbed a broomstick and shouted at the exotic dancers to use it as a sex toy, she added.

"You have to think of two little girls among how many big boys," Roberts said. "That, in and of itself, is intimidating."

In a news release yesterday announcing the reinstatement of the lacrosse program for next season, Duke University President Richard Broadhead said the team is committed to setting new standards of behavior. "Whether or not the felony charges are upheld against the three indicted students, the fact is that members of the team engaged in irresponsible and dishonorable behavior," Broadhead said.

Defense attorneys for indicted players Collin Finnerty of Garden City, Reade Seligmann of Essex Fells, N.J., and David Evans of Bethesda, Md., did not return calls for comment. In the Vanity Fair story, defense attorney Bill Thomas said Roberts used her own racially charged insult by calling the player who shouted the broomstick remark a "white boy," then questioning his sexual prowess.

Roberts said a demeaning atmosphere caused the women to leave the party, but did not dispute accounts that they took an $800 fee. She said when she drove off with the other dancer, several players who were angry over the money shouted racial epithets.

Roberts, who has granted previous interviews, continued to say she did not know what happened during the approximately half hour in which the alleged victim says she was pulled into a bathroom and raped.