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	==The List==		==The List==
	===Creation and Spread===		===Creation and Spread===
−	The F*** List was titled ‘An education beyond the classroom: excelling in the realm of horizontal education’, it was originally emailed to three of her friends.<ref>“Duke University Scandal ‘Excelling in the Realm of Horizontal Academics.’” Today24News RSS, today24news.com/breaking/duke-university-scandal-excelling-in-the-realm-of-horizontal-academics-085330.</ref>[[File:DukeTitle.jpg|right]]	+	The F*** List was titled ‘An education beyond the classroom: excelling in the realm of horizontal education’, it was originally emailed to three of her friends.<ref>“Duke University Scandal ‘Excelling in the Realm of Horizontal Academics.’” Today24News RSS, today24news.com/breaking/duke-university-scandal-excelling-in-the-realm-of-horizontal-academics-085330.</ref>[[File:DukeTitle.jpg|right]] However, soon after one of her friends leaked it and created the domino effect that eventually resulted in the list being easily accessible to anyone.
	Evidently, one of them leaked the list and quickly spread across campus and appeared on sites such as [[Jezebel (website)|Jezebel]] and [[Deadspin|Deadspin]]. These sites released the full version of the document without hiding any of the names of those involved. Most of the men were lacrosse players, which intensified the seriousness of the "study" via news and media coverage, as [[Duke lacrosse case|Duke Lacrosse Case]] it occurred only 4 years prior.		Evidently, one of them leaked the list and quickly spread across campus and appeared on sites such as [[Jezebel (website)|Jezebel]] and [[Deadspin|Deadspin]]. These sites released the full version of the document without hiding any of the names of those involved. Most of the men were lacrosse players, which intensified the seriousness of the "study" via news and media coverage, as [[Duke lacrosse case|Duke Lacrosse Case]] it occurred only 4 years prior.

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Revision as of 23:05, 14 April 2019

The Duke F*** List is a 42-page Powerpoint presentation created in 2010 by a Duke University senior, Karen Owen. The document shared details of sexual encounters with Duke male athletes during her time at the University. It was presented as a 'Senior Thesis' to her friends as a sense of humor. Because, of her in-depth nature of her "faux senior thesis" it revealed those she had sexual encounters with led to legal action by the "victims"

Karen Owen

Karen F. Owen grew up in Branford, Connecticut and graduated from high school in 2006. As a college student at Duke, Owen studied history and had a strong interest in sports. ^[1]

However,Owen released her "faux sex thesis" in the form of a comically thorough PowerPoint after her graduation in 2010. She faced significant backlash from members of the Duke community. Anticipating online harassment, Owen promptly deleted all of her social media accounts. She was contacted by producers and writers about creating documentaries and books about her, but she declined these opportunities. Owen made a point to avoid the public light. ^[2] Despite a high degree of public attention, Owen didn't face any criminal charges, and the incident eventually faded away. ^[3]

The List

Creation and Spread

The F*** List was titled ‘An education beyond the classroom: excelling in the realm of horizontal education’, it was originally emailed to three of her friends.^[4] However, soon after one of her friends leaked it and created the domino effect that eventually resulted in the list being easily accessible to anyone.

Evidently, one of them leaked the list and quickly spread across campus and appeared on sites such as Jezebel and Deadspin. These sites released the full version of the document without hiding any of the names of those involved. Most of the men were lacrosse players, which intensified the seriousness of the "study" via news and media coverage, as Duke Lacrosse Case it occurred only 4 years prior.

Methodology

Each athlete was assigned a subject number, followed by details about their sexual encounters with Owen. These details included memorable moments, pros, and cons.’’’ Ratings were assigned on a 10 point scale using physical attractiveness, size, talent, creativity, aggressiveness, entertainment, athletic ability, and bonus. Tiebreakers were decided by physical attractiveness.

The Aftermath

Following the release of her powerpoint presentation, Karen Owen received a significant amount of backlash from peers and faculty within the Duke community. When Owen wrote the document, she intended to only share with her group of friends as it was supposed to be a private joke. Unfortunately, social media allowed this the document spread quicker in an unexpected fashion and posted on multiple websites.

Owen quickly made it clear that her intention wasn't to share the project outside of her friend group and release personal information of the 13 men. Owen failed to understand that a document would not remain private when shared online. She instantly retreated from any public attention, deleting all social media, excluding an extremely private Facebook profile within days of the list going viral.^[5] Interestingly, most of the men she exposed lacked a public online presence. Owen spoke to Jezebel, stating, “I regret it with all my heart. I would never intentionally hurt the people that are mentioned on that.” Many saw her as a potential female counterpart to Tucker Max, who she explicitly mentioned in her thesis, but she wanted nothing to do with this style of vulgar writing. Several people identified problematic aspects of college such as the partying culture in which Owen's document revealed and its something that should be addressed on a larger scale ^[6].

Online Reaction

Online, many people began to attack Owen for her actions and lack of real accountability once the dust had settled.^[7] Interestingly, Tucker Max spoke out and defended her actions, claiming that people accessed her diary and her personal information was compromised. ^[8]

Ethical Concerns

Privacy

Richard Mason states in Four Ethical Issues of the Information Age that, “Collections of information reveal intimate details about a person and can thereby deprive the person of the opportunity to form certain professional and personal relationships.”^[9] This case violated the males’ privacy, as these bedroom tales are the most intimate details about an individual. While Owen did elect to send this Powerpoint to her friends, her own privacy was compromised as well that of the list. It is not a coincidence that almost all parties involved have retracted themselves from the online sphere. Much of Mason’s writing discusses companies collecting data online about their users. This situation is more difficult, however, as the information was collected in the most private setting possible. I think Max was correct in comparing the list to a diary. It was meant to be shared with a few friends but instead was spread to the world. Nevertheless, Owen threw away the males’ privacy as soon as she started her thesis.

Anonymity

While Owen originally made an oversight, the news sites that published the list failed to protect the anonymity of the men involved. Kathleen Wallace states in Online Anonymity that, “computer-mediated or online communication may encourage the impression that one is anonymous”.^[10] While this communication of information started in person, the men didn't expect that this information would surface online. They acted in a manner that was accepted by all immediate parties involved, not with the judgment and opinions of those who ended up being privy to their actions as a result of the list being posted online. But when Jezebel and Deadspin posted the list without blacking out any of the names, is proof that maybe they should have. Deadspin has since updated the article to exclude names.^[11] Names, pictures, education, and extracurricular activities of all the men were instantly spread across the web, not to mention the grotesque details of sexting, dirty talk, and unconventional sexual activities. These websites committed atrocious oversight when releasing information about people to the entire world.

Distributed Accountability

If you searched Karen Owen on the internet today, nine years later, all of the results are regarding the Duke scandal. Even if Karen Owen wanted no longer wanted this information about her to be online, she simply does not have the right to be forgotten in the United States of America. “Digitization and cheap online storage make it easier to remember than to forget, shifting out ‘behavioral default’”^[12]. Information online today is more durable and retrievable than ever before, so it is nearly impossible for Karen Owen to get the Duke Scandal disassociated from her name. However, if you were to search the men involved in the scandal, you would find their LinkedIn profiles and knowledge pertaining to what they are doing now. Ben Grisz is a Senior Analytics Consultant at IBM, Zach Howell is a banker, and Jake Lemmerman is an analyst at Taco Bell. The Duke scandal does not come up in their Google searches, while it is what solely comes up In Karen Owen’s. The internet holds Karen Owen completely accountable, while the men are unaffected. There is much public debate regarding this double standard and questions are raised as to whether or not this situation would be different if a male were the author instead of a female.

Conclusion

It is true that Owens implicated anonymity and privacy from the moment she wrote this thesis. Ironically, the public forgot a key point she had no intention of showing this thesis to anyone outside of her friend group. It makes one wonder as to why she was the only person being potentially charged with the crime. The public seems to forget that one of her friends posted without her knowledge or permission, therefore, that person should have been in the midst of the potential legal action. However, one can only hope that this was was a public lesson for others as to be more careful and considerate of how privacy and anonymity can implicate someone and potentially limit future opportunities for the potential "victims".

References

1. ↑ Alptraum, Lux. “There Is Life After Campus Infamy.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 July 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/07/21/style/campus-sex-women-exposure.html.
2. ↑ Hill, Kashmir. “How Karen Owen and Tyler Clementi Lost Control.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 11 Aug. 2011, www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2010/10/01/how-karen-owen-and-tyler-clementi-lost-control/#681f282b159d.
3. ↑ Magary, and Drew Magary. “What's Duke ‘Fuck List’ Author Karen Owen Up To These Days? Let's Find Out!” Deadspin, Deadspin, 11 Sept. 2018, deadspin.com/whats-duke-fuck-list-author-karen-owen-up-to-these-da-5912350.
4. ↑ “Duke University Scandal ‘Excelling in the Realm of Horizontal Academics.’” Today24News RSS, today24news.com/breaking/duke-university-scandal-excelling-in-the-realm-of-horizontal-academics-085330.
5. ↑ Magary, and Drew Magary. “What's Duke ‘Fuck List’ Author Karen Owen Up To These Days? Let's Find Out!” Deadspin, Deadspin, 11 Sept. 2018, deadspin.com/whats-duke-fuck-list-author-karen-owen-up-to-these-da-5912350.
6. ↑ Alptraum, Lux. “There Is Life After Campus Infamy.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 July 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/07/21/style/campus-sex-women-exposure.html.
7. ↑ Kinslow, Tom. “Karen Owen Duke: The Latest From a Messy, Sexy Scandal.” Bleacher Report, Bleacher Report, 17 Sept. 2017, bleacherreport.com/articles/484093-karen-owen-duke-the-latest-from-a-messy-sexy-scandal#slide9.
8. ↑ Max, Tucker. “Home.” Tucker Max, 20 Nov. 2011, tuckermax.me/karens-owens-and-the-duke-fuck-list/.
9. ↑ Mason, Richard. (1986). Four Ethical Issues of the Information Age. Management Information Systems Quarterly - MISQ. 10. 10.2307/248873.
10. ↑ Wallace, Kathleen A. “Online Anonymity.” The Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics, by Kenneth Einar. Himma and Herman T. Tavani, John Wiley & Sons, 2008, pp. 165–189.
11. ↑ Daulerio, A.J. “The Full Duke University ‘Fuck List’ Thesis From A Former Female Student (UPDATE).” Deadspin, Deadspin, 17 June 2013, deadspin.com/the-full-duke-university-fuck-list-thesis-from-a-form-5652280.
12. ↑ Toobin, Jeffrey. “The Solace of Oblivion.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 19 June 2017, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/29/solace-oblivion