Duke University has hired John Danowski to lead its embattled men’s lacrosse program, the Associated Press reported this morning.

Mr. Danowski, whose son Matt is a senior all-American player on Duke’s lacrosse team, has coached at Hofstra University for 21 years. Mr. Danowski replaces Mike Pressler, who resigned after a woman alleged she had been raped by three Duke lacrosse players at a team party where she was hired as a stripper.

Three Duke players have been indicted on charges of rape, kidnapping, and sexual offense against the woman, who is a student at North Carolina Central University. One of the players, David F. Evans, a former captain of Duke’s team, has strongly denied the charges against all three men, calling the allegations “fantastic lies” (The Chronicle, May 16).

The rape allegations led to intense scrutiny of Duke’s athletics culture and the cancellation of the lacrosse team’s season (The Chronicle, April 21). Duke’s president, Richard H. Brodhead, reinstated the team after two panels investigated the program’s past problems and recommended new codes of conduct and additional measures to improve the team’s behavior (The Chronicle, June 6).