Last spring, at the height of the frenzy over accusations that three Duke University men's lacrosse players had gang raped a Black exotic dancer during a party, faculty from Duke's African and African American studies department chose to take a stand. With emotions running high, the faculty took out a full-page advertisement in student newspaper, the "Duke Chronicle," quoting the fears that minority students had expressed in a recent campus forum. The ad received endorsements from a total of 88 professors representing 13 departments, mostly in the humanities. However, a year later, it has taken center stage in a blogger-fueled campaign against the professors, saying they falsely accused the lacrosse players. The issue has turned personal, and three professors have received death threats. The rape charges have now been dismissed, the alleged victim has been largely discredited and District Attorney Mike Nifong is under investigation for ethics violations. With the case unraveling, the Group of 88, as they have been referred to, are now facing fierce criticism that their own biases fueled a "lynch-mob mentality" on campus that has destroyed the reputations of three young men, whose families are saddled with more than $3 million in legal fees. Members of the Group of 88 say they have received hundreds of e-mails, many of which were racist and threatening in tone. In response, a handful of the embattled professors are actually turning up the volume instead of backing down. In published statements, they say the "social disaster" ad did not deal with the lacrosse players' guilt or innocence, and they accuse their critics of attacking their scholarship and trying to silence their calls to end racism and sexism at Duke. The controversy shows no sign of dying down.