UNC Academic Scandal

[cabiness42]

Made a separate thread on this since it involved both football and basketball, as well as other students and student-athletes.

 

 

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/...ed-sham-classes

 

A report commissioned by the University of North Carolina says school academic advisers steered athletes into sham classes over an 18-year period but does not directly implicate coaches or athletic administrators in the scheme.

 

The report, released Wednesday, says academic advisers in North Carolina's athletic department colluded with a manager in the African and Afro-American Studies department for student-athletes to take classes to boost their GPAs and keep them eligible in their respective sports.

 

The classes, in place from 1993 to 2011, were overseen by Debby Crowder, the longtime manager in the African and Afro-American Studies department, and later by the department chairman. They allowed a student to write a paper of at least 10 pages rather than attend lectures or meet with professors. The papers were graded by Crowder, who was not a professor. They typically earned an A or B-plus grade.

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/unc-athlete...campaign=buffer

 

A new report released Wednesday details how the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill offered "paper classes" — courses that never met and required only one final paper — to help boost athletes' grades and keep them eligible.

 

In an ESPN report in March, ex-UNC football player Deunta Williams and whistleblower Mary Willingham detailed how these paper classes worked.

 

The classes, which were listed as "independent studies" in the course book, had no attendance, and students got credit for writing papers that always got either A's or B's.

 

Willingham, who called the paper classes "scam classes," showed ESPN an example of one of these papers. It's a one-paragraph, 146-word "final paper" on Rosa Parks.

 

The student received an A- overall in the course, Willingham says.

 

Here's the text (h/t @BrianAGraham):

 

On the evening of December Rosa Parks decided that she was going to sit in the white people section on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama. During this time blacks had to give up there seats to whites when more whites got on the bus. Rosa parks refused to give up her seat. Her and the bus driver began to talk and the conversation went like this. "Let me have those front seats" said the driver. She didn't get up and told the driver that she was tired of giving her seat to white people. "I'm going to have you arrested," said the driver. "You may do that," Rosa Parks responded. Two white policemen came in and Rosa Parks asked them "why do you all push us around?" The police officer replied and said "I don't know, but the law is the law and you're under arrest.

Edited October 23, 2014 by HickoryHuskers

[LittleHurt05]

UNC is not the only school doing this, they are just the only ones dumb enough to get caught.

[southsider2k5]

I'd love to see each team have void every single win for any athlete connected to this.

[Jenksismyhero]

Minnesota got a big penalty a decade ago for like 20 students. This is 3100 over an 18 year period. UNC should be losing banners, vacating seasons and banning themselves from postseason play for a few years.

 

Sucks that Illinois can't be named the 2005 champs if the title is vacated.

[StrangeSox]

"but they get a free education!"

[LittleHurt05]

Minnesota got a big penalty a decade ago for like 20 students. This is 3100 over an 18 year period. UNC should be losing banners, vacating seasons and banning themselves from postseason play for a few years.

 

Sucks that Illinois can't be named the 2005 champs if the title is vacated.

 

That would be so f***ing awful if that happened.

[LittleHurt05]

"but they get a free education!"

 

It sounds like they got what they paid for

[southsider2k5]

"but they get a free education!"

 

If you are too f***ing lazy to take advantage of it, that is no one's fault but your own.

[cabiness42]

UNC is not the only school doing this, they are just the only ones dumb enough to get caught.

 

Maybe not the only school doing this, but I don't see this happening at Big Ten or PAC 12 schools, or other elite schools like ND or Vanderbilt. I also don't see it happening very many places with the large number of athletes it did here.

[cabiness42]

I'd love to see each team have void every single win for any athlete connected to this.

 

Voided wins are a hollow punishment. I don't see the NCAA having the balls to do this, but I think you could justify a penalty of a complete shutdown of the athletic department for an entire year. From July 1 to June 30 there are no scholarship athletes and no paid coaches.

[southsider2k5]

Voided wins are a hollow punishment. I don't see the NCAA having the balls to do this, but I think you could justify a penalty of a complete shutdown of the athletic department for an entire year. From July 1 to June 30 there are no scholarship athletes and no paid coaches.

 

Eh, to me, victimless crime like cheating should come at a lower level of punishment than what happens at places that cover up things like rape and child molestation. Save that sort of punishment for them.

[LittleHurt05]

Maybe not the only school doing this, but I don't see this happening at Big Ten or PAC 12 schools, or other elite schools like ND or Vanderbilt. I also don't see it happening very many places with the large number of athletes it did here.

 

Well it did happen at Minnesota, a Big Ten school. While it may not be going on at this grand of a scale, I'm sure not all "student"-athletes are earning their degrees at these big schools, that's not what they are there for.

[cabiness42]

Well it did happen at Minnesota, a Big Ten school. While it may not be going on at this grand of a scale, I'm sure not all "student"-athletes are earning their degrees at these big schools, that's not what they are there for.

 

I guess I should rephrase my statement. It can happen at any school on a small scale, but I think it's more difficult at schools that care about their academic reputation. It may have happened at Minnesota, but the school didn't turn a blind eye to it for 10 years they way they did at UNC.

[Harry Chappas]

Maybe not the only school doing this, but I don't see this happening at Big Ten or PAC 12 schools, or other elite schools like ND or Vanderbilt. I also don't see it happening very many places with the large number of athletes it did here.

 

Duke has some program that was created for basketball players. I am not certain it is much different.

[RockRaines]

I love that they pointed out no connection to coaches.

 

Come on, this was a #1 recruiting tool to bring in most of those players. We have classes where you dont have to do anything, I'll always keep you eligible. LOVE self-investigation

[Kyyle23]

I love that they pointed out no connection to coaches.

 

Come on, this was a #1 recruiting tool to bring in most of those players. We have classes where you dont have to do anything, I'll always keep you eligible. LOVE self-investigation

 

Yea, they are letting the director of African American studies twist in the wind for all of it. As if she just went ahead and created this situation with no prompting from anyone.

[RockRaines]

Yea, they are letting the director of African American studies twist in the wind for all of it. As if she just went ahead and created this situation with no prompting from anyone.

She simply just went off the reservation and they are SHOCKED that athletes were given special treatment. Who is dumb enough to believe that story I wonder

[NorthSideSox72]

Duke has some program that was created for basketball players. I am not certain it is much different.

Duke is an elite academic school though, outside of sports, so it seems less likely from them. I'm sure athletes there get special treatment, but I would be surprised if they had this deep a problem.

 

[Kyyle23]

Duke is an elite academic school though, outside of sports, so it seems less likely from them. I'm sure athletes there get special treatment, but I would be surprised if they had this deep a problem.

 

Im pretty sure that Duke has a similar made up class and Major that all of the athletes enroll in. Coach K has been questioned about it a few times IIRC

[ChiSox_Sonix]

Minnesota got a big penalty a decade ago for like 20 students. This is 3100 over an 18 year period. UNC should be losing banners, vacating seasons and banning themselves from postseason play for a few years.

 

Sucks that Illinois can't be named the 2005 champs if the title is vacated.

 

Yep. And if UConn had a post season ban for their issue, then UNC should have to forget about the post-season for the next 10.

 

[StrangeSox]

If you are too f***ing lazy to take advantage of it, that is no one's fault but your own.

A report commissioned by the University of North Carolina says school academic advisers steered athletes into sham classes over an 18-year period

[southsider2k5]

The same still applies. Just because someone suggests a class, doesn't mean you have to take it. Again, that is your own damned fault.

[LittleHurt05]

The same still applies. Just because someone suggests a class, doesn't mean you have to take it. Again, that is your own damned fault.

 

I'm sure most of those kids didn't care anyway. They weren't there to learn, they were there to play sports.

[StrangeSox]

The same still applies. Just because someone suggests a class, doesn't mean you have to take it. Again, that is your own damned fault.

 

When your coach/administration "suggests" a class and they have the power to drop you from the team and cost you your scholarship at any moment, it's not just a "suggestion"

[cabiness42]

The same still applies. Just because someone suggests a class, doesn't mean you have to take it. Again, that is your own damned fault.

 

I think a lot of these kids were in the position of having to take these fake classes or not being able to stay in school. They didn't really have a good option either way.