Posted on 10/22/2014 12:25:03 PM PDT by fungoking
More than 3,000 students at the University of North Carolina -- nearly half of them athletes -- were enrolled in a "shadow curriculum" over a two-decade period that involved no-show classes and bogus grades, according to a report released by the school on Wednesday.
U.S. Justice Department official Kenneth Wainstein compiled the 224-page report, which the school posted on its website. The report details UNC's former African and Afro-American Studies program, in which hundreds of Tar Heel athletes -- including numerous high-profile basketball and football players -- majored in or took classes from 1992-2011.
According to the report, several AFAM Studies classes required only a research paper that was often "scanned quickly" and rubber-stamped with a grade of A or B. The courses were viewed as a way that "athletes kept themselves from having eligibility problems," according to the report.
Though chancellor Carol Folt told the Associated Press the situation was "an academic, an athletic and a university problem," UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham declined to say if anyone in his department was in danger of losing his or her job. Wainstein interviewed Tar Heels basketball coach Roy Williams for his report, but Williams has denied knowledge of the wrongdoing in the AFAM department.
The "shadow curriculum" extended back to the tenure of legendary UNC basketball coach Dean Smith (who retired in 1997), and extended through those of Bill Guthridge, Matt Doherty and Williams. Ten of the 15 players on the Tar Heels' 2005 national championship team, coached by Williams, were AFAM Studies majors.
In June, Rashad McCants -- the second-leading scorer on that 2005 national title team -- told ESPN's "Outside the Lines" that tutors wrote papers for him, he rarely went to class and he was steered toward bogus classes designed to keep him eligible. He also said Williams knew about it, a claim refuted by Williams and several of McCants' teammates (McCants declined to be interviewed for the Wainstein report).
North Carolina's football program was stripped of scholarships and given a postseason ban in 2012, following the probe amid which coach Butch Davis was fired. The NCAA reopened the investigation in June due to new information.
Former AFAM Studies department chairman Julius Nyang'oro stepped down in 2011. He was indicted on felony fraud charges in 2012, but the charges were dropped in exchange for his cooperation with Wainstein's investigation.
I remember some athlete who said he never cracked a book in college, except Obama’s autobiography
How did this happen at the Holder DOJ?
Upon “graduation” they become “experts” in the government bureaucracy
North Carolina should have to forfeit all of those games and championships.
UNC actually handled this in a very pro-active upfront way.
Good on them.
This explains how Andrew Luck was able to complete an architecture degree at Stanford while playing QB. The architecture students I knew didn’t have time to sleep more than 3 hours/night, let alone start at QB.
Tells me all I need to know. It's obvious this investigation and report are racist. /s
You think UNC is the only school where this went on?
UNC is the only school willing to admit it and cooperate with the investigation.
“UNC actually handled this in a very pro-active upfront way.
Good on them.”
Actually, if you’d been following this scandal for the 4 years it’s been going on, your opinion may be just tad different.
They have been outright CHEATING their rear-ends off and it goes way back to St. Dean Smith.
This wasn’t “cooperating” in any way. They hired this guy for millions to do a whitewash. This final report, in part, is just that. The reality of what went on is 10 times worse.
OK, if half of these “shadow curricula” students were athletes, what were the other half? What made them so special they needed such special assistance to get through to their sheepskin?
Only a few of them went on to play professional sports. Most of the rest of them used their bogus degrees to get 6-figure government jobs.
I know all about the politics involved here.
I’m talking about the University administration. From a management perspective there were many ways to tackle this problem. They took the best approach. They now have an assessment from the outside that hey can use as a hammer to correct the problem.
“except Obama’s autobiography
I wonder if he could read it?
How does what happened at UNC in any way explain how Andrew Luck
graduated from Stanford?
Andrew Luck is a very bright young man.
The only “correction” warranted is the NCAA Death Penalty.
Read the report. It makes other Death Penalty cases look like amateurish child’s play.
Poor North Carolina, taking the fall for the rest of the NCAA Division I colleges and universities who do the same thing.........
Save the athletic scholarships for the real students and set aside a fixed number of "player scholarships" for those athletes who are too stupid to even qualify for college but are PRO material.
Make their curriculum be a rehash of all the classes they failed in high school...at least when they graduate without signing on to a pro team, they might have learned to read, write and maybe even balance a check book......
Their degree should be in "general studies"........
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