U.N.C. Investigation Reveals ‘Shadow Curriculum’ to Help Athletes

<p>Everyone involved in this needs to be fired immediately. Most are gone, but the rest need to be gone. I’m glad after Thorpe “resigned” the new investigation was undertaken. I’m glad this investigation was undertaken and I’m glad that this was the result of unc self reporting. </p>

<p>I’d love to see more schools go thru this kind of investigation! It’s ultimately going to be much better. </p>

<p>@Someoldguy I am out of town and on my phone. When I get back in town I will put up my blue devils atavar for a month. </p>

<p>I don’t care what consequences we get, we just need to do what’s necessary and get on with the business of educating those who want to learn. </p>

<p>@poetgrl: While I appreciate the sentiment, self-flagellation is unbecoming, and there’s no need for hit. Here’s hoping we can all look back on yesterday as the day UNC athletics hit bottom. For as much as I love tweaking the teams, the school is far too important to its community and its state not to get back to excellence in all respects. </p>

<p>Ah. I’m not self flagelating. I’m just trying to lighten myself up
With a lost bet. I’m glad the actual report doesn’t implicate basketball the way it does football. But what I don’t even understand is why we bothered with that for such horrible football. I mean the football team is as bad as the cubs. “Wait til next year”. Why cheat for THAT?!</p>

<p>Although the focus is on the academic performance and admission statistics of these players, the time involved is also a consideration. These athletes have been putting in long hours at their sports, and so may not have focused as much on academics by the time they are admitted to college. If they are then expected to be both good students and top athletes in college while devoting most of their time to athletics, this is quite an expectation.</p>

<p>For most college students, academics are the priority and other activities are secondary. For these players, it is the reverse. If we are really asking them to be full time players and part time students, why not make it as it is? Although some will go on to be professional players, not all will, and nobody can spend a whole lifetime as an athlete, but many of them will be athletes while they are able to.</p>

<p>So if a student is struggling to keep up with both, and wants to put sports first, why not offer an option of playing for 4 years and a half time program that leads to a 2 year degree which covers their general education requirements? Offer an additional two years full cost scholarship post sports to stay in school and finish a 4 year degree, or for those who continue to play, a voucher for two years at any ACC college when they are ready to go back. </p>

<p>Yes, maybe this sounds a little far fetched- but it is better than enrolling them in sham classes, and considering the kind of money sports brings to the school, it should not be a problem to give each athlete 6 years of scholarship. </p>

<p>I agree pennylane. The facts that have come to light at UNC have to do with self reporting and a strong cooperative investigation. I don’t know the nber of investigations, but it’s high. I highly doubt you would find any more rigorous looked at a D1 program. </p>

<p>That said, I have felt for years that the work load is too heavy for in season athletes. Also, why not let them
Major in these sports. Dancers, musicians, actors can major in their ECs. Athletes should be allowed this as well. </p>

<p>That said, unc needs to get rid of these people. Most are gone, but I think a few might remain. </p>

<p>Why not just hire gladiators to represent the college?</p>

<p>They kind of used to. @hunt. They actually used to pay players in the Ivy League. They realized it was going to get expensive and hence. “Amateur” athletes were born. But the original ivy players were paid. </p>

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<p>It was never excellent in all respects, it was faking it by dishonest practices.</p>

<p>No school is excellent in all respects. Very few could withstand that kind of scrutiny. I’m glad we did it and I’m glad it’s getting taken care of now. But no school with a competitive D1 athletic program is immune to things like this. </p>

<p>I suspect that a serious multi-college investigation that looked for this kind of thing would have cataclysmic results.</p>

<p>For those of us with a dark sense of humor, one of the most amazing parts of this story is that Cynthia Reynolds, who stonewalled the investigation is now the Academic Programs Administrator at the Cornell University School of Applied Science and Engineering.</p>

<p>Given the benefits that accrued to the school’s athletic program from the magnitude of this (fill in the blank) the only appropriate penalty would be for the NCAA to give the death penalty to both the basketball and football program. As Napoleon would say to encourage the others. But that’s not going to happen.</p>

<p>And seriously–as a result of self-reporting? Yeah, after whistle-blowers went public.</p>

<p>Doesn’t UNC have an Academic Senate or Faculty Senate? At most large schools faculty review courses offered in academic departments to determine whether they meet the rigor expected of the institution. Programs and courses have been closed at some institutions because they didn’t meet minimum standards. How is it possible an entire academic department could operate in a vacuum for so many years with no oversight? This is the most alarming aspect of the case as far as I’m concerned. </p>

<p>And those of us with an even darker sense of humor note that Cornell is currently 0-5, including a 27-12 loss to toothpaste, so whatever she was doing in Chapel Hill must not work as well in Ithaca. </p>

<p>This is absolutely appalling, however I suspect there will be similar exposes coming soon at other schools. Athlete D visited UNC and did not get a good vibe, but she received a far worse impression at some other Div. 1 schools, including another big name in the same state which bragged about their ability to help athletes through. So my guess is UNC is far from alone in this. It’s sad, though, since it casts aspersions on honest student athletes at schools with integrity who absolutely put in the academic work and half kill themselves in the process. I really don’t think these “accommodations” are being made for female sports or non-revenue generating male sports. </p>

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<p>You are getting along just fine in your academic career, and you are going to take a stand against African American Studies and sports? Good luck with that …</p>

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<p>@TheGFG: And yet . . . </p>

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<p>See Waiman Report at pages 74-75. Similarly . . . </p>

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<p>See page 75 of the full report linked below. Later in the report, it is noted that Dorrance thought UNC’s limits on paper and online classes put him at a recruiting disadvantage against other schools that permitted women’s soccer players to take their entire courseload in such classes. </p>

<p><a href=“http://3qh929iorux3fdpl532k03kg.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/UNC-FINAL-REPORT.pdf”>http://3qh929iorux3fdpl532k03kg.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/UNC-FINAL-REPORT.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I don’t have time to read the report at the moment, but wonder: I understand the tremendous pressure to “help” athletes pass their classes, but the article says that more than half of the 3,100 students who benefitted were not athletes. So what was the motivation behind letting them slide by? Was it a ruse to help hide the athletes?</p>

<p>My heart actually really goes out to student-athletes who are just that- STUDENT-athletes. Those who are working their tails off in real classes to get the best education possible. IMO, this hurts them quite a bit because now their records will be far more heavily scrutinized. </p>

<p>What a craphole on so many levels. </p>

<p>I have a varsity student-athlete in an independent study class that I’m running. I won’t say how (s)he’s doing but (s)he is certainly held to the same standards as the rest of my students. </p>

<p>Looking at this from the weaselly NCAA perspective, are the student-athletes in violation of anything? </p>

<p>Arguably, the students didn’t commit academic fraud. It was the professors & administrators who did.</p>