OT: UNC Academic Fraud Investigation

[Huskies Rule]

This is an appalling scandal, and the repercussions should be harsh. But with all the schadenfreude going around, along with breathtakingly idiotic statements suggesting that all UNC degrees conferred over the last 18 years should be considered worthless, we ought to reconcile ourselves to the fact that these practices are assuredly more widespread than we'd like to think. The scale of the fraud at UNC may or may not be unusual among Div 1 schools. I can assure you that, in the wake of this report, there are many other programs whose personnel is losing sleep over fear of a more widespread investigation. Their saving grace, as others have suggested, is that the NCAA would much rather sweep all of this under the carpet...just too many dollars at stake. But the myth that exists about so-called student/athletes, certainly at many of those institutions with 100,000 seat stadiums to fill, is only that...a myth. Some schools do a better job than others about putting over the deception.

Really? That UNC was able to perpetuate a fraud of such magnitude and get away with it for almost two decades makes it evident they are the champs of cheating, without equal.

Gerald Gurney, president of the highly respected Drake Group, whose mission is "to defend academic integrity in higher education from the corrosive aspects of commercialized college sports," after an exhaustive examination of evidence, interviews, records et al., stated, " I can assure you the depth and breadth and sheer numbers of affected (UNC) athletes is in fact the largest and most egregious case of academic fraud by far in NCAA history." Period.

I'm thinking DD's departure, which shocked everyone, reflects a very smart kid who got wind of the scandal's imminent explosion, and left the sinking (stinking) ship just in time.

 

[Zorro]

Seems to me to explain the facts better than an other explanation that I have seen proposed, HR.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

Really? That UNC was able to perpetuate a fraud of such magnitude and get away with it for almost two decades makes it evident they are the champs of cheating, without equal.

Gerald Gurney, president of the highly respected Drake Group, whose mission is "to defend academic integrity in higher education from the corrosive aspects of commercialized college sports," after an exhaustive examination of evidence, interviews, records et al., stated, " I can assure you the depth and breadth and sheer numbers of affected (UNC) athletes is in fact the largest and most egregious case of academic fraud by far in NCAA history." Period.

I'm thinking DD's departure, which shocked everyone, reflects a very smart kid who got wind of the scandal's imminent explosion, and left the sinking (stinking) ship just in time.

I was thinking the same thing. I don't know many UNC fans, but I can't imagine how upset I would be if my alma mater did something like this.

 

[huskyharry]

Didn't they create these classes for the athletes in mind? It was only post creation that the rest of the student body caugh on and signed up. I read that somewhere, but unconfirmed. If true, it would go against those that argument.

It looks likely to me that UNC designed this to be a program to help athletes and deliberately included non-athletes to have this built-in excuse. Smilin', Aw-Shucks Roy likes to claim innocence but he brought over his academic advisor from Kansas in 2003 and that advisor has been directly implicated in funneling basketball and football players toward the AA Studies program.

 

[CL82]

Really? That UNC was able to perpetuate a fraud of such magnitude and get away with it for almost two decades makes it evident they are the champs of cheating, without equal.

Gerald Gurney, president of the highly respected Drake Group, whose mission is "to defend academic integrity in higher education from the corrosive aspects of commercialized college sports," after an exhaustive examination of evidence, interviews, records et al., stated, " I can assure you the depth and breadth and sheer numbers of affected (UNC) athletes is in fact the largest and most egregious case of academic fraud by far in NCAA history." Period.

I'm thinking DD's departure, which shocked everyone, reflects a very smart kid who got wind of the scandal's imminent explosion, and left the sinking (stinking) ship just in time.

I'd be surprised if that was actually the case.

 

[triaddukefan]

I'm thinking DD's departure, which shocked everyone, reflects a very smart kid who got wind of the scandal's imminent explosion, and left the sinking (stinking) ship just in time.

I would be highly shocked if this academic scandal had anything to do with #23's transfer

 

[Bgillon]

It looks likely to me that UNC designed this to be a program to help athletes and deliberately included non-athletes to have this built-in excuse. Smilin', Aw-Shucks Roy likes to claim innocence but he brought over his academic advisor from Kansas in 2003 and that advisor has been directly implicated in funneling basketball and football players toward the AA Studies program.

Huskyharry raised an excellent point about Roy Williams bringing his academic advisor from Kansas with him. The same advisor who funneled some of Roy's players to the "courses' in question. So how did Roy not know anything about theses phantom courses since his trusted advisor was involved? So much of this does not pass the "sniff test". I am not convinced UNC was to get to the bottom of this 2 decade scandal. My only hope is that some journalists will actually do what we citizens expect of them and keep pushing for the truth!

 

[Husky25]

I was at SMU during the time of the death penalty, and I thought that the results were so devastating that it would never be applied again. And it hasn't been. But if there was ever a case that deserved it, this is it. I have been involved in academics all my life, and I can guarantee you that there is no way this was not widely known among the faculty and administration. NC should have to, at the very least, forfeit any game in which any athlete in any sport was involved who had participate in these ghost classes, plus severe penalties for their present and future programs; scholly restrictions, post-season bans, etc., along with unrestricted ability of current athletes to transfer. It won't happen, but it should.

I don't think the NCAA is 100% to blame for the effects of the Death Penalty in Dallas. SMU football was suspended for one year under the provision, but they willingly extended it to two years on their own. I'm pretty happy with the outcome, especially because without it, Hollywood could never come up with the masterpiece that is Necessary Roughness.

Regarding Penn State: while Sandusky's existence is grotesque and incomprehensible to you (and me as well), they did not break an NCAA rule per se.

 

[ed4ourgirls]

. . . I'm thinking DD's departure, which shocked everyone, reflects a very smart kid who got wind of the scandal's imminent explosion, and left the sinking (stinking) ship just in time.

I hope someone asks her about this the next time she gives an extended interview.

If that is the principal reason for her departure, she'll probably dodge the question,
but it's a question that needs to be asked.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

It looks likely to me that UNC designed this to be a program to help athletes and deliberately included non-athletes to have this built-in excuse. Smilin', Aw-Shucks Roy likes to claim innocence but he brought over his academic advisor from Kansas in 2003 and that advisor has been directly implicated in funneling basketball and football players toward the AA Studies program.

Huckleberry Hound knows a lot more than he's admitted.

 

[UConnChapette]

I hope someone asks her about this the next time she gives an extended interview.

If that is the principal reason for her departure, she'll probably dodge the question,
but it's a question that needs to be asked.

Why does it need to be asked? Her reasons for transferring is her business. Maybe it was no part of the reason, part of the reason, or the entire reason. Whatever the case, she does not owe an explanation to anyone. And it is not really relevant...unless she was unfortunate enough to have been steered into one of those courses. If so, that will come out in due course, but it should be the NCAA that does the asking - should they decide to actually investigate.

To me, the person who should be asked questions and held accountable to answer them is Mark Emmert. Specifically, why the NCAA was so quick to bring the hammer down on UConn for the APR issue and its unfair application of new standards retroactively, punishing student athletes who came to UConn after the fact, yet has not moved the UNC investigation forward as swiftly. UConn's APR issue pales in comparison to an 18 year perpetuation of sham classes.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Regarding Penn State: while Sandusky's existence is grotesque and incomprehensible to you (and me as well), they did not break an NCAA rule per se.

The NCAA nailed Penn State because they covered up child rape on their campus. The only problem with that premise is that no child was ever raped on their campus, at least according to the verdict handed down in Sandusky's trial. The participants in the supposed cover up have yet to have their day in court, so we still don't know who did what and when and here we are three years later. When you boil it all down, the NCAA hammered the school because a young boy may have been touched inappropriately one night in 2002 while showering with Sandusky in the football locker room. I say "may have" because all we have to go on about that night is the assistant coach's dubious account. You know the one who claimed to have broke it up, then didn't, then did by slamming a locker. Not to discredit those that were truly abused, but I found it a bit odd that literally minutes after the verdict was read, all of a sudden everyone was coming out of the woodwork about being abused. Where were all these victims from November until June when the Sandusky story was one of the biggest news stories? Is it because they didn't want to face cross examination in a criminal proceeding, but wanted their shot at a pay day since Penn State was basically handing out blank checks like candy? I'm sure Sandusky is a messed up fellow, but the whole thing from the way the school ineptly handled it (almost intentionally so that it's suspicious), to how quickly Sandusky's trial was pushed through the court system (never mind the leaked grand jury docs), to the NCAA in-fighting over whether or not the death penalty was ever a possibility all stinks to high heaven. Just look at how the NCAA vacated wins back to the 1998 incident which the county district attorney declined prosecution, but some how that's the football team's fault so we're gonna revoke 4 extra seasons of wins just because we're the NCAA and we can? Some shady stuff went down there between all the actors, and I hope some of the lawsuits that have been given the go-ahead finally shed some light on the matter.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

Huskyharry raised an excellent point about Roy Williams bringing his academic advisor from Kansas with him. The same advisor who funneled some of Roy's players to the "courses' in question. So how did Roy not know anything about theses phantom courses since his trusted advisor was involved? So much of this does not pass the "sniff test". I am not convinced UNC was to get to the bottom of this 2 decade scandal. My only hope is that some journalists will actually do what we citizens expect of them and keep pushing for the truth!

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

Regarding DeShields:

- The paper/fake classes purportedly stopped in 2011, before she arrived on campus.
- Her reasons for leaving had a lot to do with Trisha Stafford-Odom leaving.

 

[Huskies Rule]

Regarding DeShields:

- The paper/fake classes purportedly stopped in 2011, before she arrived on campus.
- Her reasons for leaving had a lot to do with Trisha Stafford-Odom leaving.

Understood, CC. Perhaps the bogus "classes" did stop in 2011, but the nuclear fallout is just now hitting the fan. Don't you think the fear of losing future BB scholarships, losing potential recruits or tournament sanctions might scare a kid straight to Knoxville? Or Durham?

 

[Alydar]

Really? That UNC was able to perpetuate a fraud of such magnitude and get away with it for almost two decades makes it evident they are the champs of cheating, without equal.

The champs among those who have been caught. If UNC got away with it for about 20 years without detection, isn't it reasonable to assume that there are other schools that also have been doing it and perhaps haven't been caught?

 

[loneycafe]

Mark Emmert's comments today:

"Just based on the (Kenneth) Wainstein report, this is a case that potentially strikes at the heart of what higher education is about. Universities are supposed to take absolutely most seriously the education of their students, right? I mean that's why they exist, that's their function in life. If the Wainstein report is accurate, then there was severe, severe compromising of all those issues, so it's deeply troubling. ... It's absolutely disturbing that we find ourselves here right now."

 

[loneycafe]

Also, adding this from a pro-UNC blog, tarheelblog.com: 5 questions still unanswered about Wainstein

Question 5: Where are the tough questions for Sylvia Hatchell?

"Unlike Williams, who came to UNC after the scheme had been running for a decade and inherited a team already entrenched in the AFAM curriculum, Hatchell has been at UNC the entire time the paper classes were going on. Moreover, the women's team's adviser, Boxill, was a primary culprit in perpetrating the fraud. While it can only be insinuated what exactly Williams knew, Wainstein indicates that Hatchell was so familiar with Crowder in an "instructional" role that she actually thought Crowder was a professor.

So why the media hypocrisy in pounding Williams, who at a minimum was the one person whose sport actually distanced itself from the fraud, but has not even mentioned Hatchell, whose program was so significantly involved in both enrollments and in Boxill requesting specific grades for players?"

 

[j66kicker]

Also, adding this from a pro-UNC blog, tarheelblog.com: 5 questions still unanswered about Wainstein

Question 5: Where are the tough questions for Sylvia Hatchell?

"Unlike Williams, who came to UNC after the scheme had been running for a decade and inherited a team already entrenched in the AFAM curriculum, Hatchell has been at UNC the entire time the paper classes were going on. Moreover, the women's team's adviser, Boxill, was a primary culprit in perpetrating the fraud. While it can only be insinuated what exactly Williams knew, Wainstein indicates that Hatchell was so familiar with Crowder in an "instructional" role that she actually thought Crowder was a professor.

So why the media hypocrisy in pounding Williams, who at a minimum was the one person whose sport actually distanced itself from the fraud, but has not even mentioned Hatchell, whose program was so significantly involved in both enrollments and in Boxill requesting specific grades for players?"

Well there we have it - the women's basketball coach was behind the whole thing

 

[Bayareahusky]

Emmert's comments are predictable...... so whatcha gonna do about it Mark?

 

[UcMiami]

Also, adding this from a pro-UNC blog, tarheelblog.com: 5 questions still unanswered about Wainstein

Question 5: Where are the tough questions for Sylvia Hatchell?

"Unlike Williams, who came to UNC after the scheme had been running for a decade and inherited a team already entrenched in the AFAM curriculum, Hatchell has been at UNC the entire time the paper classes were going on. Moreover, the women's team's adviser, Boxill, was a primary culprit in perpetrating the fraud. While it can only be insinuated what exactly Williams knew, Wainstein indicates that Hatchell was so familiar with Crowder in an "instructional" role that she actually thought Crowder was a professor.

So why the media hypocrisy in pounding Williams, who at a minimum was the one person whose sport actually distanced itself from the fraud, but has not even mentioned Hatchell, whose program was so significantly involved in both enrollments and in Boxill requesting specific grades for players?"

Partly it has to do with percentages - there were twice as many MCBB as WCBB players involved (12%/6%), partly with success - 3 NCs, partly with the money involved on the two sides, and probably mostly to do with the fact that the last men's championship squad had the majority of players enrolled in paper classes during that year including one who was taking 4 of them in a single semester.

And sorry, but I am just not buying the MBB program shift - it increased when Roy arrived and it didn't actually decline until 2009. And his statement says he was concerned with the number of AFAM majors - which I read as listen, this will raise a red flag if anyone notices that the whole team is majoring in AFAM - get them spred around to more departments in terms of major, and only use the paper classes for keeping them eligible.

 

[pap49cba]

College president calls on UNC to lose accreditation over the fraud

LINK

 

[Icebear]

A great piece.

 

[pinotbear]

A great piece.

Indeed; the only quibble I would have is the repeated statement that this (scandal) is "not primarily an athletics issue". Since the whole reason the sham classes exist is athletic eligibility, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss that. I do agree, wholeheartedly, that the fundamental academic integrity of UNC is bigger than athletics .. but, sadly, not by much, as evidenced by the situation that the University finds itself in. The very integrity of the University of North Carolina is in doubt, because of their over-valuing of their athletic teams.

 

[Bgillon]

Also, adding this from a pro-UNC blog, tarheelblog.com: 5 questions still unanswered about Wainstein

Question 5: Where are the tough questions for Sylvia Hatchell?

"Unlike Williams, who came to UNC after the scheme had been running for a decade and inherited a team already entrenched in the AFAM curriculum, Hatchell has been at UNC the entire time the paper classes were going on. Moreover, the women's team's adviser, Boxill, was a primary culprit in perpetrating the fraud. While it can only be insinuated what exactly Williams knew, Wainstein indicates that Hatchell was so familiar with Crowder in an "instructional" role that she actually thought Crowder was a professor.

So why the media hypocrisy in pounding Williams, who at a minimum was the one person whose sport actually distanced itself from the fraud, but has not even mentioned Hatchell, whose program was so significantly involved in both enrollments and in Boxill requesting specific grades for players?"

I don't believe there is a trade off of blame for Hatchall vs. Williams. They are both the captain of their respective ships and as such responsible for their players. As noted earlier, Williams brought his academic advisor from Kansas with him to UNC. Therefore I would assume the advisor had an allegiance to Williams and if he spotted irregularities, he would have warned Roy AND not participated!