UNC continues to elude NCAA sanctions for School supported fraud

[CTHUSKY74]

This follow-up article by the Raleigh News and Observer details some of the things that happened while a faculty committee reviewed and reported on the academic fraud scandal at UNC. Most of it is about old news but it's interesting how the school sought to spin the scandal. They seemed much more concerned about having an NCAA investigation that would impact their athletic programs than they were about accreditation issues for the school as a whole. I still don't understand why there is a perception in the NCAA that if the general student body participates in fraudulent, no work courses in addition to athletes, that it doesn't constitute athletic fraud or cheating benefitting athletes by the school. My belief is that these courses were set up to help low achieving students who happened to be athletes remain eligible academically so they could continue to star as athletes. The fact that other students also participated probably didn't dilute the purpose but may have hidden the true purpose of the coursework. If they ever truly examine the courses in detail to show who benefitted by remaining eligible to play or by being on pace to graduate, etc., I bet that the vast majority will be athletes. When I think back to our early issues with men's basketball players failing courses without the academic counseling program it makes me think that there was a very coordinated effort going on here, but it seems that besides that normal counseling and advisement the counselors were also steering some low or (no) performing athletes to no work courses as the only way to keep them eligible. I hope this newspaper continues to dig for the facts because the complete story in this case might actually force some NCAA action. Finding out that numerous former star basketball and football players really didn't complete degree requirements or complete necessary coursework to remain eligible while their teams were winning basketball titles and competing in bowl games over a 20 year period should certainly cause UNC the loss of some titles, wins and prestige. If there is another answer that is less dramatic, that shows why a school with this reputation conducted this fraud for the benefit of the general student body NOT specifically for athletes, then by all means bring this out but I sense that ANY answers that are found that detail why this program operated in this way will start and end with student/athletes who needed to be kept eligible so they could help their teams compete.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/07/20/3044746/unc-faculty-leader-pushed-rewrite.html