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Academic scandal at UNC-Chapel Hill involving basketball and football programs

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C

Crisco

Banned
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/19794788/north-carolina-cheated-and-prospered-and-now-its-time-for-the-reckoning

And to North Carolina's shame on so many levels, the cover was blown by a fan at North Carolina State.

Think about that. UNC football -- and probably basketball -- is going down, and it'll go down in part because a member of the PackPride message board found a damaging transcript belonging to a former UNC athlete. Humiliating, and not just because the whistle was blown by a fan of N.C. State, a school many UNC graduates look down upon.

Humiliating also because it underscores just how ignorant North Carolina wanted to be. UNC officials didn't want to know what was happening, so they stuck their heads in the dirt -- and it just got worse. How bad?

Maybe the ugliest academic scandal in NCAA history.

This one is worse than what happened in 2007 at Florida State. I mean, it's not even close. Florida State had some numbers that looked bad -- 61 athletes from 10 different teams -- but this UNC scandal dwarfs it.

FSU had 61 tainted players, almost all from the same class.

North Carolina has at least 54 tainted classes.

How many athletes were given free grades from the Department of African and Afro-American Studies? We don't know. UNC never wanted to find out, but the school has no choice now. The school mustered a halfhearted search for the truth earlier this year when it found those 54 tainted classes, but its search went back only to 2007. Despite efforts from the Raleigh News & Observer that suggested otherwise, the school held firm that the academic fraud started in 2007.

Enter the N.C. State fan and the found transcript. It belonged to former UNC two-sport star Julius Peppers.

It was from 2001.

See what we have here? We have evidence not only of grades being given to athletes for at least a decade -- but also that UNC academic support staff steered athletes to those classes. This can't be dismissed as the rogue actions of a man named Julius Nyang'oro, the embattled former head of the Department of African and Afro-American Studies. If it was just him, well, that could be explained away to a certain extent. The school would be vulnerable to NCAA sanctions, but one man running amok? That's not horrible.

What actually happened at North Carolina?

This is horrible.
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ty3Iv.gif
 
H

hateradio

The Most Dangerous Yes Man
I think it's a well-established that athletes get fixed grades. I hope this does something to curve it, but it'll just make things more covert in other places.
 
entremet

entremet

Member
sonicfan said:
michael-jordan-lol.gif
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Oh man, perfect.

Let's be real. This stuff goes on everywhere. UNC just got caught.

College Athletics is joke in many levels and I'm not talking about the coaches or players, but the NCAA and how much money they make from student athletes.
 
P

PBY

Banned
Huge duke fan... But this is just plain bad for everyone on NCAA ball. Duke , and the acc for that matter. needs unc to be good... We need a rival
 
N

numble

Member
Ernie Johnson: “Auburn is a pretty good school. To graduate from there I suppose you really need to work hard and put forth maximum effort.”
Charles Barkley: “20 points and 10 rebounds will get you through also!”
 
G

Grover Cleveland

Member
Academic fraud in athletic programs is way more rampant than just one or two schools. In the high-stakes world of college athletics (especially football), schools are going to do their best to try and keep their best athletes on the field.

Is it despicable? Yes.
Is it a huge problem that should be corrected? Sure, but you can't simply solve it just by hammering one school with sanctions and penalties and calling it a day.

This is a problem with the culture of college athletics at every level. From the NCAA all the way down to students and faculty themselves.
 
D

DominoKid

Member
eh...we'll be fine.
its no secret around the state that academically UNC has been on some bullshit for a long time.
the athletic program being involved is just collateral damage.
this shit is bad on the entire university.
 
Dude Abides

Dude Abides

Banned
Grover Cleveland said:
Academic fraud in athletic programs is way more rampant than just one or two schools. In the high-stakes world of college athletics (especially football), schools are going to do their best to try and keep their best athletes on the field.

Is it despicable? Yes.
Is it a huge problem that should be corrected? Sure, but you can't simply solve it just by hammering one school with sanctions and penalties and calling it a day.

This is a problem with the culture of college athletics at every level. From the NCAA all the way down to students and faculty themselves.
Click to expand...

You just want an avatar quote.
 
B

Big-E

Member
Grover Cleveland said:
Academic fraud in athletic programs is way more rampant than just one or two schools. In the high-stakes world of college athletics (especially football), schools are going to do their best to try and keep their best athletes on the field.

Is it despicable? Yes.
Is it a huge problem that should be corrected? Sure, but you can't simply solve it just by hammering one school with sanctions and penalties and calling it a day.

This is a problem with the culture of college athletics at every level. From the NCAA all the way down to students and faculty themselves.
Click to expand...

Yep. This is related to the PSU stuff too as these programs are left to do whatever they want because of the money they bring in. The head coach of the top team might as well be the president of the university.
 
H

hoos30

Member
As an alum and former player at another ACC school, you are crazy if you think UNC is going to be seriously punished for this. Neither the NCAA, the ACC or the state of North Carolina are interested in slaughtering their golden goose.
 
N

ncsuDuncan

Member
Most schools have super easy athlete classes, but they don't all brag about The Carolina Way.

I find it hilarious that an NCSU fan dug this up, especially after UNC's "internal investigation" assured us there was no reason to look further back than 2007.
 
G

GoldenEye 007

Member
Can't believe the NCAA was so lax about the initial investigation. I wonder if they will look deeper into it now and take it to UCF football and basketball.
 
E

Eggo

GameFan Alumnus
Can someone enlighten me on what the scandal is? I see a purported transcript of Julius Peppers with classes and grades... where is the scandal?
 
S

Sky Chief

Member
An embarrassment to the ACC

As for Peppers he also got caught doing steroids in the NFL, when has this guy ever not cheated?
 
E

el retorno

Member
Eggo said:
Can someone enlighten me on what the scandal is? I see a purported transcript of Julius Peppers with classes and grades... where is the scandal?
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The department of African and Afro-American Studies seems to be giving free grades to classes that don't exist. they had one student
 
GungHo

GungHo

Single-handedly caused Exxon-Mobil to sue FOX, start World War 3
My god... this means there are large, athletic people running around with unearned credits in Afro American studies. Do you know what damage they could do if they were put behind the wheel of heavy machinery?
 
Emerson

Emerson

May contain jokes =>
This almost certainly happens to some degree at every single college in the NCAA. Even if grades aren't fixed, athletes are steered towards the easiest classes by coaches, advisors, or at the very least their peers. The NCAA's concept of a student-athlete when it comes to football and basketball at least is an absolute joke.
 
B

bjb

Banned
To think this doesn't happen at other schools :lol

Urban Liar and Ohio State surely the next to fall.
 
E

Eggo

GameFan Alumnus
el retorno de los sapos said:
The department of African and Afro-American Studies seems to be giving free grades to classes that don't exist. they had one student
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What proof is there that this happened? The only fact I've seen so far is a partial transcript was mistakenly posted on UNC's website with Pepper's name on it. People start throwing around that 50+ classes of UNC are tainted by this, but where is any of that coming from? The original link reads like a poorly written blog post full of speculation.
 
T

timmy

Member
Grover Cleveland said:
Academic fraud in athletic programs is way more rampant than just one or two schools. In the high-stakes world of college athletics (especially football), schools are going to do their best to try and keep their best athletes on the field.

Is it despicable? Yes.
Is it a huge problem that should be corrected? Sure, but you can't simply solve it just by hammering one school with sanctions and penalties and calling it a day.

This is a problem with the culture of college athletics at every level. From the NCAA all the way down to students and faculty themselves.
Click to expand...
I agree with everyone you wrote. But in addition to whatever other steps they take, they should severely punish the schools they find to be cheating.
 
I

iamblades

Member
Grover Cleveland said:
Academic fraud in athletic programs is way more rampant than just one or two schools. In the high-stakes world of college athletics (especially football), schools are going to do their best to try and keep their best athletes on the field.

Is it despicable? Yes.
Is it a huge problem that should be corrected? Sure, but you can't simply solve it just by hammering one school with sanctions and penalties and calling it a day.

This is a problem with the culture of college athletics at every level. From the NCAA all the way down to students and faculty themselves.
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone thinks it is limited for just a couple of schools, but when the NCAA hammers some schools for minor violations that may have happened before a student even got to college they can't ignore blatant fraud like this without everyone who has been punished throwing a fit.


The NCAA has been tossing out arbitrary punishments with little rhyme or reason for so long so they can look like they are tough on violators that they have painted themselves into a corner, they are on the path to tearing themselves apart because of their arbitrary inconsistent rulings that reek of favoritism.
 
I

iamblades

Member
Eggo said:
What proof is there that this happened? The only fact I've seen so far is a partial transcript was mistakenly posted on UNC's website with Pepper's name on it. People start throwing around that 50+ classes of UNC are tainted by this, but where is any of that coming from? The original link reads like a poorly written blog post full of speculation.
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UNC themselves reported to the NCAA that 54 classes in the AFAM were fraudulent(though they said it dated back only to 2007, this transcript suggests otherwise), the NCAA tried to sweep it under the carpet arguing that because the classes were open to any student that it wasn't an athletic matter. Which is obvious horseshit given that they've punished schools for academic fraud that didn't even happen at the school.
 
A

Arcteryx

Member
E

el retorno

Member
Eggo said:
What proof is there that this happened? The only fact I've seen so far is a partial transcript was mistakenly posted on UNC's website with Pepper's name on it. People start throwing around that 50+ classes of UNC are tainted by this, but where is any of that coming from? The original link reads like a poorly written blog post full of speculation.
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There were classes that were "full" with one student and its not hard to piece together that classes that weren't regular and filled with athletes aren't real classes.

The Pepper's transcripts shows that he took these classes and they just so happened to be his higher grades.

But in the classroom, Peppers was a marginal student with a grade point average so low he was continually at risk of losing the opportunity to play, according to an academic transcript bearing his name. What kept bailing him out were several classes in the Department of African and Afro-American Studies, a relatively young academic unit led by department chair Julius Nyang’oro.

A transcript bearing Peppers’ name, found over the weekend in an odd portal on a UNC website, shows a subpar academic record: a 1.82 grade point average and 11 grades of D or F. It also suggests that the academic fraud already confirmed by the university in the African studies department goes much further back than it had previously been able to confirm.


Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/20...anscript-points-to-broader.html#storylink=cpy
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Arcteryx said:
It goes on pretty much everywhere. UofO got a new "student athlete" building not long ago, and that shit is state of the art compared to the rest of buildings on campus. They have access to around the clock amazing-tier tutors etc.

http://www.theskanner.com/article/U...l-and-Grades-Leaves-Some-Skeptical-2011-12-30
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Well I've always assumed that the classes are at least real and regularly offered. I know advisors steer athletes to easy classes but if they're not making up the grades or classes I don't think its "wrong" (I personally do because I think the whole "student athlete" thing is a sham)
 
D

Devolution

Member
Gotta love athletes who aren't really there to learn taking spots from people who do. While there are a host of athletes who do actually give a fuck about their college education it's kind of bullshit that there are ones who don't and get fixed grades on a scholarship. The whole athletics issue in college is just gross.
 
V

virtuoso88

Member
Cubsfan23 said:
of course this is nowhere to be found on ESPN.com Front Page. It should be plastered all over the site.
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It can't be.

John Skipper is the president of ESPN Inc. and co-chairman of Disney Media Networks as of January 1, 2012.
In June 1997, Skipper became senior vice president and general manager of ESPN the Magazine. Since October 2005, he has served as executive vice president of content.
Skipper attended Lexington High School in Lexington, North Carolina. He then attended UNC-Chapel Hill and earned a bachelor's degree in African-Afro-American Studies. After receiving his master's degree in the same field from Columbia University, he went to work for Rolling Stone, starting as a secretary but moving up. He also worked for Us and Spin before becoming senior vice president of Disney Publishing Group.[1]
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Skipper
 
G

Grover Cleveland

Member
Fenderputty said:
What's the over/under on whether any penalty will be worse than Penn States?
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Won't be anywhere close.

Partly, because academic fraud doesn't have quite the same negative stigma in the public as leaders of an institution facilitating child rape. And partly because, well, UNC is a more valuable institution to the NCAA than Penn State is.

virtuoso88 said:
John Skipper is the president of ESPN Inc. and co-chairman of Disney Media Networks as of January 1, 2012.
In June 1997, Skipper became senior vice president and general manager of ESPN the Magazine. Since October 2005, he has served as executive vice president of content.
Skipper attended Lexington High School in Lexington, North Carolina. He then attended UNC-Chapel Hill and earned a bachelor's degree in African-Afro-American Studies. After receiving his master's degree in the same field from Columbia University, he went to work for Rolling Stone, starting as a secretary but moving up. He also worked for Us and Spin before becoming senior vice president of Disney Publishing Group.[1]
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Well, got damn.
 
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