Athletics-Academics Issues Detailed on New UNC Website
Posted on
April 10, 2014
The University has launched a website designed as a one-stop source for information on the issues surrounding the relationship between varsity athletics and academics.
Carolinacommitment.unc.edu offers updates on ongoing investigations, a set of frequently asked questions that attempts to trace the events of the past three and a half years since the NCAA began investigating UNC, details of reforms already undertaken and those being considered, and an archive of reports of previous investigations.
Included among the reports are the James Martin-Baker Tilly examination of anomalies in the then-department of African and Afro-American studies; the review by UNC’s accrediting agency, the Southern Association for Colleges and Schools Commission; the UNC System Board of Governors’ review; and the results of four internal probes.
“We are committed to accountability, transparency and action,” the site’s mission statement reads. “Through this site, we will provide updates on our ongoing progress and the findings of the current independent inquiry. As new facts become available, whether viewed as positive or negative, we will post them. In the coming months as we delve further into our own and national reform, we also will post our proposals.”
The current inquiry is being led by Kenneth Wainstein, a 19-year veteran of the U.S. Justice Department who has been charged with taking further steps necessary to address questions left unanswered during previous reviews. Wainstein has been told to “follow the facts wherever they lead,” in the words of Chancellor Carol L. Folt, to answer questions many in the public still have about how irregularities in the AFAM department started and developed, the relationship between AFAM and athletics, and any possible irregularities in other academic units.
Meanwhile, the former chair of AFAM, Julius Nyang’oro, is scheduled to be in court April 29 to answer charges that he took compensation for courses he did not teach; and the former administrator of the department, Deborah Crowder ’75, is said to be cooperating with Wainstein.
More online…
- Rights Group Files OCR Complaint Against UNC
April 2014 news report
- Retired Professors Decry Faculty Reaction on Athletics, Academics
April 2014 news report
- Retired Professors’ Letter on Athletics, Academics
April 3, 2014, letter
- The Long and Grinding Road Continues: To a University trying to move forward and to its constituents weary of bad news, 2014 dawned with aftershocks: claims (disputed) of low college preparedness among some athletes and more painful national publicity. Like it or not, this is not over.
From the March/April 2014 issue of the Carolina Alumni Review
- Crowder Won’t Face Charges in Fraud Investigation
March 2014 news report
- UNC Launching New Inquiry With Outside Counsel
February 2014 news report
- Prominent Former Professor Shares Scandal Concerns
January 2014 news report
- Folt Sends Message About Campus’s ‘Painful Journey’
January 2014 news report
- National Media, Willingham Keep Scandal in the News
January 2014 news report
- Nyang’oro Indicted in Probe of Academic Fraud
December 2013 news report
- Rawlings Panel Makes 28 Recommendations on Athletics’ Role in Campus Life
September 2013 news report
- New Group Will Examine Academic Lives of Athletes
August 2013 news report
- Martin Says Fraud Isolated to African Studies Department
December 2012 news report
- UNC Plans Wide-Ranging Review of Academics-Athletics Relationship
August 2012 news report
- Faculty Committee: Should UNC Athletes Be Academically Separate?
July 2012 news report
- The UNC’s Faculty Executive Committee report
- Only Football Players Took Hastily Arranged Summer Class, Taught in Absentia
June 2012 news report
- SBI Probing Fraud Report in African, Afro-American Studies
May 2012 news report
- Evidence of Academic Fraud Found in African and Afro-American Studies
May 2012 news report
- Practices in African, Afro-American Studies Draw Scrutiny
September 2011 news report
- Department Chair Linked to Football Probe Resigns
September 2011 news report
- A Flag Is Down: A football season that started with high expectations is being played beneath the shadow of an investigation into improper outside contacts and academic misconduct. From the November/December 2010 issue of the Carolina Alumni Review.