Rights Group Files OCR Complaint Against UNC
Posted on April 7, 2014The Student Athletes Human Rights Project, a Durham-based organization dedicated to ending what it says is exploitation of students who are athletes, has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights saying UNC has “discriminated against male athletes, especially black, male athletes.”
SAHRP claimed that the University deprived some UNC athletes of a quality education when they were directed to so-called “paper classes” set up in the former department of African and Afro-American studies by the former department chair, Julius Nyang’oro.
“The data suggests black student-athletes are disproportionately enrolled in paper courses when compared to white student-athletes,” the organization wrote in its complaint.
Officials at SAHRP could not be reached immediately.
According to its website, the group “provides real-time advocacy and activism for student-athletes in cases where they are treated unjustly.
“The Project aims to improve the collegiate athletics system by partnering with philanthropists, foundations, activists, and other organizations that also favor social justice for the adolescents and young adults who are an integral component of the collegiate athletics system.”
In March, it called on the NCAA to investigate UNC for various unethical conduct by officials of the University in the issues it faces in the relationship between athletics and academics.
The project cited aspects of past and ongoing investigations into the UNC case, such as the probe by former Gov. James Martin, and allegations from former football player Michael McAdoo ’12 that his education was a “scam.”
The project’s letter to the NCAA cited the central complaints against African and Afro-American studies — that irregularities were found in more than 50 department classes, some of which did not offer classroom lectures but assigned a paper to be completed by the end of the term, and that these classes were heavily enrolled with athletes. The letter also cited the research of learning specialist Mary Willingham concerning the college-level abilities of some athletes admitted to UNC, research that has been discredited by the University.
SAHRP’s website shows it has documented the three-and-a-half-year-old episode at UNC closely, along with the cases of several other universities that have academics-athletics issues.
More online…
- 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 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, available online to Carolina Alumni members.
