tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891670707436705527.post7281028987465137802..comments2023-06-07T12:59:29.543-05:00Comments on Curmudgeon Central: Curmie Contender: Complete Disregard for Academic Integrity Editionmanjushri924http://www.blogger.com/profile/16996113208352431863noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891670707436705527.post-11517116854184207272015-01-08T09:48:49.574-06:002015-01-08T09:48:49.574-06:00OK, here is some background from a UNC alum.
...OK, here is some background from a UNC alum. <br /><br />When this first came out, I saw that this scheme was discovered by a different professor. He was checking (correcting?) a grade after the semester ended and noticed the name of a prominent athlete on his roll. Unfortunately, that athlete had not been in his class. Someone added the student with a grade after the semester grades had been entered. The professor demanded an investigation and it led back to the head of the Afro-American studies department's login credentials adding the student and the grade. Note that no investigation on how common this was has been published.<br /><br />A faculty member was fired just a few years ago for publishing a study that claimed that a large percentage of the athletes were completely unprepared academically to the point that many could barely read. The University claims she did not receive permission to publish the research (since when do faculty members require permission to publish research findings?). <br /><br />It was strongly rumored that the geography department (yes, they have a geography major) has a requirement that all faculty must furnish their exams and answer keys to the athletic tutors at least 1 week before the exams so the athletes can 'prepare'. Now you can see why so many UNC athletes have majored in geography.<br /><br />When you look at the faculty comments about this scandal, it gets scarier, Many seemed convinced this is a good thing. Many of these athletes were crumbling under a full-time academic load. They just couldn't handle it. They aren't allowed to take a lesser load and spread college out over more semesters because of NCAA and financial aid rules. So, the faculty determined that letting them go part-time while still appearing to be full-time (by using fake classes) was justified for affirmative action-type purposes. They knew what was going on and didn't just think of it as a necessary evil, they thought of it as good and just. These students can't handle the load and they need a 'chance' at a college degree, so here is how we can get them a degree<br /><br /><br />It is no coincidence that this is running through the Afro-American Studies department. No one at UNC can touch the Afro-American studies department, though. If anyone had tried to stop this behavior internally, they would have been charged with racism. The news media would have had headlines "Administrative Action Against Afro-American Studies Department Racially Motivated, Department Head Claims". There would have been mass student protests. Just look at what happened when they were denied a free-standing black cultural center at the space they demanded. Those protests and the bad press went on for years.<br /><br />As for who paid the price, H. Holden Thorp paid the price. A brilliant chemist who became chancellor at 43, Thorp had no method of stopping such activity even if he had known about it. If you doubt it, look at what happened. The chancellor had to step down, the basketball coach still is employed. This is in spite of the fact that the chancellor was both a Thorp and a Holden. Do you really think he resigned voluntarily as Chancellor of UNC, where his family and his business ventures are to become Provost of Washington University in St. Louis? That tells you how much power athletics has over academia today.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com