The American higher education system is one of the country’s greatest assets. Over the years the arrogance of academics has allowed unexplainable problems and problem characters such as Jerry Sandusky and Ward Churchill to take center stage. For example, the University of Colorado has drawn attention for the actions of its philosophy department and the University of North Carolina has come up with a show stopper, nearly two decades of academic cheating.
On October 24th, the Boulder Daily Camera published an article, “Massive cheating scandal at UNC involved athletes.” Oddly enough, the article was posted on page 5 of the World View section under the heading, “Academics.”
The opening paragraphs of the article, by Aaron Beard and Emery P. Dalessio, stated,
“Bogus classes and automatic A’s and B’s are at the heart of a cheating scandal at the University of North Carolina that lasted nearly two decades, encompassing about 3,1000 students – nearly half of them athletes.
At least nine university employees were fired or they are under disciplinary reviews, and the question now becomes what, if anything the NCAA will do next? Penalties could range from fewer scholarships to vacated wins.
Most of the athletes were football players or members of the school’s cherished basketball program, which won three of its five national titles during the scandal (1993, 2005, 2009).”
Later in the article the authors stated,
“The scandal reached back to the final years of legendary men’s basketball coach Dean Smith’s tenure, as well as John Swofford’s stint as athletic director before becoming Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner.”
The UNC scandal raises a series of questions:
- Why did the Boulder newspaper report this in the World View section and not on the sports page?
- Both the UNC cheating scandal and the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal have scarred the credibility of higher education and college sports. Why isn’t there as much outrage for the UNC scandal as there was the Sandusky scandal?
- Which is worse, scandals in the financial world by characters such as Ivan Boesky and Bernie Maddow or the Penn State and UNC scandals?
- Would hearing about this scandal impact your decision to send your children to UNC? Does a twenty-year academic scandal really matter?
- How will UNC regain its credibility as an institution of higher learning after an incident such as this?
- Is it possible for the NCAA to levy a penalty on UNC that will adequately punish the university for its indiscretions?
- The reports indicate that almost half of the offenders where athletes (mostly football and basketball players). Why were student-athletes the major offenders? Would the scandal have occurred if athletics was not an important part of the UNC culture?
- After hearing about this scandal, what comes to mind when you hear the term “student athlete?”
- Are colleges and universities more or less susceptible to scandals than the private sector?
- Which university will shoot itself in the foot next? Locally, what will the University of Colorado do to top its latest fiasco in the Philosophy Department?
Sadly, the list of questions could go on ad infinitum. And unfortunately, scandals and the arrogance of academics are a part of life.