The chancellor of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill admits the university's role in the athletes' grade scandal
On January 23, 2014, the Office of the Chancellor at the University of North Carolina (UNC)-Chapel Hill issued a press release about the athletes’ grade scandal.
According to the press release, Carol L. Folt, chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill, met with the university’s Board of Trustees and acknowledged the university’s role in the athletes’ grade scandal.
Folt is quoted in the January 23, 2014, press release as saying, “As one of a small number of leading national research universities that also has a highly competitive athletic program, what happens at Chapel Hill is of great interest both regionally and nationally. We have to accept and do accept that scrutiny.”
The investigation into the academic scandal began in 2010 during former Chancellor Holden Thorp’s tenure.
Carol L. Folt’s tenure as the chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill began last year on July 1, 2013. During the investigation in 2010, university officials were made aware about allegations that a football player, Michael McAdoo, had plagiarized a paper for a course in the African and Afro-American Studies Department.
UNC-Chapel Hill reported the allegations to the NCAA. The NCAA suspended McAdoo and he appealed the decision. The appeal was denied.
The university also investigated if Julius Nyango’oro, the former chair of the African and Afro-American Studies Department, told the department’s professors to develop courses for athletes who were having trouble maintaining their academic eligibility.
According to a university report that was done by Jonathan Hartlyn (Senior Associate Dean for Social Sciences and Global Programs) and William L. Andrews (Senior Associate Dean for Fine Arts and Humanities), there was no evidence suggesting that the chair of the department had developed courses in order to help student-athletes maintain their eligibility.
On August 30, 2011, Nyango’oro resigned as the departmental chair. According to WRAL, Nyango’oro was indicted on December 2, 2013, on fraud charges associated with the academic scandal.
On January 23, 2014, the News Observer filed a lawsuit against UNC-Chapel Hill. The News Observer argues that the university has refused to release new information about the alleged grade changes that the university provided to the Southern Association of Colleges and School (SACS).
The new information includes the number (500) of grade changes that were confirmed, student-athletes (384) enrolled in African and Afro-American Department courses, and the number of student-athletes (173) enrolled in the department’s courses.
The university released a statement and argued that releasing the information would be a violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) law because the identity of the student-athletes would be revealed.
In the January 23, 2014, press release, the university quoted Vice Chancellor Joel Curran as saying, “We respect the rights of the news media to seek public records. However, in this case, we feel strongly that the records in question are protected by the federal privacy law, and we will vigorously defend the privacy rights of our students.”
According to the press release, Carol L. Folt, chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill, met with the university’s Board of Trustees and acknowledged the university’s role in the athletes’ grade scandal.
Folt is quoted in the January 23, 2014, press release as saying, “As one of a small number of leading national research universities that also has a highly competitive athletic program, what happens at Chapel Hill is of great interest both regionally and nationally. We have to accept and do accept that scrutiny.”
The investigation into the academic scandal began in 2010 during former Chancellor Holden Thorp’s tenure.
Carol L. Folt’s tenure as the chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill began last year on July 1, 2013. During the investigation in 2010, university officials were made aware about allegations that a football player, Michael McAdoo, had plagiarized a paper for a course in the African and Afro-American Studies Department.
UNC-Chapel Hill reported the allegations to the NCAA. The NCAA suspended McAdoo and he appealed the decision. The appeal was denied.
The university also investigated if Julius Nyango’oro, the former chair of the African and Afro-American Studies Department, told the department’s professors to develop courses for athletes who were having trouble maintaining their academic eligibility.
According to a university report that was done by Jonathan Hartlyn (Senior Associate Dean for Social Sciences and Global Programs) and William L. Andrews (Senior Associate Dean for Fine Arts and Humanities), there was no evidence suggesting that the chair of the department had developed courses in order to help student-athletes maintain their eligibility.
On August 30, 2011, Nyango’oro resigned as the departmental chair. According to WRAL, Nyango’oro was indicted on December 2, 2013, on fraud charges associated with the academic scandal.
On January 23, 2014, the News Observer filed a lawsuit against UNC-Chapel Hill. The News Observer argues that the university has refused to release new information about the alleged grade changes that the university provided to the Southern Association of Colleges and School (SACS).
The new information includes the number (500) of grade changes that were confirmed, student-athletes (384) enrolled in African and Afro-American Department courses, and the number of student-athletes (173) enrolled in the department’s courses.
The university released a statement and argued that releasing the information would be a violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) law because the identity of the student-athletes would be revealed.
In the January 23, 2014, press release, the university quoted Vice Chancellor Joel Curran as saying, “We respect the rights of the news media to seek public records. However, in this case, we feel strongly that the records in question are protected by the federal privacy law, and we will vigorously defend the privacy rights of our students.”
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