TO THE EDITOR:
As a citizen of the state of North Carolina and a faculty member, the academic scandal revealed in full detail in the Wainstein report is deeply disappointing.
Select faculty and administrators responsible for oversight failed all students who took these courses. Further, by not having course offerings for our student-athletes that were beyond reproach, we also let down our athletics programs.
To the detriment of our University, the Athletic Reform Group, hiding behind a noble agenda, has displayed questionable integrity in continuing to grab at headlines by vocally deflecting the blame for our academic scandal to “athletics.”
I’ve come to expect this kind of hyperbole from rival fan bases, our regional “newspaper” and other media, but I expect more from my faculty colleagues. Given the facts of the situation, it is inexcusable to unrelentingly blame athletics for our academic and oversight failings.
Our community needs to come together so we can heal and move forward. Personal agendas need to be set aside for us to earn back the confidence of current students, alumni and the citizens of our state.
These aberrant classes are in the past, and we have administrative controls in place to ensure the past won’t be revisited.
Remaining to be addressed are the challenging underlying issues on the border between athletics and academics faced by all universities.
Let’s let the groups on our campus charged with addressing them lead a constructive and balanced debate.
