TO THE EDITOR:
This letter was motivated by recent postings on paperclassinc.com/blog, a blog maintained by Jay Smith and Mary Willingham on “athletic reform.” As part of a drumroll to the release of their book, they published postings delineating why UNC can’t move on from our scandal, in which the last aberrant classes were offered nearly four years ago. Obviously, they have a vested interest in keeping the story alive.
Even a casual reading of the blog postings provides a disturbing glimpse into the fractured lens through which Smith and Willingham view the world. Their quest started as an unrelenting, media-pandering effort to focus the microscope solely on the athletics connection to the aberrant classes. The blog postings show further degeneration into a malicious, petty critique of productive actions made by UNC to address the issues uncovered, coupled with personal attacks on those doing the hard work to move us forward. Their vitriol is spread far by a committed Twitter public relations team made up of the most extreme members of rival fan bases. Perhaps the most disturbing part of it all is that one of the blog’s co-authors is a faculty member at UNC.
I agree that it is time for us as a nation to reexamine all aspects of the partnership of revenue sports athletics with institutions of higher education. This movement deserves representation by people of high integrity to lead a fair and balanced treatment of the issues, uncomplicated by personal agendas, and with concerns for the welfare and education of all student athletes at the forefront. If Smith and Willingham want to be constructive contributors to a reform movement, they need to alter their approach.
Prof. Cindy Schauer
Chemistry
