TO THE EDITOR:
Professor Margolis, why mince words at this point? You see no place for Division I football and basketball programs at the University of North Carolina. Your article on the Inside Higher Ed website on Aug. 16 titled “Drop the Ball” indicated as much. You laid out a proposal to drop both football and basketball completely.
You ask for Bubba Cunningham to share his goals? I’d suggest you start by listening to his introductory press conference. I am not sure what you prefer the role of an athletic director to be, but I can tell you that to “reassure us that Carolina can compete for national championships in football and maintain its integrity as a university” is exactly the reason he was hired. His goal is to manage a successful athletic program with the budget he is provided, while avoiding NCAA violations. Are there athletic directors at other schools who have any other mission? I’ve yet to hear of one.
You offer nothing but vague platitudes toward Mr. Cunningham, instead of offering a suggestion as to how athletics can “embolden the academic mission of research, teaching and service.”
It is attitudes like yours, attempting to pit athletics versus academics, that have created a schism that will be far more damaging to our University in the long run than a few football players accepting jewelry.
If it’s truly the case that these few individuals who broke the rules can ruin the integrity of a University that has been educating students for years, then our institution had no integrity to begin with.
Jeff Jones
Class of 2011
