The decision not to pursue sanctions is deplorable

A disturbing statement released Friday by UNC administrators said the NCAA will not pursue sanctions based on present information about the worst academic scandal in memory.

UNC administrators updated the NCAA on Aug. 23 about recent findings
in the academic scandal involving the African and Afro-American Studies department.

Julius Peppers’ transcript, which was accidentally
posted on a UNC website, implies the alleged academic fraud in the department might have extended much further back than originally thought.

The NCAA’s decision to cease pursuing the sanctions after learning of these findings shows its complicity in the subjugation of academics to the interests of athletics at member institutions.

If the available information about the scandal truly did indicate that NCAA rules were not violated, then the NCAA ought to revise those rules to prioritize academics more than they do.

UNC administrators first notified NCAA officials of possible academic issues with student athletes more than a year ago.

Administrators commissioned an internal review to see if there was
academic impropriety, but limited the investigation to one department and to courses taught between the summer of 2007 and the summer of 2011.

The NCAA, content to rely on UNC’s internal investigation’s findings
despite the obvious conflict of interest, sent only a single enforcement official to Chapel Hill.

The internal review, concluded in May, revealed that 52 of the 616 courses investigated between 2007 and 2009 had little or no instruction.

Furthermore, the report uncovered “faculty signatures that appear to be forged” and unauthorized grade changes.

These classes were found to have a disproportionately large number of student athletes.

The report concluded former department chairman Julius Nyang’oro and
former department manager Deborah Crowder were both involved in setting up and facilitating these courses.

Another report, conducted by a special subcommittee of the faculty executive committee and released in July, strongly suggested athletic counselors directed student athletes to the courses Nyang’oro created.

Despite these discoveries, the NCAA took no action.

If the NCAA wants to maintain credibility, it must take academic fraud more seriously.

And if, as new evidence unfolds, it is found that Nyang’oro did create courses to maintain the eligibility of athletes, the NCAA’s dismissive stance will undermine its mission to ensure athletic program integrity.