Progressive Faculty Network needles Wainstein report

While the Progressive Faculty Network has diverse opinions on the Wainstein report, there is one thing they can agree on — the problem is much bigger than paper classes.

The group, composed of around 100 UNC faculty members, was founded in the 1990s to further causes of economic and social justice and have been vocal with their criticism of the Wainstein report — an investigation that unearthed a nearly two-decade-long academic scandal within the former Department of African and Afro-American Studies.

“(The report is) shocking to see, but it reveals much larger questions of the institutional culture,” said Altha Cravey, a geography professor and member of the group.

Cravey read the group’s statement about the report at the “Real Wainstein Report” rally held by the Real Silent Sam Coalition last week.

Mark Driscoll, an Asian studies professor and member of the group, believes the problem is the system.

“It’s a much more complicated picture than the picture that the administration wanted to put out before,” he said. “It’s a very hierarchical institution. All the people that are being singled out for blame are powerless.”

This is something that Wainstein did not take into account during his investigation, he said.

Steve Wing, a professor in the Department of Epidemiology and member of the group, agrees the hierarchical nature of the University is cause for concern.

“One of our concerns is that the one department has been blamed and that people who don’t have job protections have been blamed,” he said.

This goes hand-in-hand with the racialization of the scandal, he said.

“We can blame black student-athletes. We can blame black scholars. We can blame black students that take those classes. I think that’s the easy narrative,” Cravey said. “But why not look at all the responsibility for the institutional and systemic failures of 20 years letting this go on?”

Driscoll thinks the response is too focused on athletes.

“The frats do it too,” he said. “What about the frats?”

Wing said he believes the blame should be directed towards the University, which exploits athletes and undervalues their education.

“It may help the University raise money, and apparently, it helps the University raise a lot of money. But that’s not the purpose of the University. The purpose is education,” he said.

The question of what to do next is a loaded one, but Driscoll has an idea.

“If you wanted to really address the change, would be to address the power asymmetry,” he said.

The current hierarchy makes it hard for faculty members to speak up, fearing repercussions and even job loss, he said.

“There’s no place to criticize the University on campus. That has to change.”

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