OPINION

Letter: Shame on UNC-Chapel Hill

The Citizen-Times

It took a seven-year investigation for the NCAA to find a loophole so they wouldn’t have to penalize the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. By ruling the academic fraud was an institutional problem, and that the NCAA had no jurisdiction in the matter, the university avoided the possibility of vacating national championships, banning of post-season play, and reprimanding coaches.

Over eighteen years:

Not one coach knew — shame on you! Not one athletic director knew—shame on you! Not one administrator knew — shame on you! Not one academic dean knew — shame on you! Not one vice president knew — shame on you! Not one chancellor knew — shame on you! Not one president knew — shame on you!

While the university now admits its wrongdoing — 3,000 students took phony courses and coaches steered over 1,500 “student-athletes” into those courses — no internal action has been taken. There’s not been one reprimand, not a penalty, not a ban — it’s like it didn’t happen. All the coaches received was a wink of the eye!

It’s time for the university administration to take swift, deliberative action so the word “athletic” can be replaced by “academic” in the institution’s overriding mission.

Les Cochran, Weaverville