J. Steven Reznick: Immediate UNC remedies
Regarding the June 9 editorial “UNC dilemma”: The N&O’s claim that UNC-Chapel Hill had an “almost institutionalized culture of exploitation” is a notably overstated assertion.
Investigations have identified a very small group of faculty and administrators who were aware of, and made use of, some fraudulent classes to reduce the academic load of student-athletes.
If those of us who are the other approximately more than 99 percent of faculty and administrators at UNC-Chapel Hill had been informed about these classes, our hearts and brains tell us clearly that we would have responded strongly to stop this inappropriate undermining of the quality education that we offer all of our students.
When we were informed, and we immediately instituted appropriate corrections that will prevent any similar dilemma from ever occurring (and many of our peer institutions have probably made the same corrections).
From the NCAA perspective, the previous “lack of institutional control” was very disappointing, but because the fraudulent classes were not instituted or funded by athletics, and the inappropriate classes were remedied immediately when discovered, the NCAA should not impose penalties.
J. Steven Reznick
Professor of psychology, former chair of the Faculty Athletics Committee, UNC-Chapel Hill
Durham
This story was originally published June 11, 2015 at 1:00 PM with the headline "J. Steven Reznick: Immediate UNC remedies."