Mark Kinlaw: Give UNC credit for fixing scandal

Regarding the Aug. 4 editorial “UNC should answer, not evade NCAA”: Your editorial board continues calling for the crucifixion of UNC because of the infamous academic scandal.

I’m not going to defend what happened. No one could. But what will it take to placate your desires for UNC? It turned over the entire coaching staff of the football team. It replaced the chancellor and athletic director. The football team suffered through direct sanctions and worked six years under clouds of uncertainty. The school was put on academic probation by the SAC accreditation association.

Its pristine reputation has taken a big hit. What more do you want? What will it take to satisfy your need for retribution?

If your reporting of this story remotely resembled impartiality, you would give UNC credit for the personnel turnover, for identifying and reporting the anomalous classes itself and for implementing numerous changes to guard from it happening again.

And you would recognize the penalties it has paid so far are not insignificant. But you’ve not been impartial and remain fixated on stoking the fire with never-ending calls for UNCs persecution. When will it be enough?

This story was originally published August 9, 2016 at 5:28 PM with the headline "Mark Kinlaw: Give UNC credit for fixing scandal."