Dan Kane of the Raleigh N&O is offering a new article series investigating the UNC scandal, with Part One posted below, and online at: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/special-reports/carolinas-blind-side/article101978907.html
In short, Kane points to a cover-up of grand proportions involving the entire power base of UNC and the UNC system. Terrific work by Kane. I'm sure the NCAA and its COI will "enjoy" the series.
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Carolina's Blind Side
At UNC, A Missed Clue and a Mantra: This Was Not About Athletics
Newly released correspondence reflects a mindset at UNC-Chapel Hill that doubted or disputed information pointing to the athletic roots of a scheme of bogus classes. University lawyers missed, or chose to ignore, an early clue that could have unraveled the fabric of the scheme.
BY DAN KANE
dkane@newsobserver.com
In September 2010, UNC-Chapel Hill was embroiled in its worst athletic scandal in 50 years when one of its lawyers placed a call to Swahili instructor Alphonse Mutima.
The attorney was handling a matter related to that investigation, which involved football players who had taken perks from agents and improper help from a tutor. NCAA staffers had discovered the quagmire and had been digging for several weeks.
The attorney needed to get a syllabus and other materials for a summer class taken by one of the players. Mutima’s surprising response was a signal that there was more looming trouble, an embarrassment that would damage UNC’s academic reputation in a way not thought possible:
He said he didn’t teach the class.
Mutima was one of UNC’s two instructors in Swahili, a language class that was popular with athletes. The attorney consulted with a colleague, then followed up by looking at the grade roll for the class. On the document, the lawyer would have seen not only Mutima’s name, but what was purported to be his signature.
The lawyer emailed Mutima, who replied with the same message: He didn’t teach the class.
The attorney told the colleague about Mutima’s response. The attorney then turned to the chairman of the African studies department, Julius Nyang’oro, who didn’t respond.
And that’s where they stopped, UNC officials say. They believed the listing of Mutima’s name was a clerical error.
As it would turn out, the class was fake, one of 186 bogus classes created by a clerical employee and avid Tar Heel basketball fan named Deborah Crowder. There was no professor. She enrolled seven students, six of them athletes, including four football players and one men’s basketball player, just before she retired.
As in the other 185 classes, those enrolled had only to produce a paper that would get an automatic high grade. Crowder signed professors’ names – including Mutima’s – on the rolls. She often didn’t read the papers.
The lawyers’ lack of vigor in 2010 was representative of leaders at UNC and the university system, a review of tens of thousands of pages of records recently released to The News & Observer shows. That correspondence reflects a mindset that doubted or disputed information pointing to the athletic roots of the scandal – and reveals anger and frustration from some leaders directed at board members or reporters who pushed for more disclosure.
[Much more to the article ...]
[Deleted most of the article posted - left a large introduction ... you must notpost so much of an article, please: Click on link for entire article - Jellyman]
In short, Kane points to a cover-up of grand proportions involving the entire power base of UNC and the UNC system. Terrific work by Kane. I'm sure the NCAA and its COI will "enjoy" the series.
_____________________________________________
Carolina's Blind Side
At UNC, A Missed Clue and a Mantra: This Was Not About Athletics
Newly released correspondence reflects a mindset at UNC-Chapel Hill that doubted or disputed information pointing to the athletic roots of a scheme of bogus classes. University lawyers missed, or chose to ignore, an early clue that could have unraveled the fabric of the scheme.
BY DAN KANE
dkane@newsobserver.com
In September 2010, UNC-Chapel Hill was embroiled in its worst athletic scandal in 50 years when one of its lawyers placed a call to Swahili instructor Alphonse Mutima.
The attorney was handling a matter related to that investigation, which involved football players who had taken perks from agents and improper help from a tutor. NCAA staffers had discovered the quagmire and had been digging for several weeks.
The attorney needed to get a syllabus and other materials for a summer class taken by one of the players. Mutima’s surprising response was a signal that there was more looming trouble, an embarrassment that would damage UNC’s academic reputation in a way not thought possible:
He said he didn’t teach the class.
Mutima was one of UNC’s two instructors in Swahili, a language class that was popular with athletes. The attorney consulted with a colleague, then followed up by looking at the grade roll for the class. On the document, the lawyer would have seen not only Mutima’s name, but what was purported to be his signature.
The lawyer emailed Mutima, who replied with the same message: He didn’t teach the class.
The attorney told the colleague about Mutima’s response. The attorney then turned to the chairman of the African studies department, Julius Nyang’oro, who didn’t respond.
And that’s where they stopped, UNC officials say. They believed the listing of Mutima’s name was a clerical error.
As it would turn out, the class was fake, one of 186 bogus classes created by a clerical employee and avid Tar Heel basketball fan named Deborah Crowder. There was no professor. She enrolled seven students, six of them athletes, including four football players and one men’s basketball player, just before she retired.
As in the other 185 classes, those enrolled had only to produce a paper that would get an automatic high grade. Crowder signed professors’ names – including Mutima’s – on the rolls. She often didn’t read the papers.
The lawyers’ lack of vigor in 2010 was representative of leaders at UNC and the university system, a review of tens of thousands of pages of records recently released to The News & Observer shows. That correspondence reflects a mindset that doubted or disputed information pointing to the athletic roots of the scandal – and reveals anger and frustration from some leaders directed at board members or reporters who pushed for more disclosure.
[Much more to the article ...]
[Deleted most of the article posted - left a large introduction ... you must notpost so much of an article, please: Click on link for entire article - Jellyman]
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