University of North Carolina receives no punishment from NCAA for academic scandal
The NCAA announced Friday that it “could not conclude that the University of North Carolina violated NCAA academic rules” in what is widely considered the worst academic scandal in college sports history.
The organization, which governs the top tier of U.S. college sports, did not levy any penalties against North Carolina athletics.
Given that the university’s athletic department could have faced severe sanctions, including the loss of championships, the NCAA’s determination was a major victory for North Carolina.
The NCAA did not dispute that a major academic fraud had occurred over several years, but its committee on infractions, which empowered a panel to investigate, concluded it did not have the power to punish the university.
“While student-athletes likely benefited from the so-called ‘paper courses’ offered by North Carolina, the information available in the record did not establish that the courses were solely created, offered and maintained as an orchestrated effort to benefit student-athletes,” said Greg Sankey, commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, who led the panel.
Sankey said his panel was “troubled by the university’s shifting positions about whether academic fraud occurred on its campus,” but he said the infractions committee was powerless to punish North Carolina for courses the university offered to any member of the general student body.
“The NCAA defers to its member schools to determine whether academic fraud occurred and, ultimately, the panel is bound to making decisions within the rules set by the membership,” he said.
According to a university-commissioned investigation, North Carolina had for nearly two decades offered a “shadow curriculum” of fake classes into which athletes were steered. The university appeared guilty of subverting the NCAA’s central tenet that college athletics are a mere component of education.
UNC was charged with a “lack of institutional control” resulting in violations of bylaws governing extra benefits to athletes and ethical conduct.
The scheme involved nearly 200 laxly administered and graded classes. Their students were disproportionately athletes, especially in football and men’s basketball. In many cases, athletes were steered to the classes by athletics academic advisers.
UNC had contended that the case was fundamentally academic in nature, and that athletics staffers were at most tangential to it.
