Pigskin May Mean No Sheepskin - Intercollegiate Studies Institute

Pigskin May Mean No Sheepskin

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has finally revealed the findings of their investigation into the alleged academic fraud of more than 3,000 students. Essentially, fraudulent classes were created by university administrators and were supported by many in the athletics department to ensure that struggling student athletes were able to fraudulently raise their GPA by taking no-show “independent study classes” that did not require anything more than a plagiarized paper that met the minimum page count to receive an A or a B, depending on the suggestion of the advisers to the “professor.”

When reading this, one cannot imagine that the problem has been traced back to the 1990s. These faux-classes include lecture courses that did not actually meet. The supposed mastermind of the whole conspiracy, Deborah Crowder, claimed she was motivated to commit such acts because of her “passion for helping students and a belief that [the college athletes] weren’t being supported by the university.”

I only wish she expounded on what it means, then, to be supported by the university. As far as I am aware, excluding Davidson College, Division 1 schools generally have the same level of “support” for their student athletes. At my university, for instance, our athletes receive astounding scholarships, free dorms, free meal plans from the “athlete section” of the dining halls (it is rumored that they actually serve lobster at these restricted areas), and private graduate tutors for each class. Sounds like neglect, right?

Now, do not get me wrong. I have defended the perks of collegiate athletes numerous times against the special-privilege-hating nonathletic students (usually during finals week). I fully support their privileges because 1) they provide countless services to the university through their participation in athletic programs, 2) they practice daily the number of hours an average student spends watching Hulu or Netflix, and 3) they have the equivalent of a high-pressure, highly criticized full-time job while also being a student. I, personally, could not do all they are expected to do without a little help.

The difference is that they still ought to be students. Real heavy-burdened, midterm-stressing, binge-pizza-scarfing students. That is what allows them to play in college. I understand why most elite athletes are not engineers. They don’t need to major in rocket science or brain surgery, but they do need to go to class, do the work, get the degree, and then go on (they hope) to make millions of dollars in the NFL. Not a bad trade-off, huh?

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