UNC history professor concludes that Academic problems are not just those of Athletes:He says this is a systemic problem and athletes are different and should be treated differently

UNC history professor Jay Smith is speaking out on the UNC Academic Scandal and today(Tuesday) he was talking about this with Joe Ovies and Adam Gold on 99.9FM radio, in the Triangle….

from www.wral.com:

“I have come to the conclusion the problem is a systemic one,” said UNC history professor Jay Smith while joining Adam and Joe on 99.9 The Fan ESPN Radio Tuesday.

“It is not an athletic or academic one. It is a systemic problem across the campus. Pinning it on entirely on athletics is wrong and pinning it on a couple individuals is wrong.”

Smith insisted that regardless of the findings to any of the investigations, the faculty is concerned and proper administrators need to take accountability. He also added that students and student-athletes cannot realistically be held to the same standards at any university.

“I think it is well-nigh impossible to have naturally competitive football and basketball teams and expect those students to behave like everyone else in the classroom,” Smith said. “It’s not realistic. It’s not right to expect these students to put in 40-50 hours of work into their sports each week and expect them to carry the same workload as other students. It’s just absurd. How can you take the marginal student that has been recruited to the university for his athletic talents and put him down in a classroom and expect them to perform at the same level as the other students?”

CLICK HERE to read all from WRAL.com….

12 thoughts on “UNC history professor concludes that Academic problems are not just those of Athletes:He says this is a systemic problem and athletes are different and should be treated differently

  1. not all college athletes are “marginal” students as this professor implies

  2. The academic standard for athletes IS already less than the general student population, even with-in the rules. They can get admitted at a lower standard and they can continue there education at a lower load and standard. I believe that they should be held to the same standard. After all, they are getting paid via scholarship for their extra hours.

  3. The admissions requirements are less for an athlete, but once they are there they have to follow the same rules as any other student. They may find the easiest majors, but these majors are available to all students. I played basketball in college and I don’t think I would have been accepted if I didn’t play basketball. Athletes do have mandatory study halls and tutors, but most universities offer free tutoring to any student who needs it. If you want to continue playing your sport, your grades have to be kept at a certain level. My coach made that very clear. My school was not an athletic powerhouse and grades definitely came first. At most schools, it takes 120 credits to graduate and this is no different for athletes.

  4. McFfy, you are off base. There is not a lower academic standard for athletes. There is not a lower load, the opposite in fact. Due to sports commitments athletes frequently need summer school to get out on schedule. There are less stringent majors for all students, not just athletes. Some do get admitted with lower test scores than others but once they get to school they have to do the work, unless of course they are at unc. An athlete that majors in business, accounting or a science takes the same classes as a non-athlete.

    One advantage athletes do have is they usually get to register for their classes before the rest of the student body. The reason for this is they have to work around their practice schedule. Athletes are held to the same standard once they are admitted. There are not 2 seperate grading scales for athletes vs. non-athletes, unless you are at unc.

    As to the comments in the article, athletes have to be held to the same standard once admitted to school. If they can’t do the work either change majors or they should not be there. If you want to create a degree to keep athletes eligible, as unc has done, that’s one thing. But you can’t have 2 different standards in the same degree for athletes and non-athletes. As to the point about lower admission standards for athletes, it does happen but it also happens for some other groups of students. I don’t think they plan on eliminating exceptions for minorities.

  5. I understand now, it’s not a unc problem, it’s a “system” problem. Got it.

    unc cheats for decades and it’s a “system” problem and everyone else is doing it.

  6. I know that is what you wanted the Prof to say but that is not what he said. Here it is again. Anything jump out at you? Perhaps the word “campus”. Try again.

    “It is not an athletic or academic one. It is a systemic problem across the campus. Pinning it on entirely on athletics is wrong and pinning it on a couple individuals is wrong.”

  7. Thanks “get the facts”

    Wow! That means that Peppers was NEVER eligible. Even with the fraudulent classes factored in, his cumulative GPA never rose above the 2.0 required for academic eligibility at Carolina. Unbelievable. I thought maybe there was a lower GPA standard for athletic eligibilty than university eligibility because of this.. I know Division 2 has a 1.8 GPA for NCAA eligibility but Div 1 requires you to meet the schools standard.

    This IS systemic . This involves not only athletic eligibility but academic accredidation.

  8. True. Peppers was only eligible his first semester. He spent most of his career as an inelible player. If it’s a systemic problem then it’s at unc. Don’t group everyone into unc’s problems. It is apparent the issues at unc go beyond the athletic dept., so maybe it is a systemic problem for unc.

  9. Get your head ouy of your butt, its at every school!!!! D1-D3….. Investigate every school and you will find viloations to some degree, PERIOD!!

  10. Coach Roy Williams said on the radio today(Wednesday) that as far as he knows his house/teams is/are in order….

    Isn’t most of the speculation concerning the basketball team showing up prior to Roy arriving in Chapel Hill, coming in from Lawrence, Kansas???

    Roy should be clean on all of this right???

    Wouldn’t the Julius Pepper period of basketball go back ot Dean Smith and Bill Gutheridge??

    Just trying to tie together all of the time lines…..

    I think it was Kennard Martin(football) not Warren Martin(basketball) who was caught tossing his books out the window about mid-way through the Spring semester back in the late 80’s/early 90’s….(There was some concern that Martin:Kennard, might hit a passerby.) There was also a book bon-fire that I heard tales of from back in the day when they had to bring in the fire marshall to shut it all down….

    Still plenty of speculation and time for the NCAA to come in not be North Carolina’s Athletic Associate, but the National Crew Assigned to Alleviate all concerns…..

    All talk so far, but it makes for a downright busy week in ACC Athletics….

  11. According to an article from the Indiana Star, 7 players from the 2005 men’s championship basketball team majored in Afro-American studies. This included Sean May who admitted to take Afro-American studies because it offered “more independent electives, independent study. I could take a lot of classes during the season. Communications, I had to be there in the actual classroom. We just made sure all the classes I had to take, I could take during the summer.”

    Roy brought Wayne Walden to UNC as the head academic counselor of the men’s basketball team until the summer of 2009. He was at Kansas with Roy. He was responsible for scheduling all of the basketball players’ classes.

    These are the fraudulent classes.

  12. McFly says:
    August 15, 2012 at 1:42 pm

    Thanks “get the facts”

    Wow! That means that Peppers was NEVER eligible. Even with the fraudulent classes factored in, his cumulative GPA never rose above the 2.0 required for academic eligibility at Carolina. Unbelievable. I thought maybe there was a lower GPA standard for athletic eligibilty than university eligibility because of this.. I know Division 2 has a 1.8 GPA for NCAA eligibility but Div 1 requires you to meet the schools standard.

    This IS systemic . This involves not only athletic eligibility but academic accredidation.

    Funny, but the requirements at the junior college level are at least a 2.0 GPA each semester…I guess juco kids aren’t so dumb after all. Just for the record, community college course are exactly the same courses offered at ALL state supported 4-year institutions.

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