Tough questions from students, faculty
Some of the toughest questions from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill academic scandal came from those within the university - students, athletes and faculty members.
Posted — Updated"I will be graduating from the (Department of African, Afro-American and Diaspora Studies), how can you ensure that bad name won't follow me going forward,” said Taylor Webber-Fields, a senior in the department.
UNC Chancellor Carol Folt’s response was sympathetic.
“Thanks for asking me that. I think that is really important. It is one of the things that somewhat breaks my heart," she said. “You feel like you are having your history ripped out from under you, but that is not true."
The questions came during a forum moments after a 131-page independent report was released, detailing how student athletes were specifically steered towards no-show paper classes in the Department of African, Afro-American and Diaspora Studies for 18 years.
The fraud began in 1993 and lasted until 2011. According to the report, department chair Dr. Julius Nyang'oro and his department manager, Deborah Crowder, were responsible for offering hundreds of “irregular” classes that never met and had no faculty involvement. Crowder managed the classes and assigned grades.
The scandal involved students in multiple sports, but mostly those on the football and the mens and womens basketball teams. The NCAA has reopened its investigation into the scandal, which was previously closed in 2011.
Folt, who came to the university in 2013, said the report allows the school to move forward, which was a large theme in the forum.
But moving on may not be immediate.
"I have watched so many faces as they read the report, and I have either felt like crying of getting angry," she said.
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