TO THE EDITOR:
I appreciate Mr. Edwin Yoder’s input on the whole athletic scandal issue here at UNC in his April 11 letter to the editor “the University has embarrassed itself.”
I again reiterate that I feel this is a small group of athletes that may fall below par academically that everyone seems to assume is representative of the whole student-athlete population. This logic is equivalent to saying that the non-athlete members of the student body who are failing their courses and are academically eligible are a representation of all students. Why would the students who came in to speak to the committee be part of some “show and tell” production? Instead, those students came to address the blanket accusations against them as a whole. That is their right — to defend themselves and to show that the ones who don’t do their job academically while here at UNC are not representing student-athletes as a whole. Again, this should not be a finger-pointing thing — this needs to generate productive and positive solutions.
I don’t believe your across the board solution that all applicants meet the “threshold of academic standard” is a solution either. For that to be a solution, we would have to have equal education and opportunities for all children in education, and that is not the situation for many kids who go through the education system.
A better solution is to no longer allow our government officials to cut public education and social program funding. These funds are very crucial to helping young children excel in schools and helping parents have the social stability and aid that they need. Until we create an equal system of education and social lives, there will always be students who get less opportunities in school and don’t have the advantages of others for various reasons.
Athletes have an extremely rigorous schedule prior to college and in college. Allowances should be made for all these reasons. Students are not a GPA or SAT/ACT score — they are people. Standardized tests have long been proven to not be a good indicator of intelligence, and other factors may weigh in on a students GPA.
Kathy Morgan
The Friday Center
