Professor Cindy Schauer’s petition to “move UNC forward” from its athletic-academic scandal seems to be motivated by good intentions — namely, to refocus UNC’s attention upon other pressing issues. Ultimately, however, the over 100 professors who have signed the petition seem too eager to embrace complacency.
The petition itself seems likely to be ineffective either way. It is directed at no one in particular and features no call to action besides asking for a general softening of attitudes toward UNC’s past misdeeds.
In a letter to The Daily Tar Heel, Schauer acknowledged unspecified problems with the national collegiate athletics model but emphasized UNC’s inability to change it alone.
UNC cannot change the NCAA on its own, but it should not be content to continue taking part in an exploitative enterprise without using its institutional weight to push for significant change.
And Schauer’s praise for the University’s transparency seems too generous given the administration’s unwillingness to admit to what was suggested by the records uncovered by the Wainstein report — that the scandal was not confined to one academic department.
If the UNC community wants to hold the high ground it desires on other issues, it must not shy away from the injustices in athletics it perpetuates.
To do so, UNC’s administration ought to confront these issues — not cast itself on the side of the NCAA in fighting to perpetuate a fraudulent business.
