TO THE EDITOR:
What former North Carolina governor Jim Martin said “was not an athletic scandal” IS an athletic scandal far worse than anyone could have imagined.
Clearly the need for these paper classes was that UNC admitted many athletes, primarily football players, were so poorly prepared academically that they could not possibly succeed at UNC. This was exposed by Mary Willingham and confirmed by current UNC learning specialist Bradley Bethel in a private letter to the Chancellor.
Willingham has been vilified by many, including Provost Jim Dean, who called her research “a travesty.” He compounded this by enrolling outside experts without providing them with full information, as I have learned from correspondence with them. This was a whitewash by the administration. He and the University owe Willingham an apology and a return to her original position.
Elliot M. Cramer
Professor Emeritus
Psychology
