By action of the ACC Infractions and Penalties Committee, the Atlantic Coast Conference has issued a public reprimand to the University of North Carolina. The reprimand follows the recent announcement of penalties imposed by the NCAA Committee on Infractions on UNC’s football program.

The ACC Infractions and Penalties Committee was formed in 1990, through a vote of the ACC members. The committee consists of one representative from each member institution and includes athletics directors and faculty athletics representatives. The Committee convenes following the NCAA Committee on Infractions announcement and its charge is to review and learn lessons from the case and make a determination relative to potential additional penalties by a vote of the committee members.

In accordance with the charge of the ACC Infractions and Penalties Committee, a thorough review of the University of North Carolina’s major infractions case was heard. As a result of the meeting, the committee acknowledged the institution’s corrective actions and the additional NCAA imposed penalties which included loss of scholarships, a fine, vacation of wins, three-year probationary period as well as a post-season ban that by ACC policy immediately results in the program being ineligible to compete for the 2012 ACC Football Championship.

The reprimand was issued by the committee to the University of North Carolina for its responsibility for the major violations documented in the NCAA infractions report. The committee was particularly concerned with the actions of personnel who committed serious NCAA violations regarding impermissible benefits, academic fraud and impermissible assistance, and/or improper relationships with sports agents. The reprimand also highlighted that the breadth and nature of the violations in this case should serve as a reminder of the importance of due diligence related to the personnel that interact with student-athletes and the importance of academic integrity as an ACC core principle.

“The Atlantic Coast Conference has been built on its ability to balance academics and athletics,” said Richard Carmichael, chair of the committee and faculty athletics representative at Wake Forest University. “The committee believes that the University of North Carolina has and will continue to strive toward this balance; however, the committee agreed that a public reprimand was appropriate in this specific case in addition to the other penalties already in place.”

“The ACC’s balance of academics, athletics and integrity will continue to be the cornerstones by which this league operates,” said ACC Commissioner John Swofford. “As I have said previously, it is disturbing anytime one of our member institutions has NCAA infractions issues. Such issues are counter to the goals and aspirations of our conference.”