UNC professor of history Jay Smith and UNC whistleblower Mary Willingham will discuss their research for their recent book at the March 11 meeting of the Raleigh Sports Club. A capacity crowd is expected and doors open at 11 a.m.
Their book is titled, “Cheated: The UNC Scandal, the Education of Athletes, and the Future of Big-Time College Sports” and it exposes what they call “the fraudulent inner workings” at UNC-Chapel Hill. They say athletes earned dubious degrees while faculty and administrators looked the other way. They make an impassioned argument that the “student-athletes” in these programs are being cheated out of what, after all, was promised them in the first place: a college education.
Hopefully, someone will ask what responsibility there is for those Universities that admit students that they know can’t or are unlikely to be able to make the grade. Also, hopefully the two will discuss athletes who don’t really want an education but instead want to help their future plans to play sports professionally.
Perhaps they will also address how more than half of those who took advantage of the African-American studies courses in question were not athletes and maybe their research will show how many of those were admitted as exceptions. It will also be interesting to hear what motivation the professors and others in that department had for ensuring that the athletes passed their grade. Was it driven by seeing Carolina do well in sports or was it something else? Since coaches and the athletic department don’t appear to be the driving forces, it makes one wonder.
The club meets at Bradley Hall in Highland United Methodist Church at 1901 Ridge Road. Buffet lines open at 11:30 a.m. and the meeting is from noon until 1 p.m. Attendance fee for members is $15 while guest fee is $25.
Chris Clemons, a basketball player at Millbrook High School, will be honored as the RSC’s Student Athlete of the Week.
The annual membership fee is $70, which helps to fund the club’s scholarship fund. Each week from late August to early April meetings include a Southern buffet, door prizes, pick sheets and introduction to a deserving Student Athlete as well as hearing from a prominent sports figure as our guest speaker.