Carolina Alumni Review - November/December 2010

YOURS AT CAROLINA

Restoring a Reputation

Shock. Sorrow. Embarrassment. Anger. Surprise. Those words reflect many of the alumni reactions to the dual investigations into Carolina’s football program — one dealing with possible agent violations and the other with possible academic misconduct.

As a charter member of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics —

from its first meeting in 1989 and through-
out the meetings that shaped its inaugural
1991 report and subsequent reports in
1992, 1993 and 2001 — I reminded col-
leagues that “not all fans are alumni, and
not all alumni are fans.” Alumni care more
about preserving and enhancing the value
of our diplomas than boasting about our
school’s athletic achievements. I urged that
all decisions regarding intercollegiate athletics be based on
what is best for the student-athletes. And I noted that sev-
eral constituencies must contribute to achieve meaningful
and necessary reform — college presidents, university
governing boards, faculty, athletics directors, coaches,
alumni, student-athletes, secondary school officials and
the NCAA.

Difficult times prompt alumni to value university lead-
ership that is firmly committed to preserving academic
integrity. Chancellor Holden Thorp ’ 86 began his
remarks at the Aug. 26 news conference by saying: “To
everyone out there who loves this University, I’m sorry
for what I have to tell you.” He went on to affirm, “It’s a
privilege to put on the North Carolina uniform and to
represent this University, and it’s our job to make sure
that the people who do so have earned that privilege.”
He concluded: “We will find out what happened. We
will do everything we can to keep it from happening
again. And we will not let these mistakes define our Uni-
versity and what we stand for. We will use this to be a
better university, athletic department and football program
in the years to come.”
Athletics Director Dick Baddour ’ 66 has stated that
two principles are guiding the investigations: “One — we
are going to protect the integrity of The University of
North Carolina and place that integrity at the forefront of
every decision we make; and two — we will be fair to
our student-athletes.” Speaking about some members of
the football team, Baddour said that “although some of
them have made mistakes, they are our students, and we
need to support them.”
The NCAA and University investigations have not
concluded, but there are some who have reached their
own judgments and have publicly suggested what meas-
ures they think should be taken. We all wish these issues
could be resolved quickly, but as the chancellor has said,
precipitous action is like “landing a plane without first
seeing the runway.” A thorough, thoughtful review of all
our compliance processes and procedures is under way.
Just as Carolina faculty have been an important part of
the investigation, faculty will help shape the needed
changes. Carolina’s academic support program for stu-
dent-athletes has long reported to the College of Arts and
Sciences — not to athletics.