SIGN OF OUR CULTURE – AT 8:52 A.M. ET:  A new report fully describes the scandal of academic corruption at the "prestigious" University of North Carolina, allowing thousands of students, mostly athletes, to be given credit for phantom courses.   From Reuters: 

(Reuters) - More than 3,000 students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill received credit for fake classes over an 18-year period as part of a program that allowed many of them to remain eligible to play sports, according to a report released on Wednesday.

The investigation by former federal prosecutor Kenneth Wainstein is the latest of several attempts to unravel allegations of academic fraud involving student-athletes at a university known for both its academic rigor and athletics.

"This is a very complex organization that needed oversight at every step of the way, and it didn't exist," Wainstein said at a news conference following the report's release. "It's pretty shocking that it didn't exist."

The report does not incriminate any coaches or athletic administrators in the scheme, which it said was carried out by a former department head and former office administrator within the African and Afro-American Studies department.

Pretty bad.  And what is the reaction of the university's chief honcho?

"Mr. Wainstein has found that the wrongdoing at Carolina lasted much longer and affected more students than previously known," UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol Folt said in a statement.

"The bad actions of a few and the inaction of others failed the University's students, faculty and alumni, and undermined the institution as a whole.

"This conduct could and should have been stopped much earlier by individuals in positions of influence and oversight, and others could have sounded the alarm more forcefully."

COMMENT:  Remarkable.  What does the chancellor of the university leave out in her statement?  She leaves out the responsibility of students.  There are thousands of UNC graduates running around with false degrees.  Presumably, all or almost all are African American.  (Thousands of other black students worked their heads off to get honest degrees.)  Yet, the chancellor does not condemn students who accepted these academic bribes.

Is the chancellor prepared to revoke the false degrees?  Is she prepared to order a review of every affected transcript?  Is she prepared to demand that "graduates" with tainted degrees do further work to insure that they have met UNC's standards?   

I doubt that anything will be done.  Folt has a reputation for political correctness. 

Must make the honest students feel like suckers. 

October 23,  2014