There have been statements made, numerous articles written, and intense and widespread speculation about this case during the past five years. The temptation to use public speculation and other unverified information is a very real part of this case. – UNC Response to NCAA Amended Notice of Allegations, August 1, 2016

After five years of sensationalized media coverage, a more accurate narrative about UNC’s paper-class scandal is finally beginning to circulate.

No one denies that what happened in UNC’s African and Afro-American Studies (AFAM) department makes for an embarrassing chapter in the history of the nation’s oldest public university. As I have consistently argued for the past two and half years, the paper-class scandal exposes a troubling reality of American research universities: the utter disregard for teaching quality at the undergraduate level. How else do we explain the failure of UNC deans to notice that the chair of the AFAM department essentially skipped class for more than a decade? Continue Reading…