Cardwell

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Travis Cardwell
009584976
Rec 324
Professor Joanie Conley

Academic Fraud Amongst Athletes

Collegiate sports have been drawing a lot of attention over the last few years.

Most of this attention can be credited to the increasing skill of the athletes, but much of it

has come in the form of scrutiny over how athletes are remaining eligible to compete.

The NCAA Division I allows athletes to remain eligible as long as their GPA falls within

the requirements set by the university. In recent years it has become much more common

for universities, athletic directors, school administrators, and coaches to assist athletes by

committing academic fraud in an attempt to maintain the minimum grade standards.

While a handful of schools have been found guilty of fraud and are facing penalization,

many are still under investigation. This fraud not only tarnishes the reputations of the

universities, but also cheats these student-athletes out of a proper education they can

actually use.

According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association all Division I athletes

... must meet minimum grade-point average requirements that are related to an

institutions own GPA standards for graduation. In most cases this requirement is a

minimum GPA of 2.0 as well as remaining on good academic standing. One of the most

severe offenses within most schools is academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty is an

umbrella term that includes plagiarism, bribery, cheating, and many other categories;

however the one that seems to be shadowed the most is fraud.

While it has always been common knowledge that universities give student-

athletes extra help and advantages through priority registration, assistance with tutoring,
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and more involvement from the campus staff; many universities have come under fire for

offering illegal help to their students. The case that caught the most media attention and

brought this issue to light was the University of North Carolina. North Carolina has long

been considered a historic university for collegiate basketball, but their storied reputation

has been tarnished when it was revealed that over 3,000 student athletes have been

implicated in bouts of academic fraud spanning years (Reevy, 2014). The issue at UNC

was brought to light by former basketball standout Rashad McCants, who sued North

Carolina and the NCAA for $310 million. McCants was one of many athletes over the

last 18 years to be funneled into paper classes (Sayers, 2014). These paper classes are

classes that hardly even exist and consist of only one written assignment, that many times

was written by a tutor or someone hired by the athletic program. In an interview with

CNN, learning specialist Mary Willingham explains the actual education levels of many

of their student athletes. She recalls one story in particular that caused her to look at

student-athletes in more depth. Willingham explains how one of UNCs basketball players

entered her office for help with his homework and was completely lacking in the ability

to read or write (Ganim, 2014). She believed this lack of education to be an anomaly on

their campus but found that between 2004 and 2012 60-80% of football and basketball

players read between fourth and eight grade reading levels and that 8-10% read below a

third grade reading level. This lack of basic knowledge would prevent these student-

athletes from completing even paper classes, which lead to the athletes and

administrators reaching out to others to write these papers for them. An unnamed

professor from the heart of this scandal was even indicted on fraud charges for being paid

over $12,000 to teach a class that did not actually ever take place (Ganim, 2014).
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The University of North Carolina is, of course, not the only institution that has

been caught up in this scandal. In 2008 Florida State University was discovered to have

assisted approximately 61 student-athletes across 10 different sports in cheating their

grades. In the Florida State case, it was discovered that the student-athletes were being

directed toward a tutor who would write their papers for them. Investigators also found

that the athletes were being directed to enroll in an online music class in which they

would be given answers to all the homework assignments and exams. Following the

initial investigation, Florida State attempted to push all of the blame onto this one rogue

tutor who was allegedly too zealous in her efforts to assist the students (Florida, 2010).

The NCAA did not believe this explanation and in 2010 Florida State was forced to void

many of their wins in the 2006-2007 seasons as well as their mens track & field national

championship title.

The rogue tutor alleged by Florida State is named Brenda Monk. Monk was, at

the time, a learning specialist hired specifically to help the schools athletes. In an

interview given after the scandal, Monk alleged that many of the student-athletes she was

directed to help could only read at a second-grade reading level. After being implicated

by Florida State, Monk resigned from her position with the school and filed a defamation

of character suit against the university.

Unfortunately, cheating has not been limited to only these two universities. In

early 2015 the NCAA announced that they were currently investigating 20 athletic

programs across the country. While the report did not list the universities by name it did

divulge that of the 20, 18 of the schools were Division I campuses. Division I campuses

are considered to be the top tier and most prominent universities. This investigation
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opened after the NCAA announced they were forced to act on 22 major fraud violations

and over 5,000 minor fraud violations in 2014 alone (Willens, 2015). While the NCAA

has not disclosed the full list of universities under investigation, some schools have

publicly come under fire. In addition to the University of North Carolina and Florida

State University, Stanford and the University of Texas at Austin have also been

implicated in their own fraud scandals. These cases included students being given test

answers, being directed into classes that guarantee an A, and having much of their

coursework done for them.

Not only do these scandals potentially scar the reputations of many historic

athletic programs, but also the academic standard set by the individual universities. By

assisting their students through committing fraud, universities weaken their own

reputation as a school. An education received from a university troubled with fraud

allegations will forever be blemished. Not only do these frauds tarnish the reputation of

each school and potentially cheapen the value of a degree earned on their campuses, but it

also cheats each individual student athlete. While some student-athletes will be able to

move on to the professional level within their sport, many will not. Those who do not will

now have been done a disservice by the school because they now will possess a useless

degree that they do not truly possess the knowledge to use. By helping the students cut

corners in their coursework and take shortcuts to a degree, many of these student-athletes

will never learn anything they can use in the real world. Just as Willingham and Monk

each stated in their interviews, many of these athletes are only able read at an extremely

elementary level and now are being sent out into the world hindered in their own futures.
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The rampant use of fraud and dishonesty by top-level universities is completely

counterintuitive to the true point of campus recreation organizations. These organizations,

such as campus athletics, are meant to give students an avenue in which to assist their

learning, not weaken it. The NCAA is working fervently to right the wrongs committed

and prevent them from happening again in the future.

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Florida state U. finally agrees to accept NCAA penalties for academic fraud. (2010, 03).
Women in Higher Education, 19, 7. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.library.csulb.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/22
2723444?accountid=10351

Ganim, S. (2014, January 8). CNN analysis: Some college athletes play like adults, read
like 5th-graders. Retrieved March 09, 2016, from
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/07/us/ncaa-athletes-reading-scores/

Harris, A. J., & Mac, R. (2011, March 9). Stanford athletes had access to list of 'easy'
classes. Retrieved March 09, 2016, from
http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/stanford-athletes-had-access-list-easy-
classes-9098

Infante, J. (2014, June 11). How athletes end up in easy majors and fake classes.
Retrieved March 09, 2016, from http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball-
news/4590261-unc-rashad-mccants-2014-nba-ncaa-college-basketball-fake-
classes-easy-majors

Reevy, M. Wall st. cheat sheet: Why the UNC cheating scandal doesn't matter. (2014). ().
Chatham: Newstex. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.library.csulb.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/16
42674283?accountid=10351

Sayers, D., & Ganim, S. (2014, October 23). UNC athletics report finds 18 years of
academic fraud. Retrieved March 09, 2016, from
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/22/us/unc-report-academic-fraud/

Staff. (2015, June 13). Academic Foul: Some Colleges Accused Of Helping Athletes
Cheat. Retrieved March 09, 2016, from
http://www.npr.org/2015/06/13/414188857/academic-foul-some-colleges-
accused-of-helping-athletes-cheat

Willens, M. (2015, January 21). NCAA Investigating 20 Schools For Academic Fraud.
Retrieved March 09, 2016, from http://www.ibtimes.com/ncaa-investigating-20-
schools-academic-fraud-1790870
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Multiple Choice:
1) How many students were implicated in the University of North Carolina fraud
scandal?
a) <1,500
b) 3,000+
c) 2,500
d) 5,000

2) How many major fraud violations did the NCAA discover in 2014?
a) 22
b) 5,000
c) 300
d) None