DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum UNC Professor Op-Ed Blasting Favoritism of Athletes

By Will Barber

Those of us who have been in academe for a while are quite familiar with the favoritism afforded to university athletes, especially football players.

Early in my teaching career at a major Texas university I began receiving telephone calls at the end of the semester from coaches asking for favors to help their athletes remain eligible to play. After I turned them down a couple of times, they quit calling.

I remember relaying these conversations on to my department head. He said, “Don’t worry about it – you’ll probably be receiving more phone calls. They are looking for professors who will cooperate.”

Twenty-five years later, after retiring from university teaching, it happened again. This time the athletic department and faculty members had become a little more sophisticated, and in one particular case had help from the registrar.

I had received a phone call from a large state university in North Carolina asking me to teach part-time. I accepted the position as an adjunct professor, teaching three popular courses to mostly juniors and seniors.

Most of my students were working while at the same time carrying a full load of courses. They were struggling to balance grades and pay for school. They received no special favors.

At the end of the semester I received the usual grade sheets from the registrar’s office. As I entered the final grades I noticed there were two students on one course sheet whose names were not familiar. I looked at my roll book and their names did not appear. They had never attended class.

I asked my department head for an explanation.

Department head: “Oh, that’s OK, Dr. Barber. These are students who are taking your course as an independent study.”

Me: “What? Wait a minute. They never attended the class. How can they receive credit for a class they never attended?”

Department head: “Oh, they were assigned a paper for their independent study. You can read it if you like.”

Me: “I can’t enter a grade for these students. They never attended class. Besides, a final paper does not equate to a student receiving credit for a course they never attended. There was no instruction at all, only a flimsy paper. That’s not quite ethical!”

Department head: “Oh, don’t worry, we can take care of that. I will assign a final grade.”

I left his office steaming mad. It seemed, after talking to the department head, that it was standard practice.

Later in the day a couple of students dropped by my office to wish me a relaxing vacation. A copy of my roll sheet was on my desk. I asked them if they had ever heard of these two students.

“You don’t recognize those names Dr. Barber? They’re both football players. That’s funny; we never saw them in class. Wish we had.”

When I delivered my grade sheets to the registrar’s office the next day, I asked about the two mystery entries on my class roll. How did they get there? I told the registrar they had never attended class. They hadn’t dropped the course – if they had, they wouldn’t be on my final grade sheet.

Registrar: “Oh, don’t worry about that Dr. Barber. That happens sometimes when people can’t attend a class regularly. We do this a lot for our athletes who have to stay eligible.”

Me [raising my voice a couple of octaves]: “This is making no sense!”

Registrar: “You must be a new faculty member, Dr. Barber!”

I left the registrar’s office wondering how many no-show courses were being offered by faculty members at this university – courses where no instruction was offered and the only requirement was to submit a paper at the end of the semester.

So many people were involved: faculty, department heads, athletic departments and in my case, the registrar’s office.

I was not asked to return the next year. And I never found out what grades were entered for the athletes who appeared on my roll sheets, but I can guess.

I still think about the hundreds of students who have been enrolled in my courses over the past 25 years. They graduated without any special favors; nobody was writing their papers for them and none bolted from school to receive million-dollar salaries. They worked very hard to get an education.

The blame in all of this, including the recent scandal in the athletic department at UNC, lies not with the athletes but with faculty members, department heads and athletic departments willing to cheat the system in order to keep athletes academically eligible to play.

As one coach told me at a party once: “Athletic departments, and that includes even high schools, will do anything to keep their players eligible. Nothing will change. Unless there are major reforms, the cheating will continue; just don’t get caught.”

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I took a basic Sociology course here at UT; about half of the starting offensive unit was in the course. They attended every single class, took all the exams, and paid attention during class. A few of them did leave class early but it appeared they were doing the necessary studying and assignments when not in class.

I'm sure the situation described by the professor is more widespread than anyone knows. Part of me doesn't even want to know the truth.

I was a student athlete... only 'special treatment' i ever received was I missed a few classes because of competition... but when that was the case I typically met with my professor beforehand to let them know and borrowed someone's notes to catch up...

this type of crap ticks me off... especially when it's not just a professor but head of the department and all the way up to the registar... unreal.

For athletes, you and I both know why universities allow this to happen: Money.

Not to change the subject too much here, but I'd like to know what you think about the "Teach for America" program. This program recruits some of the country's top performing college students and places them as teachers in charter schools that are located in urban areas. - These students do not have to take any education courses, nor do they have to take any licensing exams, yet they are given a teaching job in a charter school.

Meanwhile, I had to get an undergraduate degree, and a masters degree, and pass three state licensing exams to become a certified teacher. Additionally, I had to take courses in a content area (special ed) reading area, math area, and complete a semester of student teaching. - All so I could have a job that somebody from "Teach For America" gets without completing 1/6 of what I did.

Now take into account that "Teach For America" students are placed in charter schools. Charter schools, unlike their public counterparts, are able to expel kids based on behavior, they are also able to expel kids who have neglectful parents. - Some local charter schools have expelled students because their parents missed two conferences.

After kids with behavior problems and/or neglectful parents are kicked out of charter schools where do you think they go? - Right back into the public system. Supporters of Teach For America do not hesitate to bring up success of students that are taught in this program, comparing these students to those in public schools. - A completely invalid comparison.

I'd love for a Teach For America rep to come into my building without any training in behavior management and see how successful they are. I also wonder why the reps in this program have not been invited to suburban areas, or into private schools. - Could it be because these institutions do not want unlicensed, untrained individuals in charge of their child's education?

I would imagine this is during the fall semester. I can also imagine that being a football player for a division 1 school is more like a full time job and they need to take full time classwork on top of that. I can also imagine scenarios whereby institutions find ways of circumventing normal classwork to facilitate the needs of the program but I don't know if what the author is stating violates NCAA rules.

When you consider these student athletes help generate cash for the school whereas a normal student does not I can see this happening.

Doesn't make it right though. I would love to hear what other posters here have to say, especially if any were in that type of situation or went to a large school.

I've recently met a whole bunch of people that have done TFA. All of them have worked in very poor or rural school districts. I'm apparently missing the point of this as it relates to the article?

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I can also imagine that being a football player for a division 1 school is more like a full time job and they need to take full time classwork on top of that.

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I think athletes should get college credits for the time they spend on their sport. I think that would alleviate some of the burden of them carrying a full load in season.

I look at this two ways... the first is that if you get any kind of scholarship, other than athletics, you get credit for doing that which earned you the scholarship. If you get a music scholarship, you take classes and get credit for studying, playing and practicing music. If you get an art scholarship, you take classes and get credit for doing art.. dance, same thing, etc. If you get a football scholarship you get exactly zero credits for working out, practicing or playing football. In fact at Maryland, football players were specifically forbidden from even taking football as a PE elective. No other scholarship that I can think of is expected to be carried out completely separate from your academics.

Secondly, you can take nutrition class and earn credits, but football players can't apply all that they learn about nutrition towards credit. you can take a variety of exercise classes for credit but football players can't take all that they learn about weight training and physical fitness and apply it toward credit. you can take a number of anatomy and physical therapy classes but football players can't take all that they learn about the human body and physical therapy and apply it toward credit.

I just don't see why, with a little bit of tweaking, the various aspects of their football requirements couldn't translate into a few credits each semester... That's not the solution to all problems, but it seems to me that it would lighten the load considerably.

pass fail or grade based? if grade based then how do you grade it?

i could see some interesting scenarios where a student is refused entry into a grad school because of a C he earned in football (where the coach gave all backups C's because how do you earn better than average when you are on the bench).








yes, i realize 99% of coaches would just give all players an A, which is why it would have to be pass/fail.

Well, it's not like I have put a tremendous amount of thought into how it would work... but I guess you could have two people monitor these credits, 1 within the football program and 1 within the academic department most closely associated with it. So maybe you have the strength and conditioning coach and an instructor in the PE department both have to sign off on a grade for the PE credits for weight training and fitness.

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i could see some interesting scenarios where a student is refused entry into a grad school because of a C he earned in football

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Well, as I thought about it, you don't get to take "football"... I guess that could be one 2 credit PE class but it's not "football" every semester.. it's nutrition, weight training, fitness, physical therapy, etc... Also, I doubt the student athletes who are going on to post grad degrees are going to be all that worried about it.

You lay it out like an ordinary class, using nutrition as the example, get a professor who teaches nutrition and the football training staff to work out a program and the student learns everyday stuff about football nutrition from the team staff and meets periodically with the professor to learn other stuff and take a test or two, get the course approved by the powers that be as a legit class with a legit curriculum, only a significant part of it is taught through the team.... given the millions these schools spend on tutors, etc to keep their athletes eligible it doesn't seem like it would be all that hard to set up.

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(where the coach gave all backups C's because how do you earn better than average when you are on the bench).

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It would have nothing to do with how well you play on Saturday or even IF you play on Saturday... it would be all about what you learn in preparation and being part of the team and working out, etc.

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yes, i realize 99% of coaches would just give all players an A, which is why it would have to be pass/fail.

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Which is why you run it in conjunction with a real professor who has input into the grade... yes, leaving it 100% up to the coaching staff, it would be easy to abuse... some will still find a way to abuse it, as I said, it's not going to solve all of the problems but it could solve some.

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I think athletes should get college credits for the time they spend on their sport. I think that would alleviate some of the burden of them carrying a full load in season.

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You need like 12 credits to be a full time student!! That's like what? 3 classes!

I know I wasn't a division 1 football player, but I was a college runner who had an hour practice in the morning, 2-3 hour practice in the evening, weight lifting, and the meets on the weekends... took 20 credits a semester, had a part time job, and was in a number of organizations.... it can be done you just have to time manage.

I agree with you (somewhat) that I think sports should count as some college credit... but really it's not that much to keep full time status during the season.

DALLAS — A starter on Duke’s 2010 national championship team purchased nearly $100,000 in custom jewelry that season from a New York firm that caters to professional athletes and is now suing him for failing to pay the balance of what he owes.

Lance Thomas purchased five pieces of diamond jewelry at a cost of $97,800 on Dec. 21, 2009, in the middle of his senior season, according the lawsuit. Documents included with the suit indicate he made a $30,000 down payment and received $67,800 in credit from the firm, the balance that remains unpaid.

Thomas started 39 games at forward during the 2009-2010 season, including the Blue Devils’ 61-59 victory over Butler in the championship game. He wasn’t drafted by an NBA team but played last season for the New Orleans Hornets.

The Associated Press recently obtained a copy of the lawsuit, which was filed in January but hasn’t been publicly disclosed. It was filed in Austin, Texas, because Thomas was playing for the Austin Toros of the NBA Developmental League at the time.

A Duke spokesman said the university knows about the lawsuit and is looking into it.

“We have been made aware of a lawsuit filed by a jeweler against former men’s basketball player Lance Thomas and we are currently looking into the matter,” said Jon Jackson, the school’s associate athletic director for media relations.

NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn said the organization also is aware of the matter and is in communication with Duke.

NCAA rules regarding amateurism prohibit athletes from receiving benefits that aren’t available to all students. Speaking generally, Osburn said “the test” for such a violation is whether “the general student body, or someone similarly situated, would be able to get the same benefit or treatment.”

Thomas, 24, is from Scotch Plains, N.J., and played at prep power St. Benedict’s, according to his biography on the Duke website. The site said his mother is a manager at a Ford plant in New Jersey.

John Spencer, an agent who has represented Thomas, said he wasn’t aware of the jewelry purchase. He referred all comment on the lawsuit to an Austin attorney who is representing Thomas in the matter. The attorney didn’t return phone messages from the AP.

Rafaello & Co., which also does business as A+A Diamonds Ltd., promotes itself as a “deluxe” jeweler whose customers include New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony and actors Jamie Foxx and Don Cheadle.

Mike Bowers, the firm’s attorney, said Thomas purchased a black diamond necklace, a diamond-encrusted watch, a pair of diamond studs, a diamond cross and a black diamond pendant in the shape of Jesus’ head. According to the purchase order, signed by Thomas, the player agreed to pay a deposit of at least 25 percent of the purchase price and the remainder in 15 days.

Bowers said he was unaware of how Thomas made the required down payment.

Bowers said he’s seen no evidence that anyone other than Thomas was involved in the transaction and he doesn’t know why the Duke player was extended credit for most of the purchase.

“It was a clean, clear-cut transaction between Mr. Thomas and my client, and I don’t see anything that warrants me asking anything beyond that,” Bowers said. “Speaking hypothetically, if he came in on a bicycle with tattered jeans, I doubt seriously he would have been sold jewelry, but I’m not drawing conclusions. The terms here are clear.”

Rafaello & Co. filed a similar lawsuit against Dallas Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant last year, claiming he hadn’t paid $240,000 for jewelry he purchased between January and May 2010. The purchases detailed in that suit, which has since been settled, occurred after Bryant announced he was leaving Oklahoma State and was entering the 2010 NFL draft.

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Wonder if this means Duke will have some issues..