Photo: www.huffingtonpost.com
I wish I could say that the story of UNC Chapel Hill reading specialist and academic advisor Mary Willingham surprised me but it doesn't. Sports are clearly a higher priority at many colleges than education is.
Ms Willingham's research suggests that dozens of student athletes were under-prepared and read at an elementary-level.
I played just about every imaginable sport, including baseball, soccer, rugby, football, lacrosse, swimming, hockey, tennis, golf, and a few more, before college and at the university. But my education came first and a basic component of being able to learn at an academic institution is reading ability. Apparently being able to read beyond a first grade level is not important to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
But Ms. Willingham is being pilloried for telling the truth. The university admits it as the HuffPo story says.
UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol Folt, who only took office in 2013, admitted to UNC trustees last week that the flagship university failed students for years with a lack of academic oversight.
If these athletes can't read college-level materials, why are they in college? What does a degree from UNC mean? What other students are being given a pass so that alumni will contribute to the athletic fund? Why are athletic coaches paid such obscene amounts? College football coaches are paid $$$millions$$$. What do these athletic programs have to do with academic excellence?
Here's Business Insiders story on the scandal.
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