Critical praise for Tarnished Heels: Dr. David Ridpath of The Drake Group

“Fantastic and illuminating read. This book is ultimately a modern day tragedy in that it exposes, with excruciating detail and facts, how one of America’s best public institutions sold its soul for the perceived benefits of athletic glory at the expense of core values and academic integrity. Despite years of claiming the Carolina Way and doing it right, the University of North Carolina, like so many other institutions before it, has now firmly placed itself amongst the worst offenders of academic integrity in intercollegiate athletic history."

Dr. B. David Ridpath, Ed.D., Kahandas Nandola Professor of Sport Management at Ohio University and author of Tainted Glory: Marshall University, The NCAA, and One Man’s Fight for Justice.

BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT -- Tarnished Heels: How Unethical Actions and Deliberate Deceit at the University of North Carolina ended “The Carolina Way”

The book Tarnished Heels: How Unethical Actions and Deliberate Deceit at the University of North Carolina ended “The Carolina Way” will be released in mid-June of 2014.

Comprised of over 350 pages of fact-based information and data, the book will chronicle the past four years of the university’s athletic/academic scandal, while also researching much further into the past for corroborating evidence.  It will show how rather than choosing transparency and ultimate responsibility in regards to the numerous questionable practices that were exposed, the school instead sought to obfuscate the media while also attempting to largely dodge accountability.  The main motivating factor behind those dishonorable actions appeared to be a desire to hold on to ill-gotten athletic accolades (and the prestige and image that came with them), all while undermining the very charges that an institution of higher-learning should ultimately stand for: education and morals.

• How far back does the data suggest the scandal reaches?
• How many administrators, faculty members, and coaches (both past and present) have been involved?
• Have there been connections between UNC and the NCAA that might support an unfair degree of leniency?

These questions and many, many more will be thoroughly examined.

More information will be released via this blog in the coming weeks as the official release date nears.

The book is now available for pre-order online through Amazon.com:  http://www.amazon.com/Tarnished-Heels-Unethical-Deliberate-University/dp/193952122X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396905767&sr=1-1&keywords=rob+j.+anderson

Narrow the scope of a major issue: UNC's PR intent?

     In recent days there has been a sort of "war of words" between a.) a UNC professor who has (for several years) been steadfast in his objection to the school's ongoing athletic/academic scandals, and b.) a UNC learning specialist who has tried to discredit both the professor and another UNC faculty member (who also happens to be a whistleblower of sorts).  The professor is Jay Smith, and the whistleblower, of course, is Mary Willingham -- essentially the only two university faculty members who have consistently spoken out about the scandals that have not only damaged the university's reputation, but also brought into question its morals.

     As has often been the case in recent years, whenever a UNC apologist has spoken up and tried to turn the focus away from the school and/or tried to discredit those who question the university's actions/morals, the focus of his/her argument is much too narrow in scope.  This is a popular Public Relations tactic: draw the public's attention away from the more important and damaging issues.  In this particular case the efforts deal with the wording in emails, the possible intent of Smith and Willingham's continued strong stance, and other "small picture" issues meant to deflect from the big picture: ongoing academic fraud that clearly benefited athletics.

     So the question is this:  what would the apologists latch onto if the BIG PICTURE of all of the university's past questionable practices were ever fully revealed for the nationwide public to peruse, while also allowing those people to come to an unbiased conclusion based on the entirety of those events?  There would be no small nuances of wordings to focus upon, nor bickering emails to parse over and dissect in an effort to look for intent (while deflecting from the main issues at hand), or anything else of such a limited scope.

     The answer to that question may soon rise to the surface.

The March 25th HBO special: facts slowly revealed.

The forthcoming HBO special "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" (3/25) will continue to slowly give national attention to some data and facts in relation to the University of North Carolina's AFAM department and its various big-budget athletic programs.  (link below)  

Much more information for nationwide perusal is still to come, including detailed analyses and statistics.

http://www.hbo.com/real-sports-with-bryant-gumbel#/real-sports-with-bryant-gumbel/episodes/0/204-episode/video/204-higher-education.html/eNrjcmbO0CzLTEnNd8xLzKksyUx2zs8rSa0oYc5Xz89JgQkGJKan+iXmpjIXsjFyMjKyMbJJJ5aW5BfkJFbalhSVpgIAV3AXOA==

More token UNC scandal exposure: HBO's Real Sports

     In the near future, the HBO show "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" will be doing a short feature on UNC's athletic/academic issues.  Like the BusinessWeek front-page story from several weeks back, it should serve as another broad overview of the university's vast issues.  A full unearthing of information should not be expected, however; there is simply no way to cover all of the questionable transgressions in a 30-minute-to-one-hour TV show.

     What it will do is give a national audience a bit more token insight into the educational travesties that have taken place at the school.  In the coming months a much more substantial slate of information will be presented to the public; this will allow outsiders to digest the facts and see the full scope of how the spirit and integrity of academics have been abused for the sake of UNC athletic glory.  More details will be announced soon.

Willingham, Smith, and Levine stand alone at UNC-CH

                Mary Willingham, Jay Smith, and Madeline Levine.  They are unique in that they are three adults and professionals associated with The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who have actually had the courage to speak out against the athletic/academic fraud that has taken place at the university.  At an institution with over 3,000 faculty members, however, they constitute an extremely small percentage.

                There have been numerous (other) professionals whose pasts are/were interestingly connected to athletics.  These have included academic assistants, support personnel, professors, numerous individuals in committee and/or leadership roles, and even some in administrative positions.  Whether coincidentally or not, many of those with ties to athletics have either been directly connected to portions of the athletic/academic fraud, or else have seemingly missed (or purposely overlooked) instances of impropriety that should have otherwise raised red flags.  In some cases these oversights spanned decades.  Conversely to Willingham, Smith, and Levine, many of these other individuals have chosen to remain mute on the negative issues that have come to light over the past four years.  Some of the names have already shown up in print media; some have not.

                Smith, Willingham, and Levine continue to essentially stand alone.  More information on those who chose silence (and in some cases even misplaced support) over courage, however, will be detailed in the future.  A major announcement regarding the athletic/academic scandals at UNC is now a little over one month away.

BusinessWeek cover-story overview of UNC academic scandal

     A cover-story in the most recent edition of BusinessWeek, penned by Paul Barrett, provides a nice overview of portions of the UNC scandal.  While it is somewhat limited in scope, it still provides a very nice national precursor to more in-depth information that will be released soon.  A major announcement along those lines is now less than six weeks away.

BusinessWeek link:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-27/in-fake-classes-scandal-unc-fails-its-athletes-whistle-blower#r=hp-ls