AFAM, how it started and why it went on so long, my opinion...

[DSouthr]

Yeah, I know, this has been batted around for so long most folk are tired of hearing it but there is an aspect of this that is rarely if ever discussed. Rival fan bases, the media, all want the sensationism of labeling UNC as cheats and IDK, maybe more & more UNC fans are actually believing the Carolina Way means cheating, I never will believe that but to each his own. Many just can not look at any explaination for what occurred without putting on their sports related blinders but I just don't see this as a sports related issue and I don't think it was ever intended to be one. It absolutely was not a situation where the AD or the coaching staffs conspired to create fake classes just to keep players eligible, unlike the syracuse situation.

I strongly believe we had a rouge dept head that figured out a way to scam the school. He figured out he could create independent study type of classes and at times list them as instructor led classes (traditional). This just happened to be a program that many in this PC world we now find ourselves in just did not want to question. Was the dept head compensated for the extra numbers of students he was able to gather, well of course, follow the money. He had many more students than any other program would have been able to get away with, x numbers of students per instructor type of concern. He elected Crowder an assistent, to coordinate a lot of those classes and even ended up having her grade much/most of them. I honestly think Crowder had good intentions of helping at risk students be able to get their GPAs up not so they could play a sport but so they could remain in school. Did she grade non-atheletes any differentlky than she did athletes, I have not seen where she did. I think that she treated them all the same, athlete or not, with no consideration of athletic eligibility, her concern was academic eligibility, her side of the fence after all is academic, not athletic.

Now should the school have discovered this, should they have looked at the shear numbers of students and determined that no way there was enough time for a limited numbers of instructors to handle such a load, yes of course, so why didn't anyone speak up and put a stop to it? Rival fans & the media want you to believe it was to keep athletes eligible, I say no, it was not that.

IMO, this was a case where no one wanted to open up a Pandora's box of issues when it was AFRICIAN American STUDIES, had it been ANY other program I strongly feel this would have been discovered quickly and stopped. But it was not just any other program, it was AFAM and who wants the label of being the racist that caused major issues that could end up with the REV & Jessie camping out on your campus and tagging the school as racist? Those that saw things that they were not comfortable with elected to kick the can down the road rather than be tagged the racist tag. It is like cutting entitlement programs in our national budget, may be a great idea but what politician really wants that label?

Coaches, yeah, pretty sure they all knew or at least assumed that many of their players were in easy course loads, strongly doubt Roy or any coach thought most of his kids were going to work for NASA after graduation. But I don't care what school you are talking about, they ALL have easy classes and athletes tend to cluster around easy classes, what else ya want me to tell ya, that water is wet? LOL

If you have been to college you had those semesters where you needed a easy grade, what did you take, archery, maybe bowling 101, maybe your class was home economics? EVERYONE has their drawers stuck in their butt crack over the fact that UNC had/has some easy classes, again folks water is wet today...

Did Roy assume that some of his players were in easy grade classes, of course he did, K assumes his players are in easy classes, Kalipari hopes one day his players actually get to visit a classroom. The issue at UNC IMHO was not about keeping athletes eligible, of course some athletes figured out they could really help their GPA by taking these crazy EASY classes and yeah maybe a academic counselor advised both athletes as well as regular students to help their GPA by taking some of those easy AFAM classes, well geez, they could have taken Bowling 101 and have the same result and maybe even a little fun. But most of the athletes taking the AFAM classes just happened to be African American students, there is a conspiracy for ya, African American students taking AFAM classes, who would ever thought that would happen? LOL

Roy finds out a kid has a grade problem, he did what any coach is supposed to do, he told the kid to get with his academic advisor and handle his business, get his grades up. That is the academic advisors job, to help kids at risk of flunking out right the ship, it doesn't matter if you are a star athlete or John & Mary's little baby girl that never played a sport in her life, that is why academic advisors exist folks to help students be in classes they can handle.

So we had rouge dept head in a program that in our PC world no one really wanted to touch and even those that either knew or suspected things may smell funny elected to kick the can down the road and not themselves be the one getting the racist hammer. The funny thing is UNC will NEVER be known as a conservative school along the lines is Jerry Falwell U, I think many UNC Fans and alums would prefer UNC to be not nearly as liberal a school as it has become.

So it is easy for the media to point to this being a athletic scandal, it is easy for them to define the Carolina Way as something evil because they for sure do not want to be tagged a racist for calling this what it was , a program that no one wanted to mess with because of the PC world we now live in. Pretty sure many will read what I have stated here and consider me racist, doesn't matter to me, I am stating my opinion and have every right to do so. Every one of you know full well, in the world we live in today you do not mess with anything central to or beloved by any particular minority.

Geez, cops can not even defend themselves any more when it is a minority suspect they are dealing with. Is it any wonder that officials at UNC wanted no part of that mess?

So everyone runs around now days ashamed of the Carolina Way, not me, not today and never will I be ashamed of the Carolina Way, why, well because this AFAM mess was NOT the Carolina way, it in FACT was the polar opposite of the Carolina Way. Even listening to Andrew's pod cast on the NOA, he mentions that the term Carolina Way should not be used any more, that hurt to hear and I can not agree with that. If you want to allow others to define the Carolina Way that have always hated the school then by all means do so, just don't expect me to agree. If your kid grows up to become a meth addict I am not going to assume that was how he was raised, I am not going to assume you knew he smoked meth, I am gonna assume you didn't know and when you found out you were pissed about it. IN this AFAM mess everyone has assumed that UNC knew about it and the athletic department actually enjoyed knowing about it without even considering that those that knew didn't want any part of being labeled as messing with a beloved minority related program for more important reasons than a kid being able to pick up his GPA enough to play a sport.

Truth is rather than granting Nygano immunity in return for his statement, the guy should have been prosecuted with the full force of the law for what he did, what he and ONLY he created, fostered, and profitted from. Hey, I got to end this, Jesse just pulled up in my drive way and the REV called a little bit ago saying he would be late but he had to pick up his daughter before he came, I got to go pick some things up out of the yard, I sure wouldn't want her to trip on anything, I can't afford her slip & fall legal leanings...

 

[franklin street]

put more concisely, liberals trying to do good.

 

[WinnyChester]

Dream on

 

[UNC71-00]

If anyone wants any proof that AFAM wasn't set up to be a scheme for athletes, look no further than the demographics for the first paper classes. Something like 85% were not student athletes. It should go without saying that if this was an athletic scam, the first classes would be more than 85% athletes. Unfortunately though, it has to be said because the only people that are interested in this whole thing are UK and Moo fans and they aren't so very smart, to say the least.

 

[BillyL]

Great post, UNC71-00 . .

 

[NENCHeel]

If all the experts that claim the Wainstein Report hurt us would actually read it they would find a history of the AFAM program. They would learn that in it's early days it was rated the second hardest curriculum of all UNC programs. And that sir was no easy thing to accomplish.

It wasn't until Julius took over and spent more time trying to build his legend and feed his ego that things went to Hades in a handbasket.

And for the love of God people claiming it was a Lib vs Con decision...remove your heads from your butts long enough to actually think before you post.

 

[Lightblue68]

I think it was more along the lines of Julius wanted to get paid while he was really at the movies or something. All the while knowing he wouldn't be questioned about how he was running his classes because it was a AFAM dept. The WR said he didn't answer emails from his boss for years asking for a syllabus for how his classes were handled.

 

[UNC71-00]

I think it was more along the lines of Julius wanted to get paid while he was really at the movies or something. All the while knowing he wouldn't be questioned about how he was running his classes because it was a AFAM dept. The WR said he didn't answer emails from his boss for years asking for a syllabus for how his classes were handled.

This came along later, but is true. Julius wanted more students for his dept and he wanted more classes for himself for reimbursement.

 

[Raising Heel]

Before we start blaming political correctness for this mess, people need to realize that the Philosophy department offered 160 independent study courses over a nine-year period. What went on there paralleled what went on in the AFAM department. Poor oversight is poor oversight, period.

 

[CrazyHeel]

It didn't start out as a scandal. However, it is obvious it became one, for some sports. I'll leave the "who" debate alone, but some of those emails make it crystal clear cheating was going on.

 

[TVJ]

Before we start blaming political correctness for this mess, people need to realize that the Philosophy department offered 160 independent study courses over a nine-year period. What went on there paralleled what went on in the AFAM department. Poor oversight is poor oversight, period.

So why has the Philosophy Department not been cited in any of this?

 

[Psychward4]

1993 was the year this business began. For those of you around Chapel Hill at the time, that was the year of not only an NCAA championship, but also all the Black Cultural Center controversy. Jessie Jackson came to town, students barricaded Chancellor Hardin's office--all front page stuff. How could that not affect the UNC administrative policies of the day? The BCC was built, and the AFAM dept was given a wide berth, with little oversight or accountability. And this became the way of things.

 

[Raising Heel]

So why has the Philosophy Department not been cited in any of this?

I don't know. The initial NCAA investigation revealed issues within the AFAM department, and that's where the focus remained in each of the subsequent reports (Hartlyn-Andrews, Martin, Wainstein).

 

[UNC71-00]

I don't know. The initial NCAA investigation revealed issues within the AFAM department, and that's where the focus remained in each of the subsequent reports (Hartlyn-Andrews, Martin, Wainstein).

IIRC, It was because the Philosophy IS classes were in the catalog as such. AFAM had IS classes listed as lecture classes.

 

[Raising Heel]

How could that not affect the UNC administrative policies of the day? The BCC was built, and the AFAM dept was given a wide berth, with little oversight or accountability. And this became the way of things.

Are you suggesting that the AFAM department had adequate oversight and accountability before 1993? And that the administration suddenly relinquished that oversight as a result of the debate over the BCC?

Nyang'oro was granted tenure in 1992 and became the Chair later that same year. If we're going to be reductionist about it, I'd argue that fact had far more to do with the emergence of the paper classes than anything else.

 

[UNC71-00]

Are you suggesting that the AFAM department had adequate oversight and accountability before 1993? And that the administration suddenly relinquished that oversight as a result of the debate over the BCC?

Nyang'oro was granted tenure in 1992 and became the Chair later that same year. If we're going to be reductionist about it, I'd argue that fact had far more to do with the emergence of the paper classes than anything else.

Weren't there other significant changes though? I seem to recall, and I may be completely wrong, that AFAM was part of history and did not have a degree seeking program prior to 93 (when the BCC went up).

 

[Raising Heel]

Weren't there other significant changes though? I seem to recall, and I may be completely wrong, that AFAM was part of history and did not have a degree seeking program prior to 93 (when the BCC went up).

AFAM became a separate curriculum (later department) as the result of demands made by the Black Student Movement in 1968. I've actually combed through old course bulletins to confirm the exact year that courses began appearing under the AFAM banner rather that history, poli sci, etc. I want to say it was 1969 or 1970. Graduating AFAM students would have been awarded a Bachelor of Arts with a major in African and African-American Studies, same as any other regional studies program at UNC (Latin American Studies, Asian Studies, etc.).

 

[UNC71-00]

AFAM became a separate curriculum (later department) as the result of demands made by the Black Student Movement in 1968. I've actually combed through old course bulletins to confirm the exact year that courses began appearing under the AFAM banner rather that history, poli sci, etc. I want to say it was 1969 or 1970. Graduating AFAM students would have been awarded a Bachelor of Arts with a major in African and African-American Studies, same as any other regional studies program at UNC (Latin American Studies, Asian Studies, etc.).

Really? People were receiving BAs in African American Studies back as far as 1970 (or at any point in the 70s)? I had no idea.

 

[Raising Heel]

Really? People were receiving BAs in African American Studies back as far as 1970 (or at any point in the 70s)? I had no idea.

You made me look it up to check myself LOL. See if this link works. It's the Undergraduate Bulletin from 1969:

http://library.digitalnc.org/digita...php?coll=/yearbooks&id=13594#page/46/mode/2up

The link should take you to pages 46-47. That shows the College of Arts & Sciences section, with the Bachelor of Arts requirements listed on page 46. The very first majors listed are Bachelor of Arts with a Major in African Studies and Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Afro-American Studies.

Not that you didn't believe me. I just like offering tangibles whenever possible. Too much opinion and not enough facts has been part of the problem IMO.

 

[UNC71-00]

You made me look it up to check myself LOL. See if this link works. It's the Undergraduate Bulletin from 1969:

http://library.digitalnc.org/digita...php?coll=/yearbooks&id=13594#page/46/mode/2up

The link should take you to pages 46-47. That shows the College of Arts & Sciences section, with the Bachelor of Arts requirements listed on page 46. The very first majors listed are Bachelor of Arts with a Major in African Studies and Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Afro-American Studies.

Not that you didn't believe me. I just like offering tangibles whenever possible. Too much opinion and not enough facts has been part of the problem IMO.

No, you are right. I did believe you. I just had no idea- I thought it was a much more recently added major.

So Crowder's implementation of paper classes no way coincided with addition of AFAM major... that shoots down one of my arguments as to why athletics had nothing to do with this.

 

[UNC '92]

Great first post! Five years in the making! I look forward to more of your stuff.

#Courageous

 

[94tarheel]

I had the pleasure of taking Afam 41 under Dean Woodard and it was certainly not a slide course. I took that course instead of taking another history class. The slide course I took was Rec10. Talk about an easy class. So, people really should think before they post. NencHeel is totally correct.

 

[Raising Heel]

Was the dept head compensated for the extra numbers of students he was able to gather, well of course, follow the money.

From the Wainstein Report:

6. Desire to Supplement their Compensation: Nor do we find that [Nyang'oro and Crowder] entered into this scheme out of any sort of pecuniary motive. Crowder clearly had no such motive, as her compensation was not affected in any way by the existence of these classes and/or the number of their enrollments. Nyang’oro’s compensation was affected, but only as to the paper classes that were offered in the summer sessions. Even though he was eligible for supplemental compensation for teaching during the summer session, he never sought payment for any of the dozens of summer session paper classes for which he was the instructor of record. It was only at the insistence of Summer School Dean Jan Yopp that he accepted payment for teaching AFAM 280 in the summer of 2011 – the payment that formed the basis for the criminal charge against him of obtaining property by false pretenses.

Nyang’oro insisted in our interview that his acceptance of Yopp’s offer was more of an afterthought on his part and that his objective was never to make money off of the paper courses. We find this contention supported, not only by his financially disinterested approach to the irregular classes, but also by the absence of any emails or witness accounts suggesting that he ever saw them as an avenue to higher compensation.