It's sad that in an age of instant information that 99% of people still don't know the facts.
Facts:
Notre Dame broke this story... not an outside entity. That's integrity.
ND does not have ghost classes or rocks for jocks classes like many universities, one of which I attended and it is one of the most prestigious state institutions in the country.
Everybody is cheating - part 1. At some schools it is systemic. Athletes in need are "guided" into "approved classes / majors" where "tutors" "help" you with your every move. The level of "tutoring" the average football / basketball player receives is cheating. When someone is there to walk you through, step by step, the writing of a 10 page paper... they wrote it. I know, as a GA I helped many a player who had no business being at that school write papers. In the end, it was more my work than theirs.
Everybody is cheating - part 2. By my sophomore year, I did not take a test that I hadn't first contacted my Fraternity / Sorority connections in an attempt to receive that prof's past tests. The reason? EVERY student other than the athletes had access to those tests! (both schools I attended did not allow full ride athletes to join fraternities). In most schools, the general student body cheats everyday and if you are graded on a curve like I was, they are cheating the athletes....and then they have the nerve to be "appalled" when the athlete cheats to keep up. Hypocrites.
(No offense to IE members that do not have a college degree) but it makes me vomit to read uneducated to juco drop out hacks criticizing ND... or even the Alabama's of the world about cheating and program integrity. They have no idea what goes on in the general student population. College is FULL of cheaters.
Now lets look at the facts of who college football / basketball players are. The AVERAGE DI football / basketball player would not be admitted to the school they are attending had they not played that sport. I would guess it is probably lower than 33%...20% to be honest. Take myself for instance... I was a sub 1300 SAT as a high school Jr. back in the 80's. I was recruited by every Ivy League school, Rice, & Vandy. I would not have gotten into ANY of those schools with a 1280 SAT. Had I gone to Princeton, I would have STRUGGLED at best. Besides the fact that everybody in the school is smarter than me.... I was going to be at practice for 4-5 hours a day, too tired to study after practice and then miss 2 weeks of classes each season traveling for road games.
My point... the system is set up for the football / basketball to fail in almost every way. I applaud the work that most universities do in guiding student athletes through a minefield of academic obstacles and competition from the general student body... but especially the ND's Stanford's and Duke's of the world where big time athletics meets big time academics.
I am not a ND alum. I wish I was... and even approaching 50, I am always eyeing the continuing education graduate programs that ND offers. With some luck my child will be a freshman in South Bend in '22. I am proud of how ND conducts itself in all matters, this investigation included.
So let the haters keep hating... as one member wrote earlier, it just makes me a more loyal fan of the University. I couldn't agree more.
