I'm really struggling with how I feel about this whole ordeal. On the one had, I love ND because of what the University stands for and how they always try to do what is right. On the other, in situations like this one, I feel like they're going completely overboard. The ND Circus has come to town and they're here to stay.
LAX has already done a great job pointing things out to which I agree completely so I'll spare you those feelings. One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is why they feel to make this a huge deal? With Golson, it was an open and shut case. He cheated, he got kicked out, end of story. There is literally zero reason for ND to go into full investigation mode and try to bring down the entire football program based on four kids allegedly cheating. If they cheated, suspend/expel them, case closed. I don't understand the circus this is becoming. I don't understand ND wanting to vacate wins. I don't understand why they felt the need to hold a press conference about it. The whole thing just doesn't add up.
1) we know the University will treat academic issues of high-profile players relatively quietly from Golson and DD.
2) However, cheating involving multiple players--perhaps over the course of years--creates the strong impression that your school is corrupt and full of crap--UNC style. If they think their is evidence of systemic cheating, they aren't going to treat it like isolated incidents (like with Golson)
3) Cheating by yourself is also different than cheating using the people the school provides to help you.
4) The press runs absolutely wild with ND stories, and would be talking about a cover-up for years if there was any hint of one.
Also, even if it is widespread, cheating is a big deal to Universities. Underage drinking is illegal, but drinking is accepted as fine once you are of sufficient age to be responsible with it. When you are old enough is a matter of debate and people wisely don't pretend that the arbitrary number (21) represents anything moral. On the other hand, cheating is never fine morally.
Cheating is a problem that cuts right to the heart of a university: providing society with well-educated, reliable citizens. Underage drinking gets treated much more seriously at the liquor store than at the field where the kids get caught drinking. ND can't treat academic integrity like just one more rule because its a school.
ND can't treat football players like regular students because they haven't entered a multi-party agreement with tons of other schools that involves millions of dollars that it premised on their holding certain students to certain standards with their normal students. In other words, ND is actively holding out its student athletes as meeting their academic requirements. When UNC beats my team, and it turns out none of their kids ever went to class, its pretty annoying.
Also, why would employers care about cheating if it is such a widespread issue and everyone did it? The fact is, even if it is widespread, it undermines the person's reliability. Also, lots of people do things they regret and then stop doing them. Saying 80% of people have cheated in some form at some point is not the same as saying 80% of the people are cheating all the time. And most people assume that kids who get caught cheating did it more than once. You usually don't get caught the first and only time.
Long story short… do I think the 4 players are awful human beings who need to be treated as such? No. Do I think it makes sense that often lax universities crack down on cheating really hard, despite its prevalence? Yes. Do I think it makes sense to be a little tougher on athletes since they are making your school millions of dollars, yes? Do I think ND looks like an ass since no other schools are doing this… a little. I also hope the investigation gives the students the benefit of the doubt at every turn--innocent until proven guilty. That may be hard to do if their is a "co-conspirator" involved.
