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.
The moral case against academic cheating is usually pretty nuanced. If a teacher is grading on a curve, then improving one's score through cheating directly harms another student; in that case, it's pretty cut and dry. But few classes are graded on a curve at ND. So where's the harm in boosting my grade then, when my improved score doesn't directly harm someone else? It's
internal to the cheater; but that's simply not a valid consideration for most people today due to our culture.
Cheating is a problem that cuts right to the heart of a university: providing society with well-educated, reliable citizens.
There are plenty of well-educated and reliable cheaters out there. Academic fraud is especially problematic for a school like ND because it aspires to the
proper moral formation of its students. But ND's influence is limited because its students are already 18-years-old when they arrive on campus. Much of their moral formation has already taken place.
The American education system is overwhelmingly instrumental-- curriculum is oriented towards teaching one practical skills for: (1) getting into a good school; so that one can ultimately (2) get the highest paying job possible. Focusing exclusively on such extrinsic goals means that internal goods--like integrity, honesty, etc.-- get short shrift, because they don't directly lead to better "outcomes". Thus, the ends are always justified by the means. If I don't caught, and no one got hurt, what's the problem?
I also hope the investigation gives the students the benefit of the doubt at every turn--innocent until proven guilty.
I hope ND is moving forward with the best interests of the four players in mind, and not with an eye toward making an example of them as a way of safe-guarding its reputation. Cheating is endemic everywhere because of deep-seated problems within our culture. Publicly sacrificing a few athletes is not going to suddenly fix those problems at ND. I see lots of parallels with the alcohol-related issues on campus; and I hope ND handles these players like they handled Floyd.
who has been appearing on movk drafts due to his physical potential.
