Cheated

March 1, 2015

Higher education currently faces several existential crises over its inflated expenses, tentative connection to the real world, and general usefulness, but perhaps the most odoriferous rot comes from the corrupt relationship between academics and sports on campus. In recent years, nowhere was this more apparent than at the University of North Carolina (UNC), where for nearly two decades athletes had their GPAs artificially boosted by being pushed into "paper classes." These independent studies never met and required only a final paper, as short as a paragraph and often plagiarized, to be submitted to receive an A or B in the class. In this expose, Smith (history, Univ. of North Carolina; Monsters of the Gevaudan) collaborated with Willingham, who previously worked for the UNC's Center for Student Success and Academic Counseling and played a leading role as whistle-blower to bring the shoddy practice to light. The book offers a thorough examination of how the unethical practices became rooted in the institution, all with the knowledge and acceptance of administrators. The authors stress that the real victims are the athletes themselves who are used to bring money and fame to the university but are cheated of a true education. They offer two paths forward: pay athletes and separate athletics entirely from academics or take academics seriously and provide the heavy remedial education that so many athletes need to perform work at a college level. VERDICT All readers interested in education, public affairs, and college athletics will find this book essential.--John Maxymuk, Rutgers Univ. Lib., Camden, NJ

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