A report was recently released with findings of an investigation on academic fraud at the University of North Carolina. The report states that an office administrator, Deborah Crowder, established fake
classes where students weren’t expected to do anything except submit a paper.
The classes became known as “paper classes.” The investigative report revealed
that “when Crowder graded the papers, she did so generously – typically with A’s
or high B’s – and largely without regard to the quality of the papers.” A
majority of the students enrolled in the “class” were student athletes (mainly
football and basketball players) who needed a good grade to remain eligible to
compete in their respective sport. Just like the frauds we have seen
in cycling, competitive sports seems to have yet again created the perfect
environment for fraud to occur, and it wasn’t just one person who knew about
it.
