What could be the beginning of the end of a years-long investigation into UNC by the NCAA got underway Wednesday morning
The NCAA Committee on Infractions is set to hear the case between UNC and the body governing collegiate athletics in Nashville.
After three separate Notices of Allegations have been issued to the university, UNC is facing five top-level charges including Lack of Institutional Control.
“We’re looking forward to bringing this to closure,” UNC Chancellor Carol Folt told WCHL at a campus Board of Trustees meeting in late July. “We’re focused on that next meeting and bringing it to closure.”
The investigation was reignited after the university-commissioned Wainstein Report detailed the now-much-discussed paper-class scandal in the African and Afro-American Studies department at UNC.
The UNC and the NCAA have taken opposing views in official responses between the organization and the campus about whether this issue is under the purview of the NCAA. UNC maintains that the rigor of academic cases is an issue handled by the university’s accrediting body, SACS. The NCAA, meanwhile, contends that the disproportionate number of athletes in the classes constitutes impermissible benefits.
Folt said at that July meeting that it was too early to know if the university would pursue legal recourse if officials were unhappy with the ultimate decision handed down by the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions and that appeals process.
“You don’t make decisions in advances of decisions,” Folt said. “You focus on your next step.”
While the hearing is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, the committee’s decision is not expected for several weeks.
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