/2223477/unc-chapel-hill-faculty-calls.html”>News & Observer of the Raleigh-Durham, NC area reports. The recommendation comes after a university investigation revealed that 54 courses in the African and Afro-American Studies department had little or no instruction involved in which most of the enrolled students were athletes. The blame for these “no show” classes has fallen primarily on two individuals, Julius Nyang’oro, former chairman of the department who was forced into retirement in the Fall of 2011 and Deborah Crowder who was department manager and retired in 2009. The classes in question were mostly independent study classes offered during summer sessions during which students appear to have done little or no work in exchange for credit towards graduation.

The committee decries what they refer to as a “campus with two cultures” – academic and athletic. For example, according to the News & Observer, the academic support program for athletes is supposed to be run by the College of Arts and Sciences at UNC, but the athletic department provides the funding. The report issued by the special committee attests to a situation where the university does not do enough to ensure athletes get the education they need out of the system. Instead, the athletic department has too much control over the athletes to the detriment of their studies. The committee sees troubling trends in which athletes are steered towards courses that have little bearing on the student’s declared major but are intended to ensure their continued eligibility to compete at sports.

These finding lend credence to a fact that all professors, instructors and teaching assistants are aware of: that athletes are a special breed of student. They are permitted to miss more class than an average student without penalty. It is certainly true that in order to excel at sports, athletes require large amounts of time dedicated to practice and physical fitness, but a balance must be struck between academics and athletics. It would be naïve to think that this problem is limited to Chapel Hill. Even if studies have not been done, it is clear on any campus where athletics plays an important role that athletes receive “special” treatment that allows them to travel and to compete. For a large majority of athletes, however, these allowances do not actually benefit them in the long run. These students miss class and learning opportunities and in doing so, are cheated out of the education they are supposed to be receiving. I do not advocate on any level the removal of athletics from a college campus. Sport has a very important part in the lives of many students, but a balance must be struck with academic pursuits.