Thorp Admits that “nobody checked” McAdoo paper; Time for independent investigation(updated AM)

General UNC Scandal57

First of all, major kudos to Mark Armstrong of WTVD for getting UNC “Chancellor” Holden Thorp to comment on last week’s revelation that a large part of Michael McAdoo’s was potentially plagiarized.

Armstrong has done a great job throughout the last 12 months consistently covering each and every break in the scandal.

Anyways…in Thorp’s comments(an email?) to Armstrong, UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp admitted tonight that the message board of PackPride did more research on McAdoo’s paper than the UNC did during their review.

‘You’re right. Nobody checked it, and I wish we had because we wouldn’t have said so strongly in the appeal hearing that the paper was his work.’

If you don’t remember, then here are some quotes directly from UNC representatives during McAdoo’s appeal with the NCAA:

UNC legal Counsel Steve Keady(help again from Packpride):

So what happened here was Michael completed his Swahili paper then he asked Jennifer for help with the citations and as I think you will hear he wanted help because he was worried about plagiarism; he knew that you have to cite ideas that are not yours…

…This work reflects his ideas exclusively. It is not a rip off. This really is his work.

Are Thorp and Dickie Baddour going to make a statement now that they are sorry they trusted Steve Keady?

To help people remember, UNC released Jennifer Wiley in 2009 from the academic support program for what UNC representatives called in the McAdoo hearing being too close with at least 1 student. The theory in having that policy is to avoid potential academic fraud. Yet despite UNC having a reason to believe fraud may have occurred in 2009 due to the inappropriate relationship of Wiley and a student, UNC didn’t investigate to see if any academic fraud actually occurred. The start of a trend.

Anyone wonder why there was no investigation? Or how UNC allowed Butch Davis to hire Wiley to work for him personally which led to Wiley providing more “tutoring” and improper benefits in the form of money(plane ticket and paid for parking tickets) after she had to be released by UNC from the academic-support program?

Back to last night’s bombshell from Thorp – without McAdoo’s lawsuit, then the plagiarism discovery never happens on Packpride which led to multiple stories nationwide. For some reason, it took more time for the local paper to put something in print(Saturday) than Statefansnation, Sports Illustrated, the Daily Tarheel, SportsbyBrooks, and several others.

How can an attorney and an athletics director go into a hearing with the NCAA to claim adamantly that a paper is the work of a student when neither had apparently read the paper in question? Mindboggling. Whatever the reason, heads should roll in Chapel Hill if anyone over there cares the least bit about academic integrity. I can only think of three reasons not to review the paper prior to the hearing:

1. Incompetence.
2. Wanting to avoid what might might be discovered if the paper was read
3. Knew the paper was plagiarized, but figured the NCAA and public would never know because the paper would never be released.

The best case for UNC is another example of incompetence. Butch Davis has already set an incredible standard because somehow Butch had no idea any of these issues were occurring in his program while being the first head coach in the history of college athletics to employ a runner/agent on his staff as an associate head coach/recruiting coordinator. However, Thorp, Dickie, Keady, and the “Honor Court” have approached the standard Davis set with not discovering the plagiarism.

Or did they simply not expect the paper to ever become public?

Even if this latest blunder by UNC was only incompetence (after already not investigating these academic issues in 2009), then UNC has proven incapable of discovering the truth in this investigation. The head football coach didn’t control his players, his associate head coach, or his tutor. All of that happened supposedly without him knowing anything. The honor court, chancellor, athletic director and legal counsel didn’t discover blatant plagiarism that took message board posters less than 5 minutes with a couple of web searches. Again, nobody knew anything.

What about all of the other players who were “cleared” and then allowed to play last season? The fact that they didn’t read McAdoo’s paper brings into question each and every investigation handled by UNC so far. How can the public feel confident that UNC has discovered the truth when the only investigation that has been fully disclosed to the public has been proven incomplete or fraudulent?

Clearly, an independent investigation is necessary to get to the truth. This scandal has shown that cracks exist in the foundation of the entire university. Administrators have refused to comply with Freedom of Information Act requests withholding information that the people of NC have a right to see. They have proven, at best, incapable of investigating themselves and discovering the truth. At this point, nothing any representative at UNC has said can be accepted as fact.

It is time for someone in this state to stand up and do what is right. Don’t hold your breath.

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General UNC Scandal

57 Responses to Thorp Admits that “nobody checked” McAdoo paper; Time for independent investigation(updated AM)

  1. john of sparta 07/14/2011 at 8:14 PM #

    tell me something i don’t know.
    really. now. right now.

  2. Daily Update 07/14/2011 at 8:24 PM #

    Earth shattering news IMO. Back to ground zero of this investigation.

  3. GAWolf 07/14/2011 at 8:25 PM #

    I feel sorry for Thorpe a bit actually. I think this is about the moment someone with some sense finally thinks: “uh oh…I made a mistake.”

  4. SuperStuff 07/14/2011 at 8:26 PM #

    Gotta wonder about the two other papers of his they said were fine.

  5. wufpup76 07/14/2011 at 8:36 PM #

    “‘You’re right. Nobody checked it …”

    ^This goes well beyond sleeping on the job.

    Will *anyone* get termed over this (whole mess)? Oh wait … they’re “good North Carolinians … So let’s just move on.”

  6. GAWolf 07/14/2011 at 8:53 PM #

    It definitely shows all this adamant support of various things and players is all unfounded hogwash based in hope, maybe in an effort to mislead, but certainly not in fact.

  7. ppack3 07/14/2011 at 9:15 PM #

    Thorpe: ‘You’re right. Nobody checked it, and I wish we had because we wouldn’t have said so strongly in the appeal hearing that we had checked it.’

    There, IFI.

  8. MatSci94 07/14/2011 at 9:26 PM #

    Wait, so very senior people at UNC adamantly stated an opinion about the paper, but didn’t bother to look into it *at all*??

    Lets add it to the list…

    Instructor missed a paper with pretty blatant plagarism.
    Academic support AD people didn’t catch it.
    The Honor Court didn’t catch it (the violation he was tagged with was that someone else did the works cited and editing).
    Legal people didn’t catch it in responding to the lawsuit.
    Badour/Thorpe/underlings didn’t catch it.

    Maybe someone should ask Thorpe, “So what else did you state as fact without checking?”

  9. highstick 07/14/2011 at 9:30 PM #

    Thorp, it’s not a crack! A crack is a very small and narrow opening. Your lack of institutional control over athletics and academics is a chasm that is bigger than the Grand Canyon!!

  10. Old MacDonald 07/14/2011 at 9:32 PM #

    Is this an example of the facts changing?

    How did it slip past the professor who graded it?

  11. howlie 07/14/2011 at 9:38 PM #

    So, in other words, the CHANCELLOR of the university says, “When we say our cheaters don’t cheat, we actually cheated by neglecting to check whether our students cheat.”

    Oh. That explains it.

    When a UNIVERSITY has its boosters pay for a student to [quote] SUE [unquote] the NCAA & [for political purposes] the university over its students right to cheat, and the right of the Honor Court, professors, and administration to allow a student to cheat…

    … doesn’t it HAVE to be called something ELSE besides a “university.”

  12. Clarksa 07/14/2011 at 9:49 PM #

    I’m pretty sure Adam and Joe said last week that the professor of the class was also head of the department…and naturally he is out of the country right now.

  13. timberwolf 07/14/2011 at 9:54 PM #

    WOW. That’s 101 SOP. I figured they knew but were not in a capacity to address. It’s one thing to be thought an idiot, another to open mouth. And Thorpe is not stupid. My goodness things are are a train wreck over at unc.

  14. choppack1 07/14/2011 at 10:10 PM #

    Well – what else can he say? “We knew that it wasn’t his work, but we went to bat for him anyway?”

    Let’s see – UNC-Ch didn’t identify NCAA violations when they were being tweeted in a public forum.

    They didn’t identify the coach was taking money from an agent.

    They found out about the cheating during the NCAA interview process.

    Their “honor court” – and I think any time somone says UNC-Ch’s “honor quote” – quotations should be added – was very light on all parties involved.

    Shouldn’t every paper submitted by those who had any contact w/ this tutor be evaluated for this investigation?

  15. OldWuf 07/14/2011 at 10:10 PM #

    Boy, I believe I would be worried if I were a tarhole after reading reports about GT’s probation for $300 of extra benefits for 1 player and not cooperating with the NCAA. I can’t believe that anyone other than a Tarhole would believe that they are cooperating. I gotta believe that dragging the NCAA into court over an obvious case of cheating would also piss them off.

  16. WolftownVA81 07/14/2011 at 10:23 PM #

    There is nothing anyone at UNC can say at this point that doesn’t confirm they are all either incompetent buffoons or they were/are in on the conspiracy to cover up the cheating. All we need now is a deep throat. Marvin, you out there?

  17. WolftownVA81 07/14/2011 at 10:27 PM #

    So does Holden now have to fire his AD for publicly stating that McD wrote the paper eventhough nobody read it? How can he pass the buck on this one? The guy in charge of the program told a bold face lie. So what else have they been lying about. Come on press, start asking.

  18. WolftownVA81 07/14/2011 at 10:35 PM #

    If I’m Holden the bag Thorp, this is the time when I quietly submit my resignation and slip out the back door. You can’t make the kind of statement he made today and continue to be effective in your job. This is just the begining and the other two stooges are going make him look really bad when the rest of the stink finally sees the light of day. Time to save what dignity he has left. If he stays, it will only end in more disgrace and things that can’t be explained.

  19. LRM 07/14/2011 at 10:38 PM #

    Clearly there’s no reason to worry about lack of institutional control over at the Flagship.

  20. IamGumbyDammit 07/14/2011 at 10:42 PM #

    A paper that was evidence submitted to the Honor Court for academic misconduct was not checked by ANYONE closely enough to see the obvious plagiarism? I guess it’s easy to miss the absurdity amidst the ridiculousness.

  21. wolfman 07/14/2011 at 11:10 PM #

    Aw shucks y’all. It’s almost Friday.

  22. TheCOWDOG 07/14/2011 at 11:15 PM #

    The new French Underground is moving with great haste over there.

    I really feel Fourth Reich is about to get nuked. Very clever of le resistance to use McAdoo as a secret weapon.

    Too bad that young Thorp had to turn that weapon on himself in the process.

  23. MatSci94 07/14/2011 at 11:19 PM #

    “Clearly there’s no reason to worry about lack of institutional control over at the Flagship.”

    Lack of institutional control would be a step up.

  24. hickoryhound 07/15/2011 at 12:35 AM #

    FCIC = Fully Complicit in Corruption

  25. PackerInRussia 07/15/2011 at 1:18 AM #

    “Lack” sounds too passive. They eschew institutional control.

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