Matthew Johnson | Staff Writer
Former University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill football player, Julius Peppers, is the latest Tar-Heel to become involved in the University’s academic scandal after a transcript with his name was found on the UNC Chapel Hill website. The star athlete later confirmed that it was his.
Recent investigations have revealed that many UNC-CH athletes elected to take Afro-American Studies courses as a means to make passing gradesa and in order to sustain their eligibility to participate in sports. Investigations commenced late in 2007, when it surfaced that fraudulence and intentional neglect was occurring in these Afro-American Studies classes.
Peppers’ transcript indicates that many of his decisive grades, which allowed him to continue athletics came from courses in Afro-American Studies. Based on UNC’s minimum requirement, a player is not allowed to make below a 1.9 GPA. Peppers ended his spring semester with a 1.82 GPA, raising questions about his eligibility to play football during the 2001 season.
In a statement released by Peppers’ on Saturday, to the Chicago Tribune, the defensive end stated, “I can assure everyone that there is no academic fraud as it relates to my college transcript. I took every course with qualified members of the UNC faculty and I earned every grade whether it was good or bad.”
With pepper’s confirmation of the authenticity of his transcript, there is now reason to believe the University’s history of academic fraud dates back even further, possibly to 2001.
UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp has appointed a team to investigate allegations of academic integrity taking place within the Department of Afro-American Studies prior to 2007.
