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Home > Notre Dame Football > Notre Dame, Academic Fraud, Accountability, Narrative, and You

Via @joepa

Notre Dame, Academic Fraud, Accountability, Narrative, and You

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Via @joepa

Jack Swarbrick addresses the academic fraud scandal late Friday afternoon. Via @joe_pa

On the list of things that I was concerned about for the 2014 season, academic fraud ranked somewhere around the same level as a meteor strike in South Bend.

Academic issues? Sure, based on recent history, that was definitely in the back of my mind, but seeing Fr. Jenkins and a bearded Jack Swarbrick announce to the world that Notre Dame was investigating serious academic fraud? Not a chance in hell.

Make no mistake, I’m absolutely furious. Not at DaVaris Daniels, Kendall Moore, KeiVarae Russel, or Ishaq Williams, but at Notre Dame. Simply put, ND failed. Sure, they caught it before the NCAA or a media investigation did, but that doesn’t change the fact that somehow this slipped under the radar to the point that a full-blown investigation is required. No one yet knows just how wide-spread this is or how long its been going on.

Even more upsetting, at least to myself but probably not the media or peanut gallery, is that there are apparently multiple non-student athletes involved in the fraud scandal. I had to bust my ass to get the degree hanging in my office and I’m incredibly proud to have it. The fact that there are students on campus that are looking for a shortcut to avoid doing work, pisses me off to no end.

There is no amount of spin in the world that anyone can deliver to remove that.

At Notre Dame fans and alumni, we’ve taken an immense amount of pride in not sacrificing academics for athletic glory. So much so that a common narrative arose that Notre Dame simply couldn’t keep up with the top programs in college football anymore. 2012 was our year to laugh in the face of that claim. Remember this?

Fast forward to now and there are rumors circulating about, and rumors Jenkins and Swarbrick couldn’t deny, that this fraud happened during the 2012 season.

Simply put, someone needs to be held accountable for this. Anyone that had a hand in it or turned a blind eye to it should be gone. Thankfully, I have faith that Notre Dame will indeed to this.

As upset as I am about the fraud, I can see it’s clear that Notre Dame still takes their academic integrity seriously. The reason isn’t just because they took swift action (they received a report about this July 31, just a little over two weeks ago), but rather because they are preparing for the absolute worst possible scenario.

While many were likely frustrated that there were no concrete answers to the big questions of how long this has been going on or how many people were involved, ND’s desire to find out how deep this goes is a desire to root out the entire problem and handle it for good. They could have just as easily treated the incident reported to them this summer as a one-time occurrence and be done with it.

Going that route though would invite Charles Robinson from Yahoo! Sports to get curious about what’s going on and blow the whole thing up. Imagine the egg on our face in that situation.

Instead, ND will perform their due diligence and restore the integrity that we all hold so dear. If we find out that multiple players on the 2012 team were involved and we have to vacate every single one of those glorious wins? So be it, even if it costs us the all-time winning percentage battle with Michigan. The mission of the University is far more important than a record.

Taking all that into consideration, you would think the narrative currently being spun by the college football pundits would reflect some of those facts. Sadly, this isn’t the case. Everyone seems to be looking for their “turn in your tiara” moment to take ND to task.

Much like Rick Reilly in 2012, everyone is missing the mark. ND is just like everyone else and will tell you so with glee. They are all so drunk with joy that even the most logical, well-reasoned prose can’t correct their blurred vision. ND might as well be Southern Cal or North Carolina as far as they are concerned, regardless if those perceived parallels couldn’t be any more divergent.

That goes double for the fans that love to hate us.

But that’s where you come in, loyal reader. Because, quite frankly, we are all going to be faced with a deluge of shit thanks to this mess. You won’t be able to correct the narrative. Don’t even try. Truth be told, even I’m not. This piece is preaching to the choir, not trying to convert the non-believer.

Don’t make excuses for the idiotic mistakes that these kids have made. Be glad happy that you are a fan of a school that cares enough to face these issues head on, but don’t trumpet it as an excuse for how this is somehow all okay. It’s not. This attack on academic integrity strikes right into the heart of what you hold dear about Notre Dame.

Don’t get salty at opposing fans for having their moment on the high horse. Take your verbal beating now and hope that you can laugh at them come gameday when it matters. You have no leg to stand on in a cheating debate right now. The sooner you realize that and try to focus on what actually happens on the field, the more sanity you will retain.

Above all else, maintain that, much as Fr. Jenkins stated in his presser, everyone involved in this is held accountable for their actions. Because if that doesn’t happen, the show of action and concern will be nothing more than a farce.

Until then, let the situation play out and let the talking heads say what they will. Let them bring up past sins if it makes them feel better. Take it all in stride.

Next man in. Rice is only two weeks away.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Great piece. Completely agree with the advice on how to deal with non-ND fans, but 99% of ND fans will go the other way and try to defend the situation in all the wrong ways, perpetuating the national view of the delusional d-bag Notre Dame fan.

  3. Excellent points, although I’m still furious with the players involved- if the allegations are true, then they made a decision to cheat and take the easy way out just like all the non-athlete students involved. They also did so knowing that they were exposing their team to NCAA violations.

    With so many students involved, what kind of cheating do you think we’re talking about here? Stealing and sharing tests? Fraud involving group projects? It will be interesting to see. I wonder if they’ll go so far as to strip recent graduates of their degrees if they can prove they were involved. I don’t like the idea that someone who cheated their way through any course can hold the same degree that I do.

  4. Interesting perspective for sure.

    Though, I will share this note with you.

    I have a friend who’s a big USC fan, usually we take each other to task at any and every opportunity. Last night, we were out at the bar, and I get ready for the onslaught. He walks up and says, “you lucky bastards.” I was dumbfounded. And then he told me “at least the school got out in front of this. ND doesn’t have to worry about the sanctions, they don’t have to worry about the Lame Kiffin era. Really, ND is lucky on this one.”

    I see the ND narrative put out by the national media, and haters are gonna hate, no use trying to convert them. But I think there’s a lot of football fans out there who actually can tell the difference between a school taking immediate action, and the NCAA taking action after a school’s attempted to cover something up.

  5. For Fr. Jenkins, Notre Dame is a Catholic university that happens to have a famous football team. I’m glad they take these charges so seriously – as every degree-granting institution should. That said, if 2012 – or any – wins are vacated because of the actions of a few, that would be hard to swallow and a slap in the face to all the guys on that team that did it the right way.

    Take your medicine, but avoid the click bait out there. It is full of the same-old contradictions: ND has been irrelevant for 20+ years – but it is a football factory, nonetheless. ND is just like everyone else – no mention of classroom success or graduation rates. And so forth. You know the routine.

    Go Irish.

  6. I agree with pretty much everything you stated. I think one point needs to be emphasized. I’m angry at the players if they are indeed guilty. People will hammer ND, it is what the do. These students are grown men, who chose to cheat. Make no mistake, if anyone at the University covered it up they should be gone too. But too often we make excuses for people. No one forced them to attend ND, and they entered fully aware of the academic rigors involved. Finally, I’d rather go 7-5 with guys doing things the right way.

  7. The problem folks is we are still uncertain as to what the fraud or scandal is. And I’m not making excuses for college kids. Part of their experience is about learning life’s lessons and preparing for life after college. Being accountable and suffering consequences for poor choices is part of that process. So hopefully they take their punishment with class and move on. So what is the beat down against Notre Dame? Is the administration or staff complicit in the scandal or fraud? Doesn’t sound like it from what I read thus far. To the contrary the University’s handling of the situation furthers the point that this institution cherishes it’s commitment to excellence and academic integrity and is eliminating the problems it discovered. They are not burying a problem or covering up any issues for the betterment of a football program. Rather they are holding 3 starters out of practice pending further investigation. Which hurts the football program but bolsters the ideals for which ND stands. To me, this is not a scandal at all. This is further evidence that ND is exactly what it preaches. No one player, or four, are bigger than the University or the team for that matter. There is nothing to be ashamed of at all here. And any illogical hater is welcomed to chime in.

  8. You started off explicitly blaming nd for presumably not catching this and you explicitly don’t blame the students/athletes involved in the cheating. But then the rest of the article supports nd for how they’re handling it and provides no evidence that nd did anything wrong to deserve your blame. Is this similar to when there’s a crime in your neighborhood and people blame the cops and the mayor and everybody whos actively working to prevent crime and protect those who obey the law and forget that the criminals decided to bring this on the neighborhood…? I was always amazed at the resources provided to student athletes to get them thru nd so I know nd takes their educations seriously. Show me where nd is culpable and the intro to your article will resonate w me.

    • “The fact that there are students on campus that are looking for a shortcut to avoid doing work, pisses me off to no end.”

      “Don’t make excuses for the idiotic mistakes that these kids have made.”

      “Above all else, maintain that, much as Fr. Jenkins stated in his presser, everyone involved in this is held accountable for their actions.”

      That’s three direct quotes explicitly placing the blame on the people responsible. I’m not sure how any of that was unclear.

      I didn’t blame ND for the actions of the students. I stated ND failed and I’m furious at them for not being able to catch this sooner. Remember, this was written on Friday evening and we still don’t know to what extent this fraud encompasses.The first part of my article reflects my feelings and emotions on the issue as it regards to ND.

      The second half of the article states why I have faith ND will handle everything properly, despite their failures.

      I am not trying to blame ND for the actions of the students. They will be held accountable for whatever actions they took as they should.

  9. I have spent several days trying to organize my anger over this and recent similar transgressions. I attended Notre Dame in a simpler era. There were actually more scholarship football and basketball players, but title nine wasn’t in effect, and as a result those two programs and a few baseball and track athletes were taken care of by a small staff headed by Mike DeCicco, who was and is a legend.
    Mike is rolling over in his grave. Whoever is responsible for looking out for our student athletes academic progress is an abysmal failure. I understand that these kids come in with very different backgrounds and expectations. They always have. It is the mission of Notre Dame to make sure they leave as educated and hopefully better men and women.
    This is a job that can not be put upon the coaches. They work very hard at what they do, and earn the University a very good income. If the academic support staff for all athletes needs to be funded further, then the good fathers need to do so. What has happened in the last three years, making an example of seven kids, one twice is wrong. Whoever is in charge of that malicious organization, needs to be fired, or at least moved to a high ranking post at .

    • “Abysmal failure” is a touch too far. Overall ND does a fantastic job with student athlete academics and the actions of a few shouldn’t be the standard applied to the many doing it right.

      It’s fine to be upset at what happened and even ND to a point, but even in acknowledging the bad, you still have to acknowledge the good.

  10. Yes, someone (or someones) need to be held accountable. First, the players (that is being done). Second, the other students who were involved. Third, the athletic department. I am not saying that Swarbrick should be fired (though … that beard has to be close to a fireable event …), but it is he and his people who set the tone and are in charge of monitoring the academic progress and the personal behaviour of the student-athletes.
    If this turns out to be not a one time cheating on a test but a systematic, ongoing cheating scandal (other students writing papers for players in exchange for … well, whatever it was in exchange for), then the players and the other students should be expelled with little or no chance of coming back.

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