Comments on: Notre Dame, Academic Fraud, Accountability, Narrative, and You

By: Mark G

Mark G — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 14:30:00 +0000

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.

By: Ryan Ritter

Ryan Ritter — Mon, 18 Aug 2014 15:51:00 +0000

In reply to OldGuy.

“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.

By: Ryan Ritter

Ryan Ritter — Mon, 18 Aug 2014 15:48:00 +0000

In reply to Chris halenski.

“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.

By: OldGuy

OldGuy — Mon, 18 Aug 2014 00:31:00 +0000

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 .

By: Chris halenski

Chris halenski — Sun, 17 Aug 2014 17:29:00 +0000

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.

By: Tsombanj

Tsombanj — Sun, 17 Aug 2014 17:16:00 +0000

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.

By: Jimmy

Jimmy — Sun, 17 Aug 2014 14:49:00 +0000

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.

By: Pat

Pat — Sun, 17 Aug 2014 12:38:00 +0000

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.

By: Bill Meehan

Bill Meehan — Sat, 16 Aug 2014 19:29:00 +0000

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.

By: Sean

Sean — Sat, 16 Aug 2014 05:08:00 +0000

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.