Tarred Heels

UNC-Chapel Hill just can’t get out of the academic fraud tar pit. The harder the school struggles, the stickier it gets.
 
First UNC got a new chancellor. Then a new vice chancellor for communications and public affairs, whose charge is clearly to get the school past this mess. They said all the right things, but nothing seems to work.
 
They paraded an all-star team of scholar-athletes in front of the media and trustees. But the exercise looked a bit contrived.
 
Then, yesterday, the employee who blew the whistle met with the chancellor, announced she is resigning and accused the chancellor of “berating” her.
 
True or not, that didn’t look good – especially on top of the Gene Nichols affair.
 
Some true-blue Heels will tell you this is all a vendetta by The News & Observer. Some of my fellow Wolfpackers – who haven’t gotten over the N&O’s pursuit of Jim Valvano – are loving it. I’m not. The university is a big part of why North Carolina has long been a progressive state. And the J School is a veritable well that waters the state with aggressive, progressive journalism.
 
Now, two of those great progressive institutions – the university and the N&O – are at war. Can’t somebody negotiate a truce here?
 
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Gary Pearce

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Tarred Heels

UNC-Chapel Hill just can’t get out of the academic fraud tar pit. The harder the school struggles, the stickier it gets.
 
First UNC got a new chancellor. Then a new vice chancellor for communications and public affairs, whose charge is clearly to get the school past this mess. They said all the right things, but nothing seems to work.
 
They paraded an all-star team of scholar-athletes in front of the media and trustees. But the exercise looked a bit contrived.
 
Then, yesterday, the employee who blew the whistle met with the chancellor, announced she is resigning and accused the chancellor of “berating” her.
 
True or not, that didn’t look good – especially on top of the Gene Nichols affair.
 
Some true-blue Heels will tell you this is all a vendetta by The News & Observer. Some of my fellow Wolfpackers – who haven’t gotten over the N&O’s pursuit of Jim Valvano – are loving it. I’m not. The university is a big part of why North Carolina has long been a progressive state. And the J School is a veritable well that waters the state with aggressive, progressive journalism.
 
Now, two of those great progressive institutions – the university and the N&O – are at war. Can’t somebody negotiate a truce here?
 
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Gary Pearce

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