Blog

Life after whistleblowing - running with the pigs in the Delta

Mark Twain said that Helena Arkansas was the most beautiful town on the banks of the Mississippi River. That’s a true once upon a time story. Today, Helena is a town in rural Arkansas with a small population and a smaller economy. The amazing children here, however, still gather daily […]

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One of the greatest mysteries of the UNC scandal

As I find myself back in the trenches working with school personnel, and using email to communicate, I am reminded of the hundreds of emails that I sent daily/weekly over the course of the last 20 years.  My older brother referred to email as “Mary’s latest weapon” back in 1997 […]

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Latest UNC response & questions to ponder

Where are the phone records from ASPSA to (DC) Debbie Crowder  (2000-2009)? Why did DC think that it was ok for 291 students to take “independent studies” (AFRI 190 or AFAM 190) in 2003/4? (Cheated, page 24) How would DC and UNC attorneys explain this chart?   paper class impact on […]

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The new AFAM?

The Carolina Tribe, with fresh painted faces, are pounding their chests, banging their drums and lighting fires on Franklin Street to celebrate another run for the NCAA basketball championship. Fun times. Meanwhile I’m reading about our favorite Business 101 professor who offers a great math replacement class at UNC. Is […]

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The Holiday Bowl of Blame Games

Much has happened this semester in the world of college sports. I’ve been off speaking with students on campuses across the country. Thank you to the students, faculty and staff at DePaul, U of Ozarks, U of Oklahoma, Texas A&M, UNC and Arizona State. It was a pleasure to speak […]

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Applying Kaepernick’s Movement to College Sport

Could Colin Kaepernick’s movement on the football field lead to reform in college sport? The systemic mistreatment of black males in this country by both our criminal justice system and education system is well documented in Michael Holzman’s book “The Chains of Black America”. Holzman examines our dual socioeconomic structure […]

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A story of institutional failure and fumbled opportunities

BOT member Alston Gardner: “Of course, the ultimate root cause [of our scandal] is big time college athletics.” BOG member Burley Mitchell: “Hell, yes” the NCAA should return to investigate UNC. BOT member Alston Gardner‘s response: “What an asshole.” “Has Burley said this?” [Tom] Ross asked his chief spokeswoman, Joni Worthington, […]

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UNC faculty, students and staff: where is the outrage?

The latest news out of Chapel Hill is no surprise for those of us who have worked in athletics at UNC. The Department of Public Safety (DPS) has shown favoritism to a football player once again. Public Safety is complicit with the athletic department in any number of ways. Apparently […]

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College football season is upon us and we still have 9 facts that smell like a locker room

Players are still not getting paid even though their coaches make boatloads of money off their backs. But no worries because some players qualify for Pell Grants. WTH? Black Athletes’ Lives still don’t matter. College athletics contributes to an economic system that, despite a few exceptions, keeps African American males […]

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The Shameful Beat Goes On

What follows is a series of gut-level responses to claims made in the first twenty-three pages of UNC’s official “Response to NCAA Amended Notice of Allegations (ANOA)” of August 1, 2016. Readers’ familiarity with the whole backstory of the UNC vs. NCAA contest is taken for granted, and the university’s […]

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UNC & The NCAA Debacle

UNC and the NCAA are trying to “move forward” and salvage a system that is simply not sustainable. The college sport model which was built on the myth of amateurism is slowly eroding. Carolina’s paper class case has dragged on for 6 long years making it old and tiresome. We’ve […]

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A brief and belated update

In our April ‘SACS, lies, and audiotapes’ blog post, we indicated that transcripts of conversations with UNC personnel would soon be posted to the website. Since then, I (Mary) have testified under subpoena in one pending lawsuit against the NCAA and I expect to testify in at least one other […]

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SACS, Lies and Audiotapes

“We’ve made more than 70 reforms.” “Oh, behold the reforms we’ve made!” UNC-Chapel Hill has sounded this refrain ever since Chancellor Carol Folt and Provost Jim Dean moved into South Building in summer 2013. The fixes, these leaders have repeatedly suggested, have always already been in place. Who, therefore, could […]

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Protect The Brand At All Costs

A UNC recently released email demonstrates how the continued cover up conspiracy was in play during the summer of 2013. Recall that, at that point, the “official” word was that bogus classes had begun in 1997, after the retirement of Dean Smith. Also recall that this occurred six weeks after […]

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Mary Willingham: Enough Already

I again find myself on the receiving end of a hateful campaign of vilification and defamation. This time my enemies have been given UNC emails for the sole purpose of harassment, and have made public matters that are entirely private; these matters have literally nothing to do with the issues […]

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Mizzou’s football players say, “show me justice”

The University of Missouri football team scored a smashing success this week that had nothing to do with athletic competition. Only two days after announcing that they would participate in no further football-related activities until the president of the UM system resigned or was terminated for his failure to take […]

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The Working Group’s Failure of Nerve

Some of the richest, most revealing nuggets from the “working group” website recently unveiled by Provost Jim Dean and AD Bubba Cunningham are found on the page of “responses” to earlier recommendations made to the university by previous committees. Quite a few faculty- and outsider-review committees have been empaneled over […]

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The “working group” worked hard not to see the truth

When Galileo discovered the moons around Jupiter in 1610, thus providing firm empirical proof of the Copernican understanding of the heavenly spheres, he offered his telescope to the university philosophers who were intent on defending the prevailing Aristotelian/Ptolemaic cosmology. Tellingly, the philosophers refused to look through Galileo’s telescope; unwilling to […]

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Calling for a Commission H.R. 2731

Congressional Briefing – 9/30/2015 It was an honor to be called to Washington DC this week to speak about my experiences with the NCAA and College Sport. Below are my comments. Thank you for inviting me today. I am honored to be here and very grateful to Representatives Dent, Beatty, […]

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Ghost (writer) of UNC Past

Frank Porter Graham speaks? The attached document-seemingly a spoof-was sent to us by an anonymous citizen claiming to be Frank Porter Graham. Who knows? President of UNC in the 1930s and 1940s, Graham was once accused of Communist sympathies… Moving UNC Forward