Since the story of paper classes in the African and Afro-American studies department (commonly known as AFAM) at UNC-Chapel Hill broke, the university has found itself in lawsuit after lawsuit. In the latest legal action against the Tar Heels, former athletes tried to sue, claiming that “school officials undermined their education by coercing them to take a ‘shadow curriculum’ based on bogus classes.” The lawsuit names Leah Metcalf and James “Cooter” Arnold as the main plaintiffs. The judge ruled to toss the case out but that ruling was mandated by the statute of limitations.

This case gives me mixed emotions, but it is clear that all sides should seriously consider adjusting their moral compasses. We all know of reprehensible behaviors carried out by the athletics department in Chapel Hill. A lawyer who was representing UNC-CH in the case was quoted as saying, “The full university experience depends on each student.” The case was already decided; there was no need for further untruths to be uttered. But this lawsuit brings up an interesting thought that many may not have originally proposed: What about the athlete’s role in this whole thing?

Both of the plaintiffs in this case say they were coerced into these paper classes and majors. It is more than likely that some of these athletes came from checkered academic backgrounds so they had no problem staying quiet about what was going on. The ideas of herd behavior or the bystander effect could be cited as to why the athletes remained silent. It could have been the pressure to perform athletically and not wanting to anger the coaches that shut them up. My suspicion is that it was a combination of these and various other factors that made the uphill battle of being the whistleblower virtually impossible.

For former UNC athletes like Julius Peppers, an AFAM major who will be starting his 15th season in the NFL soon, paper classes worked out perfectly. As a matter of fact, there was an article published on thebiglead.com which displays the fact that he was enrolled in all paper classes for the spring semester before his last season. However, statistically, he is an anomaly. There are many more cases that ended up like Leah Metcalf. According to a Charlotte Observer article, Metcalf went into college wanting to be a doctor. She walked out with a degree in math and Africana studies. She is currently playing basketball professionally in Poland.

There is also the aspect that tells me these athletes are not exactly innocent in this whole situation. Even with all of the factors telling them to keep quiet, they still had to participate in and benefit from the classes. As reluctant as I am to blame these athletes, had the gravy train kept rolling and if Mary Willingham never would have spoken up, would these athletes be going to court? Metcalf and Arnold also waited a rather long time after they left the school to say anything about their educational experience, or lack thereof.

Hindsight is always 20/20, so they may just be realizing how damaging those paper classes were on the course of their lives. But I can’t help thinking that there may be ulterior motives behind the move.

It’s sad to see the results of the paper classes. I hope everything works out for the innocent parties negatively affected by this scandal. But who if anyone is truly innocent in this large scale performance of academic fraud? My final verdict is that this case like many that involve these paper classes stink all the way around. No party will walk away from this cleanly.