McCrory on UNC scandal: ‘It’s academic fraud’

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Gov. Pat McCrory was in Wilmington Wednesday talking about the Chapel Hill scandal, along with a number of other high profile topics.

McCrory attended a Coastal Resources Commission meeting to learn more about issues facing the Carolina coast. When talk turned to the topic of scandal at UNC, the governor did not mince words.

“It was a disturbing reminder that if you forget your priorities of education and forget any oversight of those giving the education, then bad things happen,” McCrory said, calling the scandal involving ghost classes aimed at boosting the GPAs of UNC athletes “academic fraud.”

According to a new report, nearly 20 years of academic fraud took place at UNC Chapel Hill. The governor is looking at the issue and directing his energy toward ensuring the UNC System stays free of fraud.

“Make sure that we do not have this culture existing anywhere else,” McCrory said, “and hold those accountable that encouraged this culture and didn’t change it.”

McCrory said he looked forward to working with UNC’s chancellor and other UNC System schools to keep something like this from happening again.