Beth Bridger was released from UNC Wilmington last week after evidence of her involvement in the UNC Chapel Hill athletic scandal surfaced.  

Bridger, an academic counselor for football and learning specialist, worked at UNC and was discovered to be one of the primary counselors who encouraged students to participate in “paper classes”.  Though her involvement at UNC-CH ended a few years ago, Bridger was hired at UNCW after leaving Chapel Hill.  

UNC-CH has recently faced criticism in the media after information regarding their “Paper Classes” was released to the public through a general investigation conducted by the NCAA.  According to recent reports, student athletes took classes called “paper classes”, at UNC-CH to boost their GPAs.  These classes were primarily created in the African American studies department and geared towards student athletes.  Student athletes took these classes to boost their GPA, allowing them to continue studying at UNC-CH and partake in the athletic programs there.

Not only do these classes not require attendance, but they only require one paper to be submitted by the end of the semester.  Sources say papers do not have to be properly written or organized in a thoughtful manner. Furthermore, advisors and tutors were allowed to help and assist students in the completion of the assignment, which is in violation of NCAA policies. Despite the quality of the work turned in, the students taking the class scored highly on the paper and in the class. In turn, this boosted their GPAs, allowing them to continue studying and participating in athletics at UNC-CH.

The reputation and credibility of the athletic program at UNC-CH has suffered greatly due to the uncovering of this information.  However, it is noted students were pushed and encouraged to take such classes, rather than personally choosing these classes.  Thus the blame is primarily placed upon the counselors and the individuals in charge of creating and enrolling students in these classes, rather than the students taking the classes themselves.