AUBURN PROF: NOT SO FAST, MY FRIEND!

by SMQ on Jul 17, 2006 2:52 PM EDT

Mere days after blowing up his university's athletic department, sociology department and general academic integrity in the pages of the most widely read and influential newspaper in the country, Auburn professor James Gundlach told a university investigative committee and The Huntsville Times Sunday the whistleblowin' scene is, like, dead, man:

"The committee has been in touch with me asking to meet with them tomorrow," Gundlach said Sunday in an interview with The Hunts-ville Times. "I e-mailed them and said my cooperation with them is over."

Gundlach said he made his decision after reading a report in Friday's Huntsville Times that administration officials said he was motivated, at least in part, to make his allegations in a story released Thursday by The New York Times because he was passed over when Petee, a criminology professor, was promoted in 2002.

Gundlach said Sunday he never wanted the job and never told university officials he did.

"The only university officials I've talked to about this since the (New York) Times reporter first appeared on campus are two members of the committee that is supposed to investigate," Gundlach said. "I remember, at one time in that meeting, one of the two people asked me if I had supported Petee when he ran for chair. I said no, and we moved on.

"What seems to me is that somehow information from that got passed on somehow or someway to people that certainly shouldn't have been talking to you about what I said at that meeting. They are saying no talking until it is quiet, but apparently somebody on that committee and other people at the university saw fit to use that to, in effect, discredit me.

"It's a total falsehood. The only contested office I ran for was director of sociology, and I won that. There are no sour grapes here. It was a total fabrication."

Though the controversy has swirled around football players who took so-called "direct reading" or "directed study" courses under Petee, Gundlach said his main motivation was that Petee is "unfit as a department administrator."

"I have never said this was something that was done specifically for athletes," Gundlach said. "My concern was that the athletes were something that was going to call attention to it and lead to embarrassing situations. If the athletes weren't there, nobody would care.

"Since I've been thinking about the athletic rules and other such things, it is clear that everything Petee did for athletes was also available for other students. In terms of the letter of NCAA regulations, there are probably no problems."
(emphasis added)

Gundlach's retiring soon, and, man, is he burning bridges with everybody. Good thing he thought about "the athletic rules and other such things" before he took it someplace like The New York Times. Wait, what? Oh.

This news es goot, veddy goot for the university and athletic department, as their accusor is essentially admitting he succumbed to professional and personal motivations of the petty academic ego. He was pissed at his boss.

Initially, that anger seemed justifiable and born of integrity. Now, he's backtracking, ex-players are falling over each other to deny his charges and major schools everywhere hold their breath hoping this case becomes one of personal animosity and blows on over (check your media guides and programs for player majors, fans - odds are they're clustered in one or two fields. At Southern Miss, it was Coaching and Athletic Administration, where a disproportionate number of athletes actually makes sense, and Criminal Justice). This one's already going overboard on ambiguity and conjecture, and getting stickier fast.

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Comments

Exactly right there at the end SMQ. Duke basketball players had a strong tendency towards sociology majors same as Auburn. Look at media guides, and you’ll notice a good 50+% of the athletes in “revenue” sports share a major at near every university. Coincidence?

by Mr. Egger on Jul 17, 2006 3:53 PM EDT reply actions

Yep, look at all of the “Apparel Management” majors at VT!

by tigercpa on Jul 17, 2006 4:03 PM EDT reply actions

Fair enough, but there’s a difference between an easy major and outright fraudulent courses like those being offered by Petee.

by Robbie on Jul 17, 2006 4:54 PM EDT reply actions

Hey Orson,
You seem to be well informed. Heard anything about the AJC “gettin’ the tag” by the NYT and releasing another article (on a completely different issue) on the cesspool that is au?

by King Harvest on Jul 17, 2006 5:01 PM EDT reply actions

King Harvest,
Let me guess: this so-called supressed article involves the recruitment of Tray Blackmon and Leon Hart. Somewhere around the neighborhood of seven different coaches, including Tommy Bowden and Mark Richt are turning in Auburn for paying Blackmon and Hart. Is that right?
Is your source ROBERTUS or some other poster on Tider Insider?
If not, I’d love to hear what the article is about.

by AUAlum on Jul 17, 2006 5:11 PM EDT reply actions

AUAlum,
Negative, this was something mentioned on PF’s show. He had mentioned the ajc and said there will be more to come.
I have heard what you are refering to as well. Not from robertus or whomever.

by King Harvest on Jul 17, 2006 5:19 PM EDT reply actions

SMQ, I thought you were burnt out? Man, you are pumping out material on EDSBS that is longer than an Easterbrook diatribe on Star Trek and its relation to the Washington National’s Bullpen ERA.

by tbmd96 on Jul 17, 2006 5:59 PM EDT reply actions

Sorry, the WSJ and USA Today are more widely read than the NYT. The WSJ rarely has a retraction on a story(it does happen). The NYT and USA Today do the retraction thing often. What is it with this AU grad(black-female)that works at the NYT that has been involved with these AU stories: Chet Williams, this one and the one about the weird dude, Bobby Lowder? Very curious indeed.

by dragonash on Jul 17, 2006 9:24 PM EDT reply actions

Hey Bama fans,

The Thumb is still coming. You can’t stop it. We know you all are behind this stuff, and this is the biggest non-story of the past few years.

PS. There are easy classes at every university in America, even Harvard.

by Auburn Fan on Jul 17, 2006 9:58 PM EDT reply actions

Funny how the only thing that matters is the fact that Auburn still owns Alabama. What a bunch of losers. Alabama is behind this and it will come out. Losers.

by War Eagle on Jul 17, 2006 10:54 PM EDT reply actions

I think all the AU defenders are kind of missing the point. No one is arguing that football players can’t take easy courses available to all the students at the university. The issue at hand is whether or not the courses are too easy to be considered legitimate college courses and whether or not the football players were steered to them with the knowledge that they were complete jokes. The athletic department most likely has plausible deniability in this case, but this might be a bigger problem for the university in general since their accreditation was already under scrutiny.

by NDTom on Jul 18, 2006 1:50 AM EDT reply actions

NDTom, the prof gave the same grades to non-students. Every school has classes that aren’t exactly graduate level. Every player has said they worked hard in those classes, and they all have said they have done work.

If you want a full breakdown, click here.

This is nothing more than political infighting in a sociology department – a degree known worldwide for its academically rigorous courseload.

I’m just waiting for the investigation of all the other schools that offer the exact same thing.

by NewAZTiger on Jul 18, 2006 7:48 AM EDT reply actions

grr… academically rigourous courseload.

by NewAZTiger on Jul 18, 2006 7:49 AM EDT reply actions

Again, AZTiger, you miss the point. It’s not an issue of whether or not there are easy classes at every school—it’s about whether or not those classes academically legitimate whatsoever. Then again, if this has to repeatedly be explained to you guys, the this is clearly a lost cause.

Oh, and it’s “rigorous.” How many directed readings did you take with Petee?

by Robbie on Jul 18, 2006 8:50 AM EDT reply actions

Harvest,
I realized which rumor you were talking about. There are tape recordings of Joe Whitt offering money to players and Neil Callaway turned them in to the AJC; and the AJC is sitting on this story until August.
Is this the right rumor?
Kind of odd that neither UGA or AU fans nor writers at the AJC would know about this story, but Bama boosters (especially disassociated booster Chef from TI) are aware of this story and spreading its gospel.

Dragon,
The author is Selena Roberts, a white female. She is a graduate of the AU Journalism School before it was consolidated into the School of Communications. Most of the faculty are still bitter about the move (and rightly so) and never miss an opportunity to cast Bobby Lowder, AU Trustee, in a bad light. Since Lowder supports Chette Williams’ ministry and the football team, they get their own NYT articles.

by AUAlum on Jul 18, 2006 8:54 AM EDT reply actions

Who ever cooked up the AJC rumor involving Whitt isn’t very smart. Whitt recruited the Mobile area for AU and was not involved in the recruitment of the GA or SC players mentioned in the rumor. If your going to fabricate a rumor, you should at least take the time to make it somewhat plausable.

by AUDaddy on Jul 18, 2006 10:25 AM EDT reply actions

Robbie, you can find fradulent courses under that definition at EVERY university in America. Most of them titled “independent study” or “independent reading” and involve a major professor giving a graduate student 5 hours of credit (or more) out of a 40 hour coursework program for a graduate degree. This class usually involves little to no work. I heard from a guy who got a physics degree from a top 10 university in America who was given (that is his exact words) 10 hours of credit and did exactly zero work. He said it was a department “standard” for their graduate students. That is much worse than the “revelation” about Auburn academics. Higher ed is full of weak links and loopholes. There was at least some work and coordination of an effort which I cannot say was the case for the 5 hour A that I received in grad school. So let’s go ahead and break out the whip on everybody and not just Auburn.

by Cajun on Jul 18, 2006 10:26 AM EDT reply actions

I can’t speak to your second-hand anecdotal evidence about fraudulent courses at other institutions. But I can make a judgment about such courses at Auburn, as they appear to be well-documented with the pertinent facts being largely undisputed. I’ll be glad to call for the appropriate authorities to “break out the whip” on other institutions when I encounter evidence of academic improprieties comparable to that revealed regarding Auburn.

by Robbie on Jul 18, 2006 10:43 AM EDT reply actions

Post #15: I stand corrected. Sort of like the NYT. I thought the reporter was black.

by dragonash on Jul 18, 2006 11:16 AM EDT reply actions

Dallas News

“JB Closner from San Antonio Clark is one of seven Tide players who graduated in May. Southeastern Conference rules require players to pass six hours to be eligible to play in a bowl, and Closner said he found an independent study class worth six hours’ credit.

“Like a diamond in the rough,” he said of the class, smiling. “Had to write a five-page paper. I was done with that by September.”

Quarterback Brodie Croyle, another graduate, took the same course. “I kind of slacked up a little bit,” he said, looking at the ground. “I got done in December.”

Said Peprah: “I actually had some pretty tough classes. Not P.E. or music, the art of cartwheels or whatever classes they were taking.”

When Croyle was asked who had it tougher, himself or USC quarterback Matt Leinart (who took only ballroom dancing last semester), he said, “Probably him.” "

by WDE on Jul 18, 2006 11:31 AM EDT reply actions

NDtom, so the advisors steer them toward the easy instructors. If I go into my advisor right now and tell her the courses I am looking at taking she will go through the list and tell me what she knows about the instructors and which ones to avoid. Why should the athletes not be allowed the same as the regular students when it comes to instructor choices.

I agree with you that there are instructors that do not teach classes at a college level, but if that was a crime then you would have to do away with 90% of junior colleges or not accept transferred credits from them.

by AUstudent on Jul 18, 2006 12:01 PM EDT reply actions

Robbie-

You’re jumping to alot of conclusions here. Nothing is well-documented or undisputed. The investigation has not been conducted, and ALL THAT IS PUBLIC IS HERESAY. And heresay from an allegedly disgruntaled prof. who is using a public forum to play office politics. There has certainly been NO EVIDENCE that the courses at issue were “easy” or innappropriate, only allagations by Gunlach. His arguement based solely upon the number of direct reading courses Dr. Petee taught. There appears to be consensus that 75% of the students who took such classes were NON-ATHELETES and that the number classes offered by Petee has been drastically reduced after the issue was brought to the attention of AU’s adminstration.

It is common knowledge that direct reading courses exist at every University in the US. The ONLY issues at AU is if Dr. Petee was teaching too many such courses and if the courses he was offering were rigorous enough for the credit recieved. This is a ONE PROFESSOR issue. It is not a University wide issue.

The University has already remedied the situation, and is now investigating the information. If you think anything from the NCAA will result from this, you are dreaming.

by AUDaddy on Jul 18, 2006 12:21 PM EDT reply actions

Robbie-

The University has already remedied the situation, and is now investigating the information. If you think anything from the NCAA will result from this, you are dreaming.

by AUDaddy on Jul 18, 2006 12:21 PM EDT reply actions

This whole story is shameful because it undermines those who graduate from AU with a valuable degree. Not to say that Sociology is without benefit, but anyone who feels that a Sociology degree is as valuable as a Nursing or Engineering degree is kidding themselves. Hopefully this issue will be corrected quickly and we can all focus on games rather than coursework.

by DC on Jul 18, 2006 12:30 PM EDT reply actions

Attention Auburn fans. You all look like a bunch of nitwits.

A professor at AU was teaching 150+ directed readings at once, an impossible number according even to Auburn officials. His colleagues got ticked and turned him in. When the school didn’t take action, one professor went public with the story. It got reported. The End.

Instead of whining and crying and blaming other school’s fans for being “behind it” (what’s there to be behind — the prof is on the record!) why don’t you just say, “Yeah, that was wrong.” It won’t kill you.

It’s not the biggest deal in the world. Every large institution has an employee or two who goofs. The guy should get called to the mat, and then everybody moves on. Big deal!

Instead, Auburn fans, or some anyway, have become hysterical. The Tuscaloosa News is “behind it.” Alabama fans are “behind it.” Selena Roberts, an Auburn grad is “behind it.” Warren St. John is “behind it.” Thamel has an “agenda” so he’s also “behind it.” Hilarious! Dudes: Petee is the only guy “behind” anything. And if he hadn’t been so obvious he probably wouldn’t have gotten caught.

So quit whining so much. Since when did being a college football fan mandate regressing to pre-adolescent behavior? You’re giving fans a bad name.

by bob on Jul 18, 2006 2:35 PM EDT reply actions

Bob,

Clearly, you haven’t read the article(s) on this (non)issue. If you had, you would realize not only how ridiculous this whole (non)story is but also how ridiculous you sound having tried to make an argument without reading the article(s).

by JamesBostic on Jul 18, 2006 3:23 PM EDT reply actions

Wow, what an enlightening post, James. Let me give it a try:

James, apparently you haven’t done your homework. If you’d read all the articles associated with this, you’d realize just how serious this situation is. It appears that this very well could land AU in trouble with the NCAA and, independent of that possibility, this is highly embarrassing for the school, particularly considering its tenuous accreditation status with SACS.

Damn, that was hard.

by Robbie on Jul 18, 2006 3:35 PM EDT reply actions

Robbie,

Sorry buddy. Not gonna be a problem. If I were an Alabama fan I’d be worried, though.

by JamesBostic on Jul 18, 2006 5:55 PM EDT reply actions

Auburn Tigers — all you need to know is that when Petee got called out at the faculty meeting about the number of directed readings he was teaching, he cut the total number by more than two thirds. If it was all so hunky dory, why didn’t he just keep on teaching 150 directed readings? Oh wait — because that’s the workload of nearly four professors!! And anyway, why are you guys defending Petee? He’s the one who got you in trouble. It’s as bad as Bama fans who maintained that Logan Young was innocent until the end. Why do sports fans have such difficulty seeing reality???? It is OKAY to say, Yeah, my side screwed up. Or you could just keep whining while everyone mocks you. Your call.

by bob on Jul 18, 2006 7:35 PM EDT reply actions

Hey Robbie and Bob,

Thanks for your concern. You know you have reached
the top when everybody wants to put their nose in your business. A few years ago nobody cared about the
Auburn Tigers. We wouldn’t have gotten any press on
this. Been there done that. Just have to have tough
skin, so kiss off boys. We’re going to have a great time
this season. Bring it on! WAR DAMM EAGLE!

by Gman on Jul 18, 2006 10:50 PM EDT reply actions

Bostic, you’re not very bright, are you? My post was intended to point out how absolutely devoid of substance your earlier post was by demonstrating the ease with which a vague post suggesting the exact opposite can be constructed. Nice work.

by Robbie on Jul 19, 2006 9:10 AM EDT reply actions

Robbie,

Thanks for your lesson in logic and praise on my work. Point is, Auburn will embarrass Alabama once again this year, and that is all people will remember about football in the state of Alabama for 2006.

by JamesBostic on Jul 19, 2006 12:35 PM EDT reply actions

ok, so 150 courses, that’s not that many. hell it’s more than the amount of Bama fans that actually WENT to UA.

no matter what you quack Bama fans say/do, there is one thing that you can’t change:

FOUR IN A ROW

AND THE THUMB IS COMING

how’s it gonna feel when we thrust all 5 fingers in the air @ YOUR outhouse of a stadium, which has never seen a victory over AU anyway

P.S. (to all SEC football teams): you DONT want to play Auburn this year, cuz you just pissed off the best football program in the SEC.

by Bill on Jul 19, 2006 1:25 PM EDT reply actions

For the record, 150 courses in this case = 150 students. Not 150 actual classes.

by JamesBostic on Jul 19, 2006 1:49 PM EDT reply actions

James, Gman, and all others barners,
I know this is tough to stomach since you pride yourselves on the great academic standards of that fine cow college on the pasture…I mean plains. It seems that y’all are forgeting one minor thing. You can’t have a football team representing a University that doesn’t exist. When SACS comes in and decides to take back your accreditation, you won’t have students learning how to become fine young sociologists or becoming football players either. The NCAA isn’t the issue. It isn’t the 18 football players that is the problem for AU. Its the 132 others. AU is making every graduate and every future graduate look awful and redfaced. Enjoy being laughed at while you take that thumb and fix my air conditioner and wash my windows.

by montybkw on Jul 21, 2006 12:37 AM EDT reply actions

montybkw, if you are a fan of the SEC then you had better hope that your assumption that SACS or the NCAA will destroy Auburn as a school is simply a dark nightmare that will never happen. Sit back and just imagine what will happen if it does. 1) Several thousands of students will be set back four years and end up costing their parents several tens of thousands more to go somewhere else. This, by the way is a small impact in comparison to the next point. 2) The town of Auburn would pretty much cease to exist without that college. The ensuing financial backlash would be felt across the entire state. The loss of merchandising of the college apparel, the blow to businesses that depend on game day crowds and the loss federal funds for the state would be devastating to the state. It doesnt stop just there either. 3) The Iron Bowl would no longer exist. One of the biggest rivalries in the NCAA would vanish in a puff of smoke along with oldest southern rivalry between AU and UGA. 4) Other SEC schools would also feel the crunch. Try to imagine the loss of revenue while attempting to replace a big draw for your schools football schedule. LaTech vs UA isnt going to bring anywhere near as much cash as the Iron Bowl would. That goes for all teams in the SEC. 5) Try to imagine replacing Auburn with another quality team. After the laughing stock this conference has been turned into by AU, UA, UGA, UT, and MSU, who would want to join. Seriously, think about this stuff. I would bet the NCAA and SACS probably has. Also, the incident pertains to one school in the college. If you or anyone else believes the rest of the branches within the college deserve to be shut down because of one professors actions, then the amount of your ignorance is immeasurable. I would also bet that SACS and the NCAA have considered this too. My firm belief is that we will wind up on SACS probation again, and the NCAA will leave us alone. If the NCAA punishes us for this in any way, then they will be setting a dangerous precedent for future incidents.

by Stripes on Jul 21, 2006 1:05 PM EDT reply actions