UNC professor Jay Smith has proved to be a right pain in the ass to the university.
Latest example: he is teaching a class called “Big-Time College Sports and the Rights of Athletes, 1956 to the present,” which delves into the UNC scandal. Tuesday’s lecture: “covering up.”
This has not gone unnoticed.
However, Smith has tenure and UNC a commitment to academic freedom. According to Smith, that’s being tested somewhat: “It’s clear I was singled out for this kind of scrutiny and my department chair was pressured because of the nature of this course. It feels like I’m being subjected to a kind of scrutiny that other faculty don’t have to worry about, and it feels like my academic freedom is being hemmed in in ways that are unusual.