Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com DECEMBER 2016 19 things, you just never think it would happen." In the NCAA's report, it states that: "The institution conceded at the expedited hearing that the former student athletic trainer was an insti- tutional staff member under the by- laws in effect at that time. The former student athletic trainer was there- fore governed by NCAA rules and acted with disre- gard to the train- ing she received. "She had spe- cial access to stu- dent-athletes by the very nature of her employment in the athletics department, although she had no responsibilities in aca- demics or academic support. It is un- contested that she assisted members of the football team in a way that el- evated their academic performance, which was then deemed eventually to invalidate their academic perfor- mance, which had retroactive eligi- bility implications." One of Notre Dame's key problems with the NCAA's recommendation is that it could've simply expelled Daniels, Hardy, Moore, Russell and Williams and not been subject to an NCAA probe. Notre Dame sus- pended four of those five players (Daniels, Moore, Russell and Wil- liams) during the investigation and allowed them to return to school and graduate. Russell and Williams re- turned and received their degrees. Notre Dame conceded that its case most closely resembled an incident at East Carolina, where one student employed by the athletic department as a tutor committed academic fraud with four student-athletes. East Car- olina did vacate wins in that case, though Notre Dame argues the dif- ference is the student who helped its football players cheat was not sup- posed to be involved with academics. The NCAA didn't find the distinc- tion significant. "Both were institutional staff mem- bers at the time they committed their violations," the NCAA report states. The NCAA panel also ordered one year of probation, a two-year show- cause order and disassociation for the athletic trainer and a $5,000 fine for the university. Kelly said he knew the vaca- tion of wins pen- alty was a pos- sibility when he traveled to meet with the NCAA in Indianapolis Sept. 23. Kelly repre- sented the university alongside ath- letics director Jack Swarbrick, Notre Dame president Rev. John I. Jenkins, and the university's vice president and general counsel Marianne Corr. "I knew it was a possibility, but you're hoping that reasonable people would come to a reasonable decision, and obviously that didn't get to the point that we're at today," Kelly said. Notre Dame Will Appeal The Ruling The following is a statement from Notre Dame president Rev. John I. Jenkins C.S.C.: "We very much appreciate the hard work of the NCAA enforcement staff and the members of the Committee on Infractions for their review of our case, but we believe the penalty they have imposed is not justified. "We are disappointed in the actions of students who engaged in dishonesty, but we are gratified that the NCAA investigation confirmed the conclusions of our own internal investigation: Notre Dame acted honorably throughout. As soon as professional staff suspected academic dishonesty on the part of a student, the matter was reported promptly, investigated aggressively and thoroughly and adjudicated in accord with our Academic Code of Honor procedures and norms. "In this case, everyone involved — those in Academic Services for Student-Athletes, in our foot- ball program and in our Compliance Office — and the faculty and students resolving these cases under our Honor Code did everything that we could have asked of them. "We disagree with the decision of the hearing panel to impose, at its own discretion, a vacation of records penalty. In past academic misconduct cases, the Committee on Infractions has imposed this pen- alty only when it has found serious institutional misconduct, such as actions with the direct involvement or knowledge of a coach or academic personnel, a failure to monitor or a lack of institutional control. "The NCAA enforcement staff and the hearing panel agreed with Notre Dame that no such insti- tutional misconduct occurred in this case. Indeed, the only reason the NCAA reviewed the matter was because the misconduct involved a former fellow student who happened to participate in the university's student trainer program — an activity which involved no responsibility for the academic work of student-athletes. "We believe that imposition of the vacation of records penalty without serious underlying insti- tutional misconduct will not primarily punish those responsible for the misconduct, but rather will punish coaches, student-athletes and indeed the entire institution who did nothing wrong and, with regard to this case, did everything right. "We are also concerned that establishing this precedent will infringe on universities' autonomy in deterring academic dishonesty, for it will discourage the retroactive lowering of grades even when an honor code committee deems this appropriate. "As we said at the outset of this investigation, Notre Dame would willingly accept a vacation of re- cords penalty if it were appropriate. It is not in this case. Indeed, should this precedent stand, it could create a perverse incentive that will discourage institutions from investigating so aggressively and im- posing the penalties for academic dishonesty that their honesty committees might judge appropriate." — Matt Jones "IF DOING THE RIGHT THING MEANS THAT YOU'VE GOT TO PUT AN ASTERISK NEXT TO THESE GAMES, THAT'S FINE WITH ME. WE STILL BEAT OKLAHOMA, WE STILL BEAT WAKE FOREST, WE STILL BEAT ALL THOSE TEAMS. SO YOU CAN PUT AN ASTERISK NEXT TO IT. IF THAT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER, THEN THAT'S FINE WITH ME." HEAD COACH BRIAN KELLY Notre Dame president Rev. John I. Jenkins C.S.C., expressed his disagreement about the NCAA's decision to vacate 21 Notre Dame football victories from 2012 and 2013. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND