UNC Charlotte works to ensure athletic program is as ethical as possible

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Construction on the UNC Charlotte football field and field house is scheduled to be done this month. The players will begin classes this fall.

Just this week, Athletic Director Judy Rose got an early assignment from the chancellor. She and other cabinet members were asked to go through parts of the Freeh report, which investigated how Penn State handled the Sandusky abuse.

"We run an ethical program -- and it starts at the top," Rose said.

Rose said that a system of checks and balances has been in place for a while in which academic support staff and compliance staff report to more than just her.

The chancellor also wanted to know what else they can do moving forward.

"It's kind of a wake-up call for everybody," Rose said.

Even before the bricks were laid down at the football field house and even before the report came out, changes were under way.

Rose said she put together a question-and-answer panel for her staff right after the Sandusky news broke. Since then, discussion about Penn State has come up at every monthly coaches meeting.

Rose said that changes were also made to their camps. Now, there is always more than one adult with children, never one-on-one.

The chancellor also added another ethics committee to oversee athletics.

"It's another oversight of, let's just make sure ethically we're doing the right thing," Rose said.

She said that adding football increases the number of coaches and players to monitor but it won't change the philosophy or the culture. Rose said that athletics should never become bigger than academics and the university.

"If the brand is more important than how we live our lives and how we lead our programs and how we lead young people, then what message are we sending?" said Rose.

WSOC