Rutgers University has recently been caught up in a fairly typical academic sports scandal, with Scarlet Knights cornerback Nadir Barnwell (above) having supposedly flunked a class in the spring semester. Now head coach Kirk Flood is enjoying a 3-game suspension after charges that he violated university policy by contacting the adjunct professor who taught Barnwell’s class to connive some way to get a new grade. [photo: Alex Goodlett/Getty]
Now the fine folks at NJ.com have gone past the investigators’ official report and revealed that Barnwell really bungled by flunking out over one of the easiest possible classes to pass–with students on websites saying Dance Appreciation is a “great GPA booster” that’s an “easy A.”
Strangely enough, NJ.com had previously published an article about how popular the course was at Rutgers. The phrase “easy A” did not appear. Read between the lines, though, and you might get an idea of why, as the earlier article explained, that “the course’s enrollment has exploded, growing from 53 students in James’ first class in 2007 to more than 1,000 in four sections this semester.”
Yeah. We sure would’ve taken that class. We figure there’s a 60% chance that the course would’ve really helped to maintain our C average. At least Rutgers can take some comfort in knowing Nadir’s nadir may also distract from the other scandals in their very bad year. Anyway, check out NJ.com’s fine reporting and keep in mind that you shouldn’t ask Nadir Barnwell to be a judge at your next big dance-off. He won’t appreciate it.
