UNC Academic Scandal Update: Mary Willingham Will Soon File Formal Resignation With Chapel Hill

Mary Willingham, the reading specialist who helped expose an alleged academic scandal at UNC Chapel Hill, has resigned, but she insists it was on her terms.

According to CNN, Willingham verbally informed her boss she intended to quit, but has yet to turn in a letter of resignation. She has previously been barred from continuing her research using school data and also had her findings publicly refuted by the school's leadership.

"It's been a hostile work environment the entire year," Willingham told CNN. "I stuck it out because I wanted to make good on promises to my students, but it has not been fun."

Willingham told CNN earlier this year she worked directly with student-athletes at UNC that could not read. Her research suggested a majority of the schools football and basketball players could not read above a fourth- to eighth-grade level.

She also alleged student-athletes were steered toward "paper classes" because they required little-to-no work and handed out A-grades. Paper classes required students to write one paper for their grade and they were all within the African and African-American Studies (AFAM) department. As evidence, she recently provided ESPN with a poorly written, one-paragraph paper for an AFAM class with an "A" on it.

A grand jury has already indicted the school's former AFAM director for accepting payment under false pretenses. He allegedly forged signatures to grant student-athletes with passing grades in classes rarely met, if at all.

Willingham is currently working on a book detailing the school's academic scandal, a collaboration with Jay Smith, a history professor at UNC. The Raleigh News and Observer reported UNC Chancellor Carol Folt met with Willingham Monday, which led the reading specialist to quit.

"There was no attempt to repair the relationship or to build a bridge," Smith said of Willingham's meeting with Folt on Monday. "Instead, from what I understand from Mary, it was just a tongue lashing, and I think that's what kind of tipped the scales for Mary. When she realized that even Folt is beyond reach there isn't much point in continuing."

Joel Curran, UNC's vice chancellor for communications and public affairs, said this was not the case and that Willingham was not pushed to resign.

(Folt) said that she had what she felt was a productive meeting," he told the Observer. "Mary had an opportunity to really share her points of view on anything that she wished, and the chancellor had her opportunity to share her points of view, but the chancellor did not characterize it as anything but a productive meeting."