First review of general studies degree stalls
In late March,
University of Michigan Vice Provost Phil Hanlon met with a small group of faculty members and defended the way athletes navigate the university's academic world.
Responsible for monitoring academic counseling within the athletic department, Hanlon spent an hour seated at the conference table in the first-floor meeting room of the Fleming Administration Building. He explained why he saw no problem with the bachelor's degree in general studies, the program heavily favored by athletes but largely ignored by undergraduates as a whole.
Hanlon said he would meet privately with two professors, who, according to minutes, were authorized to pursue the topic by the
Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs, the elected executive arm of faculty governance. Hanlon told them he would share information and even encouraged them to submit questions related to the degree and issues raised by The Ann Arbor News in a series on athletes and academics published earlier that month.
Seventeen days later, Hanlon flip-flopped and refused to meet with physics professor Keith Riles and law professor Richard Friedman after they sent him 33 questions he did not like and did not want to answer.
