The News & Observer’s May 22 editorial “FERPA law too often hides what public should know” neglected to mention several important points, writes Joel Curran, Vice Chancellor for Communications and Public Affairs.

Regarding executive editor John Drescher’s May 3 column on why The News & Observer continues to cover past academic and athletic irregularities at UNC-Chapel Hill: The N&O has played an important role in uncovering these issues, and we agree the questions being asked need to be answered to fully understand what transpired at Carolina.

The Academic Support Program for Student-Athletes’ new My Academic Plan initiative, launched in fall 2013, was developed with input from ASPSA’s academic counselors and student-athletes. It focuses on the development of weekly plans individually designed for student-athletes based on their preparedness, course selection and specific needs.

As part of an annual report about undergraduate admissions to the Faculty Council on April 25, 2014, Stephen Farmer, Vice Provost for Enrollment and Undergraduate Admissions, provided a new report that focuses on the admission of first-year student-athletes.

We have just posted to the new Carolina Commitment website, https://carolinacommitment.unc.edu/, the executive summary and full reports from the independent analysis of a data set that was the basis for public claims about the reading ability of a group of student-athletes at Carolina who had been screened for possible learning differences or learning disabilities between 2004 and 2012.

Today, we are writing about the role and integrity of athletics and academics at Carolina. Getting this right is a priority of our new administration, and we know it is important to everyone who loves this University.

At UNC Chapel Hill, we evaluate student-athletes for admission the same way we evaluate all candidates: individually, comprehensively and holistically. We know each student possesses a unique combination of strengths and talents, hopes and dreams that enrich the Carolina community.

This afternoon, UNC President Tom Ross and I are announcing an important step in addressing any questions left unanswered from previous reviews of course irregularities in our former department of African and Afro-American studies…

Chancellor Carol L. Folt says it’s important for the University to make amends by fully acknowledging mistakes that led to athletic and academic scandals, mistakes that could have been avoided – and must be avoided in the future.

I am writing today to provide my perspective on a topic that has been reported in the media recently, and more importantly, is of great concern to our community: what we are doing to ensure the integrity of our support for student-athletes and their success from admission to graduation.