UW-Madison athletes confirmed Thursday they sometimes use housing scholarship funds to buy mopeds and other items.
Associate Athletic Director Vince Sweeney said the Athletic Department does not monitor what students do with the funds once they have been issued. He said how athletes use the funds is at their discretion.
Sweeney said the amount of scholarship funds given to athletes is mandated by a financial formula designated by the NCAA. He said such procedures are in place at other Big Ten schools and similar to scholarship funding practices used by other departments on campus.
He said the majority of the 23 sports funded receive scholarships.
Jeremi Suri, UW-Madison history professor and former Athletic Board member, said the incident was ""systematic of the lack of oversight"" involving campus athletics. Suri resigned from the board in October 2008.
Cindy Alvarez, wife of athletic director Barry Alvarez, was also reported to have given or sold a moped to a football player, according to news website WKOW.
Jon Mortrud, owner of Madison Scooters, said it was true that Alvarez bid on a moped Mortrud used during a charity auction for the local nonprofit Gilda's Club.
Mortrud said Alvarez sold the moped to a football player, though Mortrud previously stated to WKOW that she gave it as a gift.
The gift of a moped to a player would be considered a breach of NCAA rules, but Sweeney said the item was sold to the player.
""There were no NCAA violations whatsoever, regardless of what may have been implied in any report on WKOW,"" Sweeney said.
