The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio State's athletic department will investigate a report that Maurice Clarett received special assistance to help him pass a class before the Buckeyes' national championship game last January.

In a Sunday story in The New York Times, an associate professor said Clarett was allowed to take two oral exams for the African-American and African studies class after he walked out of the fall midterm.

It wasn't clear whether university or NCAA rules were broken. The associate professor, Paulette Pierce, said she has taken similar steps with students who are not athletes.

"We recognize that the spotlight will always be on the national champion," university president Karen Holbrook said at a news conference Sunday. "Being in the spotlight makes it even more important for us to respond quickly and appropriately to these allegations."

Athletic director Andy Geiger said he was not aware of any NCAA violations, and that Clarett - then a freshman on the Buckeyes' national championship team - was not given preferential treatment.

"There are no special considerations for student-athletes," Geiger said Sunday.

Holbrook said Geiger and incoming interim provost Barbara Snyder will lead the investigation, which will examine athletes' academic performance, tutors who work with the program and the relationship between athletes and faculty members. No time frame for the investigation was set.