Gavilan Community College officials deserve multiple penalty
flags in the mishap-laden hiring of Fred McGrew.
Gavilan Community College officials deserve multiple penalty flags in the mishap-laden hiring of Fred McGrew.
This attempted hoax was so inept that McGrew – who claimed to be a former NFL linebacker named Larry McGrew – might as well have written “I’m a fake” on the top of his application. And, yet, we’re left wondering if that would have been enough for Gavilan College officials to note the problems.
The real McGrew played for the New England Patriots from 1980 to 1989 and for the New York Giants in 1990. The fact that a former professional football player was interested in a part-time assistant coaching job at a two-year community college was penalty flag number one. Apparently, the if-it’s-too-good-to-be-true-it-probably-is red flag slipped by Gavilan’s Head Football Coach John Lango and Athletic Director Ron Hannon.
Then there was the matter of McGrew’s birthdate. On application forms, he listed July 23, 1957, as his date of birth, but his driver’s license lists his birthdate as June 1, 1965. A simple check of McGrew’s driver’s license against his application would have revealed another penalty flag. Either officials failed to make this basic check or did so but ignored the discrepancy.
McGrew was allowed to start working even though he had not submitted a hard copy of his Social Security card. Although this failure apparently would have held up McGrew’s paycheck, it didn’t hold up his hiring. It should have. McGrew’s failure to produce his Social Security card was at least the third penalty flag Gavilan officials ignored.
There were other telltale signs of fraud. McGrew misspelled “Lawrence” on every form he submitted, writing “Lawrance” instead. So what if the too-good-to-be-true applicant with the mismatched birthdates and missing Social Security card couldn’t spell his own first name correctly?
McGrew claimed to be a 1978 high school graduate and a 1980 University of Southern California graduate with 16 years of education, implying four years of college. That’s penalty flag number five.
McGrew embellished and invented NFL career achievements for the real Larry McGrew, including Pro Bowl selections.
This embarrassing ineptness comes at a time when Gavilan is trying to rebuild its athletic programs after some floundering and Title IX troubles. It also comes at a time when the college is intent on seeking voter approval for a multi-million-dollar bond measure. Instead, this easily avoidable mess has to steal the limelight.
This situation is a test for new Gavilan College President Steve Kinsella: He needs to conduct a thorough inquiry and hold the proper parties responsible for this debacle. The report ought to be delivered to the Gavilan College Board.
That investigation needs to not only address the failures to pick up on glaring clues to problems in this specific case but also look at overall procedure. Why, for example, was McGrew allowed to start working before the requisite background checks were complete? If that’s standard operating procedure at Gavilan, that procedure needs to change immediately.
And while he’s at it, Kinsella needs to instruct his employees to be forthright with the public. At the same time Athletic Director Hannon and football coach Lango were telling The Dispatch that McGrew’s firing was due to “philosophical differences,” they were telling Gilroy police about the alleged identity theft.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a comedy of errors but rather a testament to the old adage, “Oh, what a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive.”
Hiring someone who represents themselves fraudulently and not being diligent about that hiring is one thing. Trying to publicly cover up a series of mistakes is another.
Gavilan College is a public institution supported by the taxpayers of South Valley and California. Those taxpayers deserve honesty and forthrightness from anyone on the public payroll.
After the inquiry, Kinsella and trustees should publicly own up to any and all mistakes, hold the appropriate parties responsible and make the necessary procedural changes to prevent a repeat incident.
During that investigation, Kinsella should make sure that the athletic department is squeaky clean. Any further embarrassments would surely sink a bond proposal. The community would then have multiple reasons to be skeptical about the competence and honesty of Gavilan College officials – and that’s a penalty we’d hate to see South Valley residents pay.
