It seems Gavilan Community College officials ignored multiple
penalty flags in the mishap-laden hiring of Fred McGrew.
It seems Gavilan Community College officials ignored multiple penalty flags in the mishap-laden hiring of Fred McGrew. McGrew claimed to be a former NFL linebacker named Larry McGrew, who played for the New England Patriots from 1980-89 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 flag slipped by Gavilan’s Head Football Coach John Longo 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 the third penalty flag Gavilan officials ignored.
McGrew misspelled “Lawrence” on every form he submitted, writing “Lawrance” instead. The fact that their too-good-to-be-true applicant with the mismatched birthdates and missing Social Security card couldn’t spell his own first name correctly was the fourth penalty flag to go undetected or unheeded by Gavilan officials.
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. These easy-to-check claims were the sixth penalty flag to sail right over Gavilan officials’ heads.
This attempted hoax was so inept that 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 to note the problems. It’s too bad that at a time when Gavilan should be rebuilding its athletic program after Title IX troubles, at a time when the college is likely to be seeking voter approval for a multi-million-dollar bond measure, 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 investigation and hold the proper parties responsible for this embarrassing debacle. That investigation needs to address the failures to pick up on glaring clues to problems in this specific case, but also look at overall procedure as well. For example, why 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 press – and through the press, the public. At the same time Gavilan officials were telling a repoter that McGrew’s firing was due to “philosophical differences,” they were telling Gilroy police about the alleged identity theft.
Gavilan is a public institution supported by the taxpayers. These taxpayers deserve honesty and forthrightness from anyone on the public payroll. It’s one thing to make a mistake – and no one likes to be made to play the fool – but it’s never right or responsible to refuse to own up to one’s errors, especially when they’re made on the public’s dime.
For the sake not only of the athletic programs at Gavilan College, but for the sake of the college itself, we hope Kinsella and the Gavilan College trustees will conduct an expedient and thorough investigation, publicly own up to any and all mistakes, hold the appropriate parties responsible, and make the necessary procedural changes to prevent a repeat incident.
Otherwise, the community will have plenty of reasons to be skeptical about the competence and honesty of Gavilan officials – and that’s a penalty we’d hate to see South Valley residents pay.
