There is a Kennedy-era law known as the Fulbright-Hays Act, which creates scholarships and guidelines for international student programs, and it’s a bedrock blueprint for American schools to help young visitors learn about our culture.
Nowhere in this grandiose charter, however, does it suggest that we allow a starving, neglected adolescent from a foreign country to spend the night in a Paterson Dunkin’ Donuts.
Nor does it advocate trafficking in athletic commodities, the exploitation of children under the guise of guardianship, or the manipulation of records to give the appearance of propriety in pursuit of basketball success – which doesn’t sound as much like pedagogy as it does criminal conduct, a judgment we hope authorities will make swiftly.
All this is now part of the hoops legacy of Paterson-Eastside High School, as reported by Matt Stanmyre and Steve Politi of NJ Advance Media, a classic portrait of an educator morphing into a procurer with a whistle, one who flouted rules that other educators chose to ignore because rules might get in the way of championships.
The easiest target in this inferno of educational values is coach Juan Griles, who took six kids from Africa and Puerto Rico, shoehorned them into his condo, and claimed to be legal guardian to five.
But as Griles serves his suspension, let’s remember that he had help – and we expect the Division of Child Protection and Permanency, law enforcement agencies, and the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association to sort that out.
Hoops power packs roster with overseas talent
Start at the top: How did the athletic director not know that five players listed Griles as their guardian? How did the principal not notice that six players lived under the same roof?
Adults may have their own indefinite sense of right and wrong when sports are involved. But even if were ignorant of this ludicrous arrangement contrived by Griles, what does it say about Eastside?
Yes, some schools are overwhelmed and might miss an occasional transfer or a dropout. But on virtually every level – from the board to the guidance department – student changes are usually carefully catalogued.
Now we’re reminded how easily coaches get around rules and even visa limitations.
It remains to be seen what will be revealed by child protection regulators or former Supreme Court Justice John Wallace, who has been asked to sort through this mess.
This is a resounding slam dunk for the NJSIAA, however. The association has rules pertaining to foreign students, who are coming to the U.S. in waves. Its constitution states that “international students transferring to a member school involving recruitment or to seek an athletic advantage will be declared ineligible.” That’s a problem for Eastside.
There is also a rule pertaining to geographical distribution beyond recognition: It forbids “clustering,” or having more than four international students per program and two per sport. That’s another problem for Eastside.
The NJSIAA will decide whether Eastside can punch its tickets to upcoming tournaments and whether games should be forfeited. But that should be the least of this school’s problems: It would be more appropriate for state authorities to ask the sports body to suspend its perfunctory hearings until the adults involved are given due process.
As Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly (D-Passaic) put it, “This is bigger than basketball – the future of these kids is what is gets lost in all the noise.” And never again should kids be exploited in an adult construct of ego and deceit.
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