The Fulbright Scholar – Taking wing to the U.S.

Hawaii and then Michigan

Excerpted from the memoirs of Senior DIG Edward Gunawardena

Sometime in 1967 when I was the Assistant Director of Police Training I came across a notice in the newspapers advertising Fulbright grants for post-graduate studies in the United States. The basic requirements were specified as a first or upper second class degree and age below 35-years. I decided to apply and visited the United States Education Foundation in Ceylon to obtain further details and also to obtain an application form.

During this visit I met a charming, cultured and soft-spoken gentleman who was the Director. He was Mr. S.E.R. Perimpanayagam who had retired as the Headmaster of St. Thomas’ Prep School, Kollupitiya. During the course of a long and pleasant chat he made it a point to emphasize that the selection process criteria were extremely stringent and canvassing of any sort would be reason for disqualification.

To finalize the application I had to attach two vital documents: (1) A letter of recommendation from my supervisor of studies in the University and (2) a letter from the IGP consenting to the granting of one year’s leave. Prof. K. Kularatnam without any hesitation gave me an excellent recommendation. However, as the Fulbright grant had nothing to do with the government, the IGP refused to give me the required letter. Apparently he was unaware of the prestige of a Fulbright Scholarship. Furthermore, the Police Department of the time did not attach much importance to academic excellence. However, I was determined to get over this initial obstacle.

My classmate at St. Joseph’s and University contemporary A.R.M. Jayawardena was the Senior Asst. Secretary, Ministry of Defence & External Affairs. When I explained my plight to him, without any hesitation he gave me a letter to the effect that, ‘leave will be considered if selected’. This letter satisfied Mr. Perimpanayagam.

The Curriculum Vitae to be attached to the application had to be in essay form in my own handwriting. Apparently this was a test of English too. The file I prepared with all the documents filed in order with the pages numbered and an index of contents was highly appreciated by Mr. Perimpanayagam. After browsing through he smiled and remarked, “Mr. Gunawardena, this is a perfect file. You should be selected on this alone.”

A few weeks after I handed over the application. I was called up for the TOEFL examination — Test of English as a foreign language. This test was held in a room in the US Embassy. The examiner was Mrs. Paul an American, the wife of Crown Counsel Wakely Paul. The main components of this test were an essay and comprehension of a recorded reading of a passage from the Time Magazine. I received 99/100 marks. The final hurdle to be cleared was the interview.

There were about six or seven on the board. As I write this nearly 45 years later I have forgotten the names of most of them. One thing I remember with certainty was the absence of any government officials. It was presided by the American Ambassador. Others that I can recall were the Chairman of Dunlop Tyres, Dr. Walter Simon, the Cultural Affairs Officer of the American Embassy, Professor C.C. de Silva of the Medical Faculty of the University of Ceylon and Mr. S.E.R. Perimpanayagam.

Not many questions were asked from me. However, I was prepared to answer any. Browsing through my application Dr. Simon said that my preferred discipline ‘Police Administration’, was not offered by any American University. I then showed him a book on Police Administration by Prof. O.W. Wilson of the University of California who had also been the Police Chief of Chicago. I drew his attention to an appendix in this book which gave a list of American Universities that offered Masters Degrees In Police Administration, Criminology and Criminal Justice. Dr. Simon apologized to me and thanked me for updating his knowledge of the subject. The next thing I remember was receiving a letter intimating that I had been selected to be admitted to Michigan State University and inviting me to a reception at the Embassy.

The selection process had taken over six months and I had only about three months time to make preparations to leave in June 1968. Gerry Geile and his wife, Evelyn, an American couple were the happiest about my selection. They were from Michigan and only two minutes away from the Michigan State University Campus. Gerry was on a World Bank assignment conducting a traffic survey for Wilbur Smith Associates. Shirani and I had barely gone through seven months of married life at the time. However she and her parents valued the Fulbright Scholarship. She also believed that Gerry and Evelyn Geile will make me feel at home. This friendly, understanding and charming American couple together with their three young children had already visited us at our home in the heart of the city and had dinner with us.

The IGP who had not sanctioned the leave required by me or even congratulated me was a conspicuous guest at the Ambassador’s reception. After attending this function, probably realizing the prestige of the award, he decided to grant me an year’s ‘No pay leave’. My friend Annesley Jayawardena came to my rescue again. He spoke to a Senior Treasury Official and got the no pay leave converted to half pay leave’. However, soon after I had left the country, the IGP, perhaps being informed that I had become Asia’s first Fulbright Scholar in the field of Police Administration, had decided to grant me full pay leave for one year! No wonder, there has since, not been a single police officer to be awarded a full Fulbright Scholarship. It is tragic indeed that no officer has obtained even a Fulbright travel grant after the seventies. Regrettably, this is a sad reflection on not only the Police Department but also the standard of the Degrees of the Sri Lankan Universities.

I take wing for the first time

After a few familiarization meetings at which the Cultural Affairs Division of the US Embassy that introduced the awardees to the ‘American way of life’ the group took flight in a TWA Boeing 707 from the new Canada Friendship runway of the Katunayake Airport to our first destination, Honolulu. With stringent foreign exchange regulations in force each of us was allowed only eight dollars. This was not sufficient even for a few drinks and a couple of packs of cigarettes. At that time smoking was fashionable. Even the prime minister smoked freely in public. I too had got addicted.

Doing the farewell rounds at the airport, my brother Irwin slipped a few dollar notes into my pocket. A US Embassy official who arrived minutes prior to embarkation gave each of the group (11 if I remember right) a cheque for US $ 250/=. I regret indeed that I have forgotten the names of many of this Fulbright batch today. Maxi Prelis and Christopher Nanayakkara cannot be forgotten. They both reached the highest level in their professions. Lalith Weeratunga of Brooke Bonds, I remember, because he was made a Director in recognition of his winning a Fulbright Scholarship. Chits Malwanne reached the top in the Education Directorate.

Hawaii – the first stop

On arrival at the Honolulu Airport what I remember best was the shock of an explosion as soon as the aircraft landed. But the Captain himself came into the cabin to explain to the excited passengers that it was the breaking of the sound barrier by six Phantom fighter jets that were performing routine drills. Pleasant greetings were to follow. The disembarking Fulbright grantees were all garlanded with leis of orchids by scantily dressed, beautiful ‘Hula’ girls. These girls as a group were to entertain us with songs and dances for nearly an hour until a coach arrived for us to be taken to the University of Hawaii which was then also known as the East-West Centre. Minutes before we boarded the coach a young and spritely American who introduced himself as Tim from the Fulbright Commission made all of us smile doling out a cheque for US $ 500/= each. Tim was our friend and guide on the way to our destination.

(More next week)