No charges to be brought against John Thornton
The long-running NCAA investigation as to Texas A&M alumni’s recruitment of Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) students is now ended. The investigation began years ago when it was noted that RYE students were spending an inordinate amount of time at Texas A&M events. The investigation soon centered on Houstonian John Thornton’s activities. Mr. Thornton, a former student of Texas A&M, is also heavily involved in Rotary District 5890’s RYE efforts. Of note were the many times that the students missed out on opportunities to attend various Houston area functions due to some Texas A&M event. “Thornton dragged them to all type of events,” stated Texas Ranger Cletus “Betcha” Doneit. “The events included all types of things - football games, basketball games, bake sales, watching the grass grow, you name it and that Thornton guy took them to it.” The NCAA closed the investigation when it realized Mr. Thornton’s efforts would never be productive. According to lead NCAA investigator Paul “Bare” Bottom, “We just didn’t have the heart to pursue any infraction penalties. Bless A&M’s heart, they were trying so hard, but you knew you were watching ‘The Little Train that Couldn’t.’” Mr. Thornton’s efforts were inadvertently unsuccessful due to his lack of understanding that “Whoop” is considered a pejorative insult in most non-English languages.