Parent Yeni Mendez is furious that her daughter’s safety was put at risk after 29-year-old Hyejeong Shin — a 2019 graduate of Rutgers University, according to a campus spokesperson — was able to submit a fake birth certificate to the New Brunswick board of education and enroll as a high school student; Shin attended school for four days before she was unmasked by background checks last week. Students shared TikTok videos of Shin in classes as the scandal became viral on social media.
The revelation left students like 17-year-old Robert Vasquez Betancourt on edge. Betancourt joined other students who demanded answers from school officials. He said he still doesn’t understand why students were not allowed to speak at a board of education meeting where the situation was being discussed. “We would have been happy to hear from the students if they had signed up to speak at the board meeting but they never signed up,” the board of education president said.
