Did Sal Governale Lie to the Stern Show About His College Transcripts?

Sal Governale’s intelligence has been a topic of on-air conversation on several previous occasions, but on Wednesday morning Howard dropped a new bombshell regarding the stockbroker turned staffer’s intellectual development: Sal had evidently lied to the Stern Show about his college record.

“Sal told us he was pulling a 3.9 [G.P.A.] in college before he dropped out. He claimed he was studying to be an X-ray technician,” Howard said before playing a clip of last summer’s exchange in which Sal indeed boasted about his grades in certain classes.

According to the transcripts, however, none of that was true. “We got his records,” Howard said. “Sal attended Suffolk Community College from the spring of 1989 to the fall of 1992, with no classes taken in 1991. This is the true academic record of Sal.”

The staffer reportedly struggled early on with Aerobic Dancing and Reading in the Content Areas classes. “In the fall of 1989, Sal only took two classes and didn’t pass either of them,” Howard continued, saying Sal missed the mark in subsequent semesters, too, earning “Satisfactory” grades in Developmental Writing and Developmental Mathematical Skills, a “D+” in Anatomy, and an “Unsatisfactory” grade in Algebra 1.

“[He] finished the semester with a 0.0 grade point average,” Howard said.

“Why even show up if that’s how you’re going to do?” co-host Robin Quivers wondered.

Sal apparently withdrew from his classes in the spring of 1990, once again finishing the semester with a 0.0 G.P.A., but his grades did improve after that. He got a 2.0 the following fall and did even better that spring semester, earning B-pluses in Standard Freshman Composition and Intro to Psychology.

“[He] miraculously managed to get a 3.5—not a 3.9—G.P.A. in one semester,” Howard said before explaining Sal dropped out soon after (with a cumulative G.P.A. of 2.3) and never graduated.

After going through his transcript, Howard brought Sal onto the air to explain himself. “Why do you lie about your academic record?” he asked. “We all know you’re dopey. What’s the matter with you?”

But Sal swore he was telling his version of the truth. “You’re factoring in the first years when I wasn’t serious,” he said, adding, “If I would’ve continued on like my final semesters—.”

“But you didn’t,” Robin interrupted before further chastising Sal for failing to take even a single class about X-ray technology, his supposed field of interest.

“I was on my way,” Sal insisted, adding, “If you look at the track record, I became more focused when time went on.”

Howard wasn’t buying it. He accused his employee of “stolen valor,” explaining most people worked hard to get good grades in college.

Sal saw Howard’s point, but insisted his academic record wasn’t as bad he described. “I was getting my feet wet. I was testing the waters, one class at a time,” he said.

“You tested the waters and you drowned,” Howard joked.