From Bosnia to Brooklyn: Dartmouth basketball star's odyssey to dual citizenship

Posted 01/15/01

On Tuesday, January 16, Dartmouth men's basketball player Vedad Osmanovic will miss practice. And that's okay. It's even okay with his coach, Dave Faucher, and his teammates, like Flinder Boyd.

In Brooklyn, N.Y. at 8 o'clock in the morning, Osmanovic will be in a group of people standing together as one. He will raise his right hand and be sworn in as a citizen of the United States of America. (He will remain a citizen of Bosnia as well.)

It's been a long, eventful journey from Banja Luka, Bosnia for the Dartmouth College junior. Under political asylum, he and his family (father Ismet, mother Azra and brother Kenan) traveled to New York City, escaping his war-torn homeland. Vedad and Kenan first left Bosnia for Croatia, and then arrived at JFK Airport in August, 1994. His parents joined them three months later.

"I'm pumped up," said Osmanovic. "When we came to this country, I couldn't envision that this would happen."

With a game coming up against Colgate on Wednesday, January 17, the 6-5 forward knows he shouldn't miss the preceding two days of practice. So after Monday's session, Kenan (four years older, a University of Vermont graduate and already a brand-new U.S. citizen himself) will drive Vedad down Interstates 91 and 95 for the swearing-in ceremony.

There will be precious few moments for celebration. Immediately after, Vedad will rush to another office to apply for an American passport. There's an ulterior motive for his haste.

While many college students are making plans to head to Florida, Mexico or other warm climates during spring break, Osmanovic would like to return to Bosnia for three weeks. He wants to have a long overdue reunion with some family members, and travel to neighboring Montenegro to visit two uncles whom he hasn't seen in nearly 12 years.

All of this underscores how patient Vedad can be. After settling in New York with relatives, he was eligible for a green card after one year. Five years later, he could apply for citizenship. Around Thanksgiving on 1999, he went to New York for the mandatory finger-printing procedure. On December 12, 2000 -- the day of the Haverford game at Dartmouth -- he was required to be in Long Island City, N.Y. for his interview. He burst into the locker room 30 minutes before tip-off.

And now he has to miss practice.

"It will be an excused absence," said Faucher with a grin. "He came into the locker room before Haverford all smiles. What he brings to life is incredible. He's real, honest, appreciative, disciplined and motivated. Vedad is a very special person."

For the interview, in which he needed to be prepared to answer 10 of 100 possible questions, Vedad and his teammates, Boyd and Charles Harris, formed a study group.

"The whole process has been fascinating," said Boyd, who holds dual citizenship with the United Kingdom. "It's been thoroughly educational for me. And some of the questions were difficult."

According to Vedad, his 10 questions were fairly easy, and he thinks it's because the interviewer knew he was a Dartmouth student. "Things like what's the capital of the United States, what happened in 1492, what do the 13 stripes on the flag mean," he explained. His mother, who was scheduled for the interview two days later, had much harder questions, but she, too, passed with flying colors.

Although he first learned English in Bosnia from watching television and movies ("'Dynasty' and '90210' were really big"), Vedad credits his Dartmouth experience with "Americanizing" him.

"In New York, there are neighborhoods where no one speaks English," explained Vedad, who is majoring in government. "Dartmouth is so traditional and so American. Here I'm a student with the same concerns that everyone else has -- getting to class, studying for finals and getting to practice on time."

Last term, the only two Bosnian students on the Ivy League campus roomed together. Almin Hodzic (called "Al") joined up with Vedad in an apartment in nearby Wilder, Vt.. But the two were just regular college students. "We always spoke English to each other," said Vedad, "but when our mothers called, we spoke Bosnian."

When asked, he couldn't really predict what he will be thinking on Tuesday morning. But he spoke with enthusiasm about being able to vote and the possibility of working in a government job.

"I'm sure it will be a pleasant, comfortable feeling," added Vedad. "Up until now, I've always been an immigrant. And now I'll have the same rights that everyone else does."