MIT Dean of Admissions Resigns, Fabricated Credentials
 

Marilee Jones, the dean of admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, became famous for urging stressed-out students competing for elite colleges to calm down and stop trying to be perfect. But today she admitted that she had fabricated her own academic educational credentials, and resigned after nearly three decades at the university.

http://www.boston.com/news/education/hig...?p1=MEWell_Pos5

Re: MIT Dean of Admissions Resigns, Fabricated Credentials
 

Re: MIT Dean of Admissions Resigns, Fabricated Credentials
 

Rensselaer represent!

Re: MIT Dean of Admissions Resigns, Fabricated Credentials
 

haha f marilee

Re: MIT Dean of Admissions Resigns, Fabricated Credentials
 

Everyone seems to be commenting on the "irony" of the situation, but it seems to me that OF COURSE she would push for there to be less academic pressure since she herself could not stand up to it.

Frankly, I think it is overblown. I understand the Institute's position, but it still sucks that even though she earned her position today by moving up the ladder (starting at a position where her credentials were essentially unnecessary) and demonstrating that she could do the job. Those pieces of paper have too much weight attached to them (but then, that is why I am putting up with hell in the first place).

Also - as much as certain generations like to bitch about her "millenial" paper, I don't care - there IS a lot of truth to it. This place is CRAWLING with the very generalizations she pointed out - just no one wants to hear them because they think they're special - something she points out in the paper as well.

And dammit - part of the reason I applied in the first place was the application was awesome. I loved her phrasing of what MIT was and what they were looking for. She has the right ideas about what this place should be.

Re: MIT Dean of Admissions Resigns, Fabricated Credentials
 

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Also - as much as certain generations like to bitch about her "millenial" paper, I don't care - there IS a lot of truth to it. This place is CRAWLING with the very generalizations she pointed out - just no one wants to hear them because they think they're special - something she points out in the paper as well.


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Wanna explain this?

Also, it's not so much about the paper, its that she lied about it. It wasn't the sex for Clinton, it's that he lied about it. It's an indicator of character ete. Although it's just kinda interesting that she pretty much was in a situation where she couldn't come out with it, b/c they'd fire her, so she has no choice but to just leave it as it was. If she thought they'd forgive her for coming out about it, she probably would have.

Re: MIT Dean of Admissions Resigns, Fabricated Credentials
 

Oh - that was sort of in response to the f marilee attitude that has been coming out from some of the older classes. Many are bringing up the paper and I guess feel vindicated because they disliked her for it.

And the Clinton example is horrible. He lied under oath when specifically questioned about it. She was never asked about it and so any coming forward on her part would have been strictly voluntary and as the years went by became essentially impossible to do. She screwed up, it's true, but it was a mistake from almost 30 years ago that really has no relevance to whether she is capable/qualified for her job (except for the obvious questioning of integrity, but again, 30 years ago and we all see that once done so hard to undo).

It's really gross - and it's unfortunate that it ended up being such a public humiliation since the school felt it needed to cover its ass publically. Many have commented that it would have been much better to let her resign quietly with dignity, but unfortunately that could leave MIT in a tough spot later if someone decided to make a stink. Gross gross gross all around that these steps are necessary because people are douche bags.

Re: MIT Dean of Admissions Resigns, Fabricated Credentials
 

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Oh - that was sort of in response to the f marilee attitude that has been coming out from some of the older classes. Many are bringing up the paper and I guess feel vindicated because they disliked her for it.



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I was asking more about what the paper was about. Can you explain it, and why it's controversial etc?

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And the Clinton example is horrible. He lied under oath when specifically questioned about it. She was never asked about it and so any coming forward on her part would have been strictly voluntary and as the years went by became essentially impossible to do. She screwed up, it's true, but it was a mistake from almost 30 years ago that really has no relevance to whether she is capable/qualified for her job (except for the obvious questioning of integrity, but again, 30 years ago and we all see that once done so hard to undo).


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Look, lying on a resume is still lying. You're misreprenting yourself, and it's pretty much always grounds for dismissal from any job. I'm sure at some point she had to sign some sort of statement that everything she has provided for evaluation is true etc. Just because she wasnt specifically asked "what about line 43 on your resume" doesn't mean she's not lying by submitting it when it's wrong and she knows it. It's fraud pure and simple, it's too bad that it had to be something so minor. However, realize that politically sensative positions like hers are almost always going to be subject to strict scruitiny.

Sucks that she couldn't just come out with it and say it herself before this all came out and maybe save her job, or maybe she could have I don't know. Then again, considering the nature of her job honesty/integrity is ESSENTIAL. Otherwise other applicants are just gonna be like "well, the director lied about a degree, I'm just gonna lie and say I was the president of this club, or I got this award etc". Sends a bad message, I don't blame MIT.

Re: MIT Dean of Admissions Resigns, Fabricated Credentials
 

The thing is - if she had applied directly for the job of dean of admissions, yes, this would be horrible. It's still bad - no denying.

But, to fully understand the situation, 30 years ago she got a job as basically a clerk in the office. She was a paper pusher. The error is less horrendous in this situation. The whole reason this never came out for so long was because the way she earned her highest position was by moving up within the system, and as such her resume never came up. It was never a major issue. Sure, if she HADN'T had a degree things would have been different, but the fact is the way she got her job, it didn't matter what her degrees were in, merely that she had them. Her resume was only really a major factor for getting that initial secretarial job. Everything else was all here - and you have to admit that's quite a climb.

Given that scenario it is even MORE difficult to rectify the situation. It's not as if she set out to defraud MIT and become dean of admissions. She needed work. As it was, she was well suited in the department and proved herself and climbed up. And when you get a promotion based on your hard work, are you really going to stop and say - oh btw, you know that original resume I gave you? That wasn't entirely true...

The moral is, of course, DON'T LIE. But, it's not quite the huge scandal it's being made out to be. Nothing happened intentionally, with malicious intent. The situation is more equivalent to something like some 21 year old kid having a wild time in Vegas with pictures of him snorting coke off a hooker's boob who then becomes president with a strict anti-drug, anti-gambling stance when he's 50 and the pictures get out. It's not a perfect analogy but I'm tired so forgive me. Horrendous yes, hypocritically - not entirely - people do change, but the past can be hard to erase.

Re: MIT Dean of Admissions Resigns, Fabricated Credentials
 

Oh - and as to the paper: http://web.mit.edu/gpickard/www/new-...-the-block.pdf