Long ago a woman named Marilee Jones lied about her educational background.
She applied for a job 28 years ago at the elite school, MIT, and at the time said she got degrees she never actually got.
Well, this high school educated woman was able to rise through the ranks at MIT becoming the dean of admissions. And guess what, she made a name for herself by helping, what she deemed, stressed out students calm down about the whole admissions process.
Even with the uncovering of this lie people have come to her defense saying she was an inspiration by taking some of the hell out of the admissions process for students everywhere. Her mantra was, stop trying to be perfect. I suppose much of that sentiment came from her realization that indeed she wasn’t perfect.
This week, she resigned her post at age 55 because of the scandal.
So, how’d she get caught. She’s been traveling around the country giving speeches lately to promote her new book “Less Stress, More Success: A New Approach to Guiding Your Teen Through College Admissions and Beyond”, and somebody probably unearthed the real scoop on her past, or the colleges she claims she got degress from decided to drop dime on her.
Here’s a quote from her book: “Holding integrity is sometimes very hard to do because the temptation may be to cheat or cut corners.”
Boy, did she cut some big corners.
She was wrong to lie, of course, but there’s something about this story that makes me sad and unable to tear her a new one.
It’s almost as if her guilt over what she was hiding gave her some insight, some ability to help so many college bound kids. She was trying to lower the bar for kids that were talented but maybe didn’t have the grades or extracurriculars that other kids had. She understood this well, because she was well below the bar for the world she ended up excelling in, at least when you look at her real resume.
Why does part of me want to scream: “You go girl!”?
April 27th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Sorry but there just is not excuse for what she did!! She is a liar and a manipulator. She should have come clean long before she took on that high level position, and suffered through night sachool to get those degrees she calimed to have in the first place. Many honest hardworking people do that. What makes her entitled to lie!!
And I don’t buy that she did so much good for people while at MIT. This lie she perpetuated has likely caused a lot of hurt and mistrust of the system. It did for me. I will be sure to check references more carefully going forward.
April 27th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
If she really felt guilty she wouldn’t have written a book where if the book was at all successful the truth was bound to come out
At many junctures during her 28 year career at MIT, she could have explained how much she wanted the job, and did lie on her resume to get it.
If she was as good as she seems to be, MIT might have sent her to school to get a real degree.
That happened to my friend who couldn’t live with the guilt.
To at all empathize with her is to condone lying
I hate to sound so harsh but I know what it’s like to live with free floating anxiety and accompanying guilt when I did nothing to feel guilty about.
Guilt makes people do strange things. It shouldn’t make them feel empowered enough to write a book, even if she has become an expert on the subject.
Our society is big on false values, and fails in true ethics.
She was probably extraordinarily insightful to begin with and could have achieved without lying. But now she will never know.
April 27th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Man, you both make a lot of sense.
She probably figured MIT would can her before sending her to school. She was on the inside and saw how things worked. It would have spelled doom for her. Well, it ended up spelling doom it turns out.
It does perpetuate mistrust and guilt does indeed make people do strange things. But at least some good came out of her tenure at MIT, no?
April 27th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
I like the sarcastic point made above connecting the writing of her book to her utter lack of guilt about lying. Writing that book and projecting herself into the public as a result was like shoving it in everyone’s face that she was able to con the brainiacs at MIT, and was now moving on to a larger audience to deceive. That woman is nothing but a con-artist who perhaps started to believe her own lies. Glad they found her out.
April 27th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
why don’t we just lynch her?
April 27th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
justme, there’s something to be said for that. I was at MIT both before and during Jones’ tenure. It was only under Jones that the MIT Dean of Admission took such a high public profile, both on campus and in the news media. She was either attempting to overcompensate for her lack of academic credentials or was addicted to engaging in these sorts of public deceptions.
April 27th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
wow, that is interesting. maybe she was trying to get the message out that you don’t have to be perfect to make it in the world..obviously she felt she wasn’t.
April 29th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
i think that if she is doing her job well, what difference does it make!
i want to know who leaked it that she was lying about her education? after 28 years! why was that necessary! people are cruel and jealous! people always want to bring a person down. instead of praising her for her work and success!
April 30th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
She was brought down because she wrote a book. When people write a book they want to be a best seller they have to expect public scrutiny
It’s not cruel nor is it jealousy to “bring down” a person who is trying to make a fortune telling people not to stress over college admissions.
She might have done a great job, but MIT still only accepts a small number of people who apply–and MIT is a school where only people who are qualified will apply
If we praise her work and success than we’re holding her to a standard we don’t hold the average college applicant to, but a much lower one
If people want to live in a country where success comes from lying and manipulating their way to it, then this isn’t the America I was born in
April 30th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
In this case it’s not clear whether her success came from lying or not. She lied, from what we know, 28 years ago when she was hired but has since proven herself to be good at her job. She moved up the ladder at MIT for her accomplishments and work, not because of what she said on an application when she was first hired..right?
May 1st, 2007 at 10:22 pm
28 years ago, i dont think a resume was as important as it is today. nor as closely checked.
when you start out in a company, you work your way up the ladder by hard work and proving yourself AND by your college experiance. the corner office goes to the one with the book knowledge……
i have just as much working experience if not more than half the people over me at work, but becuase i don’t have college, i can’t advance.
yes, she lied, and she did do good for others, but the only reason she was even offered promotion was because of her college.