<p>This is a sad, and appropriate, object lesson in a number of dimensions.</p>
<p>What Jones did is not tolerable. Especially given her position, and the kinds of messages she had to convey and values she had to enforce. This was the only possible resolution.</p>
<p>Nothing, absolutely nothing, about the quality of her work and ideas over the past 28 years has anything to do with her failure to obtain a degree from RPI or her lies about that. She was a fraud, and it didn't matter because she performed, but in the end nothing else mattered because she was a fraud.</p>
<p>Had she been honest about her credentials, she probably could never have been appointed Dean of Admissions at MIT. That doesn't excuse her dishonesty at all, but it serves as a reminder that there are lots of credentials screens in the world that have dubious value. I would suggest that it's highly unlikely MIT would have had a better Dean of Admissions for the past 9 years had she been honest, 28 years ago or 9 years ago. It's highly unlikely MIT will have a better Dean of Admissions next year.</p>
<p>Certainly she made a mistake 28 years ago, and she has continued to make a mistake ever since. Once she made that first mistake, what should she have done? How do you fix something like that? Kids should pay attention: "innocent" fraud at the beginning of your career may never be curable. It's worse than a criminal conviction.</p>
<p>I wonder whether anyone tried to blackmail her with this, and she resisted. I wonder whether anyone tried to blackmail her with it in the past, and succeeded. I also wonder whether, given her age, what happened is that her RPI classmates' kids are now being rejected by MIT in great enough numbers that someone who knew whatever the story is, but didn't feel any particular loyalty to her, got ticked off.</p>
<p>I am not surprised she embellished her resume to get that first secretarial type job and Im not surprised MIT failed to confirm the information. I am shocked she actually applied for the position of dean being confident MIT or some other interested party wouldnt verify her academic credentials.</p>
<p>hazmat. I am not sure that she can recover from this. Professionally she is finished. No academic institution will put their own reputation on the line and hire her. Her personal life will suffer horribly.The friends and connections she has built will all but disappear. Her actions have put her own child under tremendous pressure. Who is going to buy her book now? Who would hire her as a consultant? I fear this person will suffer horrible personal pain as a result of her actions.</p>
<p>I am assuming that she has a conscience and was only afraid of telling the truth all these years. Now if she just didn't give a rat's ... that's another story altogether.</p>
<p>I don't understand the connection people are drawing between women admits and falsification of credentials. What, like, she falsified credentials so she could (in 28 years) get to become the Dean and admit lots of girls?? </p>
<p>I don't think you should worry yourself MIT2010Dad. There have been many emails exchanged between the intelligent students of MIT on this issue and not one has had a tinge of the bitter grasping nature of the accusatory posts in this thread. The class of 2011 women admits will absolutely not suffer for this (I don't even understand why they are being brought up) Rest assured that the MIT community is much more mature than this as a whole.</p>
<p>I feel for the young women of MIT who have their presence there questioned even more so now. That's been a recurring theme on the MIT board here, that women have a much easier time with admissions at MIT, that they're less qualified and only there because of Admissions wanting a more even ratio. It's completely lost that they hold their own as students.</p>
<p>I think she'll be alright. She's proven herself to be intelligent, resourceful and likeable, and with time, she might regain some trust. She could probably repackage herself and write another book about what she's learned, and she could certainly earn some nice coin as an admissions counselor to the children of people who have too much money. She probably knows a thing or two about manipulating 'the system'!</p>
<p>She likely will retain her pension....she is close to retirement age anyway and to my way of thinking "Tell All Books" sell. What and how she manages her family is in my mind no different today than yesterday. How did she manage her anxiety? If she has this hubris likely her family isn't her greatest concern. This was and is all about her.</p>
<p>I agree that there is no reason not matriculate as planned at MIT. This is not a reflection on MIT so much as on Ms. Jones. I do not agree that it is "immature" to consider what she did to be fraudulant; and, to be outraged at her deceit and the length of time she kept this deceit about three (nonexistant) degrees secret. It really was a dirtly little secret. And it may very well have had an effect on the way she approached admission reform. Sad, really</p>
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It's highly unlikely MIT will have a better Dean of Admissions next year.
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<p>Generally I agree with the person who posted this comment, but I think it is very likely that MIT will have a much better dean of admissions next year. MIT could hardly have done worse, with benefit of hindsight.</p>
<p>I think it is going beyond the MIT community. And"mature" here hopefully equals intelligent. I hate to think 28 years. It's far too long for MIT...</p>
<p>While we are impacted by this, I think purposefully extending the fallout to place some kind of illegitimacy in the students who are admitted is self-serving and pretty immature. While I am in no position to defend Marilee Jones in what she did, I don't believe wildly speculating is helping anyone either. that's all</p>