<p>Then you must have also notice that they didn't blogged much this year. And I think Ben Jones was behind designing those blogs (correct me if wrong). </p>
<p>All of those accepted deserved a place, none can dispute that fact, but it's stunning that MIT was trusting a uneducated liar with some important policy decisions.</p>
<p>Maybe she even took money from someone for lobbying his/her case before the committee. Seems far fetched? Just as far fetched as that Marlie Jones, who claims to be a scientists by training, didn't had a single college degree told a day ago (I would like to clarify that I have due respect for those accepted. Don't know much of you personally, but those accepted have great accomplishments).</p>
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Having seen her speak in person, I believe she was a genuine advocate for young people, and must have known the bell would toll for her at some point. It has probably been hellish.
<p>Neither of my college-aged children applied to or attend MIT. Nevertheless, I gained much that kept us all grounded during the admissions processes for each by reading the MIT admissions blogs and by reading commentary quoting Marilee Jones and others. I absolutely believe everything they stood for and agree with a poster awhile back who said that in the end, a person with false credentials who makes a positive difference in the lives of many over 28 years is preferable to a person with all the amazing, real credentials in the world who harms many people. I am saddened and of course know that she has tainted not only her institution but also her postion regarding looking at the whole student and not the stats. I truly hope there is not a backlash because of this. In fact, this is an opportunity for open dialogue and for conversations about many important issues. I do not think Marilee Jones was acting. I don't know her, but I am sure she did live in a state of inner fear (admittedly brought on by herself) and equally sure she will be missed by many - this is a time to support Ben and Matt and the students at MIT.</p>
<p>How can you say Ms Jones was a "well-meaning" person and "genuine advocate for young people" ? For 28 years, she's lied about being a college graduate and, even worse, a PhD and a scientist, exclusively to secure personal gains, be it professional or financial. Her behavior is unexcusable and deeply offensive to all of us who are working/have worked hard to get genuine degrees and are struggling/have struggled to be successful in tough, competitive fields like science and engineering. I am by no means perfect, nor without sin, but what Ms Jones did is so outrageous that I can have no sympathy for her.</p>
<p>Hi, I'm a UK visitor to the US and wanted to say that when I read the news of Mrs Jones, I was not overly concerned - it seemed like a mistake from her youth 28 years ago.</p>
<p>On closer inspection, reading all these posts, I've become indignant at her web of lies. On that note, I wanted to ask for a solution to a dilemma.</p>
<p>In my youth I failed my first year in a very unprestigious university in the UK. I then was accepted into a higher-tier college without telling a lie about my previous experience. Since then I've picked up two higher degrees from two of the most prestigious universities in the UK.</p>
<p>However, in my CV, I do not refer to my failed year, and no employer ever asks because the academic record since then has been outstanding. Am I a fraud?</p>
<p>cantab, i would draw a distinction between what you're doing (an omission) and what Marilee did (a misrepresentation).</p>
<p>you DID get the degrees you mention on your CV. A CV is a listing of qualifications for a job, not a listing of everything you've done in your life (I am using CV here in the "resume" sense, which I realize is slightly different from the "full list of all publications and jobs" academic CV). If you'd worked at McDonald's for a semester, or spent a year hitchhiking around, or something else that you didn't think helped you get prepared for your job, you'd be ok not mentioning it on your cv (of course if you were ever asked "did you work at McDonalds?" or "what did you do during that year between your A-levels and starting the degree program?" you'd have to answer truthfully).</p>
<p>So you ppl think that she would have done her work with all honesty during the last 28 years?</p>
<p>This fraud make one think clear about her, the type of person she was: Corrupt. Check the excerpts posted by Greybeard on page 5, If she could be so shameless then we could only guess about the corruption she would have done during the last 28 years.</p>
<p>This cheering for Jones is irritating and only reflects the type of person you are: Marilee Jones type.</p>
<p>I doubt that people in the admissions office have their diplomas displayed unles they went to MIT. It would be odd for the admissions director at a college to be displaying diplomas showing that they went elsewhere.</p>
<p>Wow, Marilee Jones came to speak at my high school a couple years ago! She was great, a very funny lady, and a very smart one as well. She was extremely knowledgeable about all things college related. It makes me sad to think that she lied on her application. That being said, I hope people don't suddenly forget how great of an admissions dean she was.</p>
<p>It is a frightening sign of our times that so many of you view people as either good or evil. Do you have the same view of cultures, countries and religions? Human beings are complex and flawed, which is the fodder of centuries of drama, this being the latest scene. Of course Ms. Jones deserves her current disgrace, but her good effects do not have to be discounted. Gee, there must be a lot of spotless people out there who can be so cavalier with their condemnation!</p>
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It is a frightening sign of our times that so many of you view people as either good or evil.
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<p>None of us are condemning Marilee Jones as a person just because of her resume fraud. But some of us (including me) are condemning her as an admissions dean. I don't see anyone calling the woman Marilee an evil soul--we don't know her personally and can't make that judgement (it's irrelevant anyway). But I think it's perfectly within the limits of fairness, and definitely relevant and called for, to criticize her status as admissions dean and to be suspicious about her role.</p>
<p>The issue is not whether Ms. Jones posesses any other redeeming features. What she did is deserving of universal condemnation and disgust. Those who defend her because they agreed with her political agenda make a bad situation worse.
The college admissions process is a messy divisive issue in America today. Ms. Jones' through her dishonesty, and MIT through its negligence, have poured fuel on the fire.
Whatever the attendant circumstances, this woman was a crusader for those lacking objective qualifications. Is it believable that her history of lacking and fabricating her own qualifications played no role in her decision to try and minimize their importance in the admissions process? To what extent were her policies enacted to try and improve the process and to what extent was she just trying to justify to herself her own terrible acts? To what extent was she on a mission to enfranchise the underqualified? After all they were the ones with whom she had most in common.</p>
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This cheering for Jones is irritating and only reflects the type of person you are: Marilee Jones type.</p>
<p>Al Mujahid for debauchery
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So you mean I have no right to condemn this man (Adolf Hitler) and this man (Osama bin Laden)?
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<p>We're talking about a woman who lied about her degrees, not a mass murderer. Enough with the hyper-condemnatory melodrama.</p>
<p>What Marilee Jones did was not right, and the shame of having to resign and be publicly humiliated is deserved. Nevertheless, she did do a lot of good things during her time at MIT. I met her briefly and heard her speak on several occasions, and I liked her a lot. </p>
<p>I agree with dgobblelew that this goes to show you that things are not so black and white as many would like them to be.</p>
<p>I personally think everyone condeming her here (people like Abhi et al) are just sad they didn't get into MIT. By claiming that the "only" reason they didn't get in was because of Marilee Jones' hatred of people with high qualifications you are being absurd and you know it.</p>
<p>BoredTeenager: I am a int'l so AA and male to female ratio doesn't affects me any way. On the contrary if MIT had applied MJs policies that it applies to Domestic students (looking beyond Science ECs and Science Olympiads) then it could have been beneficial for me.</p>
<p>Chew that.</p>
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We're talking about a woman who lied about her degrees, not a mass murderer. Enough with the hyper-condemnatory melodrama.
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<p>Enough with your feminist ideology that's stupidly supporting a cheat.</p>
<p>That Marilee Jones padded her resume 28 years ago in a seemingly nonsensical way 28 years ago for an entry level secretarial job for which her resume was irrelevant is a rather insignificant circumstance. </p>
<p>I'm sorry, but even then, I can't imagine that whomever hired her really believed that she had degrees from three different universities by age 24 and was applying for a such a job. They probably didn't care one way or another and were likely much more concerned with whether she could type, take accurate messages, and sound like an intelligent adult when answering the phone or calling others with messages.</p>
<p>...and lets be serious. If she had remained for 28 years an admissions dept secretary no one would remember nor care what was on her original resume. </p>
<p>However, she did not fix that error at any point when she sought to move beyond a clerical position but rather continued to reaffirm if not further embellish and trumpet her imaginary credentials as she moved into positions of increasing responsibility and public view where what was on her resume did become relevant. That is very significant. </p>
<p>She may well have been able to follow her exact same career path based on demonstrated competence. Perhaps unlikely, but she never afforded herself or her employer the chance to find out - and others to consider her message and judge its relevance in an accurate context.</p>