A degree in irony
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- April
- 27
It was just a month ago that MIT’s Marilee Jones wowed the room at Graziella’s in White Plains, where she gave a passionate presentation to local guidance counselors. She asked them pointedly: “Are you an educator or a marketeer?” She deplored the competitiveness in education and the current obsession with credentials.
Ouch. The news today is that she’s been lying about her own credentials for 28 years.
She put three academic degrees on her resume as a new hire at MIT’s admissions office, though she hadn’t earned a single one, she admitted yesterday. Not at Albany Medical College, not at Union College, not at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, reports the New York Times. As she rose to the title of dean and led the charge nationally against the college application frenzy, she said she didn’t have the courage to come clean.
The announcement by MIT Dean for Undergraduate Education Daniel E. Hastings is here. The public was left to contemplate the ironies.
“I am sad about the news,” said Bob Sweeney, a guidance counselor at Mamaroneck High School, who introduced Jones in White Plains. “Marilee is a wonderful person. She has made some an important contribution not only to MIT but her message has been so important for students and families across the country.”























