For those who are engaged in education, no value is of more importance than integrity, indeed this should be true of any profession.
This individual, who was charged with choosing those who would be accepted into this very prestigious institution, lied on her resume regarding her
academic degrees some thirty years ago to gain employment at the university and continued to submit the same fraudulent claims to gain subsequent
promotions.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Dean of Admissions Marilee Jones, who had said college applicants were under too much pressure to appear
perfect, resigned today because she falsified her resume.
"I misrepresented my academic degrees when I first applied to MIT 28 years ago and did not have the courage to correct my resume when I applied for
my current job or at any time since,'' Jones wrote in a statement.
"This is a sad and unfortunate event,'' said [Stuart] Hastings. "The integrity of the institute is our highest priority, and we cannot tolerate
this kind of behavior.''
www.bloomberg.com Please visit the link provided for the complete story.
It is unclear to me what position she first applied for at MIT, but it seems incomprehensible that she would be hired for any position without having
to submit transcripts.
For her to have claimed a degree from a university from which she did not graduate and another degree from a university she did not even attend would
indicate to me either gross incompetence or complicity of someone intimately involved in her employment.
Clearly, as was pointed out in the article, there is a dual tragedy here. One is that MIT has been given a black eye and the other is that an
apparently talented woman's career and reputation were destroyed.
Despite the tragic nature of the incident, I have no sympathy for the woman.
We all tend to embellish our strengths and to diminishes our weaknesses. Many of us pursue endeavors for no other reason than that they will "pad"
our resumes.
In the words of the former dean, we want to be "paper-perfect" and in fact, we'd be idiots to submit resumes that portray us as anything but
perfect. Resumes just aren't the correct venue for expressing our weaknesses. Most interviewers present an opportunity to be honest about both our
strengths and our weaknesses. The resume is intended to garner an interview.
However, to fabricate one's academic accomplishments, in my opinion, ranks right up there with lying about one's military service.
While they are very different experiences, both the military and universities involve significant personal investments that culminate, one would hope,
in significant personal development.
Those who complete such endeavors have good reason to be proud of their accomplishments and deserve all the "rights and privileges thereunto
appertaining."
Those who falsify such accomplishments not only cheat other job applicants of a chance at the positions applied for, but also cheat all who invest
their time, money, effort, and sometimes even their lives in the pursuit of excellence.
In this particular instance, the deceit was a protracted one. Regardless of what she may have accomplished during her tenure at MIT, it was
accomplished because of her dishonesty and will always be tainted with shame.
What does a person like this deserve? Is it enough to call for her resignation? What about the money she was paid during her charade?
What say ye?
[edit on 2007/4/26 by GradyPhilpott]
