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'First-generation, low income' Rhodes Scholar busted for lying about privileged background — and loses her scholarship: Report
The Blaze ^ | 1/12/22 | Sarah Taylor

Posted on 01/12/2022 10:40:42 PM PST by Impala64ssa

A Rhodes Scholarship recipient who previously insisted that she grew up poor, abused, and underprivileged is said to have lost her scholarship after it was discovered she lied about her background.

A Wednesday report from the Daily Mail stated that 24-year-old Mackenzie Fierceton grew up in a $750,000 home in Missouri with her mother — a doctor — and attended a $30,000/year private high school.

What are the details? Fierceton claimed in her application essay to Philadelphia's University of Pennsylvania that she survived abuse and foster care and overcame adversity by putting her education at the forefront of her priorities.

In the essay, the outlet reported, Fierceton — a self-described "queer, first-generation, low income" student — claimed that her radiologist mother tried to kill her and that she eventually ended up in foster care.

According to the report, Fierceton was in foster care — but reportedly only for one year and only after she told police that her mother Carrie Morrison struck her and threw her down a flight of stairs.

Don't miss out on content from Dave Rubin free of big tech censorship. Listen to The Rubin Report now. Police arrested Morrison in 2014 in connection with the allegation, but she denied all culpability and said that her daughter — a "difficult" child who suffered from anxiety — was being dishonest.

The case was later dropped because prosecutors found no evidence to support Fierceton's claims.

Fierceton, who won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University in 2020, previously told the Rhodes Trust that she was deserving of the scholarship because she "overcame welfare, an abusive mother, and the foster care system."

Following a complementary report about Fierceton's bravery and her Rhodes award — a story that was published in the Philadelphia Inquirer — an anonymous tipster contacted the Rhodes Trust and UPenn to report her alleged dishonesty.

The anonymous tipster told the trust and the school that Fierceton —

whose previous name was Mackenzie Morrison — attended a posh St. Louis private school and enjoyed white-collar hobbies including horseback riding and skydiving.

Following the allegations, Fierceton withdrew from the Rhodes program.

UPenn, according to the report, is withholding her masters' degree following an investigation into the alleged fraud — and Fierceton now says that the Rhodes Trust and UPenn are victimizing her.

A deeper look An investigation by the Chronicle of Higher Education determined that the only truth to Fierceton's story was that she spent time in foster care.

In the 2014 incident — when Fierceton would have been approximately 16 years old — Morrison said that her daughter "asked her to pull some gum out of her hair while she was standing at the top of the staircase."

Morrison said that she made an attempt but that Fierceton jerked away and stumbled down two steps before sitting down.

In her essay, however, Fierceton told an entirely different story and said that she woke up after the "attack," drove herself to school, and collapsed in front of a teacher. She insisted that she was transported to a local hospital, where she woke up "caked in blood," her facial features "so distorted and swollen" that she couldn't tell them apart.

Braces, she insisted, stabilized "most of her body," and even tasks as simple as going to the bathroom required the assistance of an "army of nurses."

According to the report, Fierceton spent the next 22 days in a hospital and was discharged to a foster home.

It remains unknown at the time of this reporting why — or where — Fierceton was hospitalized, but an investigation later launched by the Rhodes committee found that her allegations were "inconsistent with the hospital records."

Diary entries obtained by police following the incident reportedly detailed how Fierceton disliked her mother's boyfriend and wanted to move out of the family home.

According to the report, Fierceton weighed "pros and cons" of reporting her mother for abuse. Among the "cons" were problems such as having no money for college and no vehicle.

Anything else? Morrison told the Chronicle that she deeply loves her daughter and only wants the best for her.

"Our greatest desire is that Mackenzie chooses to live a happy, healthy, honest, and productive life, using her extraordinary gifts for the highest good," Morrison said.

In a December lawsuit, Fierceton accused the Rhodes Trust of attacking her and victimizing her all over again.

In the suit, the outlet reported, Fierceton said that she never lied about her background and insisted that she was considered low-income when she applied to college.

She added that the university made up the existence of an "anonymous tipster" and is simply retaliating against her because she filed a health and safety complaint against the school following a seizure she claimed to have had in a basement classroom.

The university has insisted that there is no merit to her claim.

"Penn and the Rhodes Trust received credible information that called into question statements Ms. Fierceton made in her applications for admission, financial assistance, and scholarships," a statement from the school said. "The Rhodes Trust conducted its own investigation, during which it considered evidence and arguments provided by Ms. Fierceton and her attorney. It prepared a comprehensive report which was provided to Ms. Fierceton in April 2020. The Trust then gave Ms. Fierceton the opportunity to withdraw her candidacy if she chose to do so. Ms. Fierceton accepted that offer and withdrew her candidacy."


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; US: Missouri; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: college; didyousearch; rhodesscholar
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We're not allowed to question boys who say they're girls and vice versa, so who are we to judge a rich kid who insists she's underprivileged? Perhaps a petition should be organized to re instate her scholarship.
1 posted on 01/12/2022 10:40:42 PM PST by Impala64ssa
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To: Impala64ssa

Reminiscent of the fraud who wrote the false “I, Rigoberta” years ago and became a leftwing heroine.


2 posted on 01/12/2022 10:44:03 PM PST by hinckley buzzard ( Resist the narrative.)
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To: Impala64ssa

She must have cracked her egg on the way out. That’s one messed up woman.


3 posted on 01/12/2022 10:47:19 PM PST by rockinqsranch (Dems, Libs, Socialists Call 'em what you will, they all have fairies livin' in their trees)
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To: Impala64ssa

Cnn could offer her a job. They hire liars and pedos.


4 posted on 01/12/2022 10:50:32 PM PST by Trillian
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To: hinckley buzzard

She lied repeatedly and finally got caught. Her mother was a leader in Breast Cancer fot St. Lukes Hospital. She ruined her career and devestated what family life she had. A top local lawyer was able to defend the mothers innocence, but major reputational damage was done. This vindicates the mother, but I am sure she is grieved by how far her daughter has gone. I thought she would be in the news one day and that prediction came true.


5 posted on 01/12/2022 10:54:19 PM PST by AmericanMade
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To: Impala64ssa

Did she say she was African-American too?


6 posted on 01/12/2022 10:54:33 PM PST by llevrok (Pronouns: Me/myself/& I)
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To: Impala64ssa

Obama’s parents were well-off yet all we heard was about how poor he was.

Did Elizabeth Warren tell the truth on her applications?


7 posted on 01/12/2022 11:00:34 PM PST by Its All Over Except ...
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To: Impala64ssa
Fierceton, who won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University in 2020, previously told the Rhodes Trust that she was deserving of the scholarship because she "overcame welfare, an abusive mother, and the foster care system."

Well, at least the Rhodes Trust acknowledges the devastating effect of welfare on the individual.

I am assuming that Rhodes Trust agrees that the govt. dole should be abolished.

Regards,

8 posted on 01/12/2022 11:04:22 PM PST by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
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To: Impala64ssa
Fierceton, who won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University in 2020, previously told the Rhodes Trust that she was deserving of the scholarship because she "overcame welfare, an abusive mother, and the foster care system."

Well, at least the Rhodes Trust acknowledges the devastating effect of welfare on the individual.

I am assuming that Rhodes Trust agrees that the govt. dole should be abolished.

Regards,

9 posted on 01/12/2022 11:04:22 PM PST by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
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To: Impala64ssa
Fierceton, who won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University in 2020, previously told the Rhodes Trust that she was deserving of the scholarship because she "overcame welfare, an abusive mother, and the foster care system."

Well, at least the Rhodes Trust acknowledges the devastating effect of welfare on the individual.

I am assuming that Rhodes Trust agrees that the govt. dole should be abolished.

Regards,

10 posted on 01/12/2022 11:04:23 PM PST by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
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To: Impala64ssa

The US just lost a future community organizer...


11 posted on 01/12/2022 11:15:45 PM PST by HYPOCRACY (This is the dystopian future we've been waiting for!)
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To: Impala64ssa

The perfect Democrat.


12 posted on 01/12/2022 11:16:34 PM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: HYPOCRACY

Don’t count her out yet. She has a stellar future in Congress if she can fine-tune her fibs down to the vaguely plausible.


13 posted on 01/12/2022 11:23:50 PM PST by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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To: Impala64ssa

After looking at her photo at The Blaze, I’d say she’s about three crack pipes away from being a screaming bag lady.


14 posted on 01/12/2022 11:31:41 PM PST by VanShuyten ("...that all the donkeys were dead. I know nothing as to the fate of the less valuable animals)
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To: All

uhh not guilty?


15 posted on 01/12/2022 11:37:48 PM PST by SteveH (.)
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To: All

... hey, at least she is not walking around chained to a mattress...


16 posted on 01/12/2022 11:45:26 PM PST by SteveH (.)
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To: Impala64ssa

Anyone who hires this nutcase “professional victim” deserves what they get. She will be a pain in the ass to everyone she touches for her entire life. I pity her future children.


17 posted on 01/12/2022 11:57:26 PM PST by ETCM
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To: ETCM

Six foot social distancing is the only way to handle psychopaths, but it only works in the vertical direction.


18 posted on 01/13/2022 12:22:23 AM PST by Reeses
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To: Impala64ssa

She’s actually kinda cute, nice looking I would hit it and I am sure Laz would too.


19 posted on 01/13/2022 1:59:37 AM PST by stockpirate (Rebellion to tyranny is obedience to God., Where Justice Ends Tyranny Begins.)
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To: Impala64ssa
using the 'Lie-a-watha Keys to Academic Success' method I see...it is truly
a shame that she felt she couldn't get past the quota system to gain a Rhodes
Scholarship on her own merits...maybe she couldn't. More proof that the
Academy is a joke.
20 posted on 01/13/2022 4:53:54 AM PST by major_gaff (University of Parris Island, Class of '84)
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