UMC suburban college student lied about background to become prestigious Rhodes Scholar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting that little attention has been paid in all these posts to what the plaintiff is actually asking for in her lawsuit.

The only concrete action she is asking for is an injunction from the court to require that Penn award to her her MSW.

Beyond that, she ask that the court use its judgment to provide any monetary and/or other unspecified compensation for her long list of alleged damages.

That’s it.

Surprised the lawyers were willing to take this one. Who's paying them? She's low income, so they must expect to win. I'd say there's little chance of that.

[Anonymous]

I think Penn dropped the $4K restitution before she brought suit. They say they never do restitution for honor code violations.

But they are demanding the apology. And in fact I don’t see how Penn can grant the degree without an apology. As it stands she says she has the right to tell her story as she sees it, even when applying for a competitive honor that requires honesty, even when her story contradicts both the written records and the lived experience of every kid who attended private Montessori and prep school with her in St. Louis. Her theory, as stated in that Chronicle letter, is that the highest standard of honesty requires only that you avoid provable lies. In her view it’s not dishonest to embellish or mislead. In her mind, according to her recent public statements, honesty does not mean “The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

What happens when she’s a caseworker and concludes that someone did or did not abuse a child? Who could believe her, either way? Or suppose she becomes an academic and does research. Who could ever rely on it? In some fields at least another researcher could go back and look at the sample in a lab. But not in social work. Social work depends on the honesty of the social worker. They can’t issue the degree if she continues to insist that she did nothing wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think Penn dropped the $4K restitution before she brought suit. They say they never do restitution for honor code violations.

But they are demanding the apology. And in fact I don’t see how Penn can grant the degree without an apology. As it stands she says she has the right to tell her story as she sees it, even when applying for a competitive honor that requires honesty, even when her story contradicts both the written records and the lived experience of every kid who attended private Montessori and prep school with her in St. Louis. Her theory, as stated in that Chronicle letter, is that the highest standard of honesty requires only that you avoid provable lies. In her view it’s not dishonest to embellish or mislead. In her mind, according to her recent public statements, honesty does not mean “The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

What happens when she’s a caseworker and concludes that someone did or did not abuse a child? Who could believe her, either way? Or suppose she becomes an academic and does research. Who could ever rely on it? In some fields at least another researcher could go back and look at the sample in a lab. But not in social work. Social work depends on the honesty of the social worker. They can’t issue the degree if she continues to insist that she did nothing wrong.

To be fair she said she was broken and since her bones were not broken they said it was a lie. Not true in English 101.

She said teachers called CPS over a dozen times and it was 7, but she was 8-11 years old so who remembers exact numbers.

Their case for a "lie" is pretty weak.

[Anonymous]

Off topic but it sounds like she got caught because her mom called her out. Makes you wonder how many other kids have figured out the game and are lying on their apps but don’t do interviews with newspapers and don’t get outed by their parents… obviously we saw varsity blues but I wonder if this kind of thing is happening on a larger scale than we think.

[Anonymous]

I agree she doesn’t qualify to be a social worker or any kind of medical worker. Or any kind of professional. It seems she believes her own lies. Bad sign. She also seems to believe the rules don’t apply to her. And she is living with a male teacher. I predict another name change to protect herself from her own reputation. I think she is moving to the UK. Homeless indeed.

[Anonymous]

Mostly this seems to be protecting the Dean from a bad decision. I think when this dies down UPenn will have a new Dean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Penn dropped the $4K restitution before she brought suit. They say they never do restitution for honor code violations.

But they are demanding the apology. And in fact I don’t see how Penn can grant the degree without an apology. As it stands she says she has the right to tell her story as she sees it, even when applying for a competitive honor that requires honesty, even when her story contradicts both the written records and the lived experience of every kid who attended private Montessori and prep school with her in St. Louis. Her theory, as stated in that Chronicle letter, is that the highest standard of honesty requires only that you avoid provable lies. In her view it’s not dishonest to embellish or mislead. In her mind, according to her recent public statements, honesty does not mean “The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

What happens when she’s a caseworker and concludes that someone did or did not abuse a child? Who could believe her, either way? Or suppose she becomes an academic and does research. Who could ever rely on it? In some fields at least another researcher could go back and look at the sample in a lab. But not in social work. Social work depends on the honesty of the social worker. They can’t issue the degree if she continues to insist that she did nothing wrong.

To be fair she said she was broken and since her bones were not broken they said it was a lie. Not true in English 101.

She said teachers called CPS over a dozen times and it was 7, but she was 8-11 years old so who remembers exact numbers.

Their case for a "lie" is pretty weak.

Reread my post. I did not say she lied. I said she misled and embellished, and that misleading and embellished accounts do not meet the highest standards of honesty (which is the language in Penn’s honor code).

So long as she goes on maintaining, as you do, that every form of dishonesty short of a provable lie is consistent with that honor code, she is not fit to be a researcher or a social worker, and Penn is justified in withholding the degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mostly this seems to be protecting the Dean from a bad decision. I think when this dies down UPenn will have a new Dean.

what bad decision? To admit her in the first place?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mostly this seems to be protecting the Dean from a bad decision. I think when this dies down UPenn will have a new Dean.

Look these universities and colleges are really bad about stuff like this. There is no protection for the students, no due process or appeal process. They usually do a 1/2 a$$ job and make an arbitrary decision. I have work on similar things and I guarantee if it goes to court Penn will have serious problems. She is is looking a large settlement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mostly this seems to be protecting the Dean from a bad decision. I think when this dies down UPenn will have a new Dean.

Look these universities and colleges are really bad about stuff like this. There is no protection for the students, no due process or appeal process. They usually do a 1/2 a$$ job and make an arbitrary decision. I have work on similar things and I guarantee if it goes to court Penn will have serious problems. She is is looking a large settlement.

she got plenty of due process. Her credibility is shot. What Judge or jury is going to believe her? And we have still to hear from the mom. That will be interesting. The mom said she fell down 2 or 3 stars and they were padded. Hmmmm.... somebody's lying.

[Anonymous]

UPenn's definition of first generation may hurt it though I understand there is much more to this. I don't have the exact definition but I believe if the applicant was estranged from a college graduate parent that would count.

She obviously misled the university and the Rhodes Scholarship committee. But her life sounds sad and hard. She clearly needs therapy and more support. I hope she finds it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UPenn's definition of first generation may hurt it though I understand there is much more to this. I don't have the exact definition but I believe if the applicant was estranged from a college graduate parent that would count.

She obviously misled the university and the Rhodes Scholarship committee. But her life sounds sad and hard. She clearly needs therapy and more support. I hope she finds it.

They obviously read into it but she didn’t obviously mislead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Penn dropped the $4K restitution before she brought suit. They say they never do restitution for honor code violations.

But they are demanding the apology. And in fact I don’t see how Penn can grant the degree without an apology. As it stands she says she has the right to tell her story as she sees it, even when applying for a competitive honor that requires honesty, even when her story contradicts both the written records and the lived experience of every kid who attended private Montessori and prep school with her in St. Louis. Her theory, as stated in that Chronicle letter, is that the highest standard of honesty requires only that you avoid provable lies. In her view it’s not dishonest to embellish or mislead. In her mind, according to her recent public statements, honesty does not mean “The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

What happens when she’s a caseworker and concludes that someone did or did not abuse a child? Who could believe her, either way? Or suppose she becomes an academic and does research. Who could ever rely on it? In some fields at least another researcher could go back and look at the sample in a lab. But not in social work. Social work depends on the honesty of the social worker. They can’t issue the degree if she continues to insist that she did nothing wrong.

To be fair she said she was broken and since her bones were not broken they said it was a lie. Not true in English 101.

She said teachers called CPS over a dozen times and it was 7, but she was 8-11 years old so who remembers exact numbers.

Their case for a "lie" is pretty weak.

? She is the plaintiff. They don't have to prove anything. She has to prove retaliation (for her complaint about the unsafe basement and being witness in a lawsuit against the university); tortious interference with business relations (informing the Rhodes Committee of her real background); and intentional and negligent infliction of mental distress). Had Penn not said anything and turned a blind eye to what they learned I think they would have been a party to fraud on the Rhodes Committee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UPenn's definition of first generation may hurt it though I understand there is much more to this. I don't have the exact definition but I believe if the applicant was estranged from a college graduate parent that would count.

She obviously misled the university and the Rhodes Scholarship committee. But her life sounds sad and hard. She clearly needs therapy and more support. I hope she finds it.

They obviously read into it but she didn’t obviously mislead.

Her words were misleading. If she’s too idiotic to see that, then she was unfit for admission to Penn as an undergraduate and is certainly unfit for a graduate degree or a Rhodes scholarship. Given her level of academic success in high school and at Penn, as well as the obvious utility of her dishonesty, it is far more likely that she understood exactly what she was doing and is merely unethical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Penn dropped the $4K restitution before she brought suit. They say they never do restitution for honor code violations.

But they are demanding the apology. And in fact I don’t see how Penn can grant the degree without an apology. As it stands she says she has the right to tell her story as she sees it, even when applying for a competitive honor that requires honesty, even when her story contradicts both the written records and the lived experience of every kid who attended private Montessori and prep school with her in St. Louis. Her theory, as stated in that Chronicle letter, is that the highest standard of honesty requires only that you avoid provable lies. In her view it’s not dishonest to embellish or mislead. In her mind, according to her recent public statements, honesty does not mean “The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

What happens when she’s a caseworker and concludes that someone did or did not abuse a child? Who could believe her, either way? Or suppose she becomes an academic and does research. Who could ever rely on it? In some fields at least another researcher could go back and look at the sample in a lab. But not in social work. Social work depends on the honesty of the social worker. They can’t issue the degree if she continues to insist that she did nothing wrong.

To be fair she said she was broken and since her bones were not broken they said it was a lie. Not true in English 101.

She said teachers called CPS over a dozen times and it was 7, but she was 8-11 years old so who remembers exact numbers.

Their case for a "lie" is pretty weak.

? She is the plaintiff. They don't have to prove anything. She has to prove retaliation (for her complaint about the unsafe basement and being witness in a lawsuit against the university); tortious interference with business relations (informing the Rhodes Committee of her real background); and intentional and negligent infliction of mental distress). Had Penn not said anything and turned a blind eye to what they learned I think they would have been a party to fraud on the Rhodes Committee.

+1