There, she wandered the hallways until she found the history teacher, and collapsed. And to me, I'm like I am a household of one, so I am the only person in my family. But it doesnt mean you were always low-income, just that you are now. Those investigations revealed that for the first 17 years of her life, Fierceton was raised by her mother, Dr. Carrie Morrison, an accomplished physician. It was: Shes a spoiled little brat. Enough blood? But Mackenzie Fierceton is not a liar. Which as Im sure youve learned since is a complete and fundamental misunderstanding of poverty . And I asked again and just said: Ive had different experiences of harassment for the last four years at Penn. Mackenzies critics even began nitpicking how much blood was in her hair while she was in the intensive care unit. The Intercept is an independent nonprofit news outlet. But afterwards she was anxious enough about how her mother might react to remain on the other side of the kitchen counter island from Morrison while they talked in the kitchen, "bracing for impact", she wrote in her diary. The kind of reporting we do is essential to democracy, but it is not easy, cheap, or profitable. In any event, The University of Oxford, where Mackenzies doing her Ph.D., has remained supportive, and in the wake of The New Yorker investigation, and the resulting protests from students and faculty, Penn lifted the hold on her degree. "I really don't have words,'" she told a mentor at the Penn Women's Center. And that was the end of it, right? The teacher recalled that she had black eyes and hair matted with blood, a description corroborated by a nurse who saw her on arrival after an ambulance brought her to nearby Mercy Hospital St. Louis. [2] Winkelstein, who has a Ph.D. in bioengineering and has studied injuries,[3] then proceeded to interrogate Fierceton at length about her abuse and hospitalization, in a manner that led Fierceton to believe that not only did Winkelstein doubt her story but had spoken with Morrison. She was abused, but there is not enough blood." MF: No, I found it before. [2], "Family is not the people you are related to by blood," she wrote in the diary. In April, the trust's investigative committee produced a 15-page report praising Fierceton as "gifted, driven, and charismatic" but concluding ultimately that she "created and repeatedly shared false narratives about herself", noting in particular her references to injuries she was treated for in her September 2014 hospital stay that are not reflected in her medical records. The wellness director told her she would have to notify the state's Department of Social Services (DSS) of the incident. I think they do have a richer experience if they have more diversity around them, but that is more the point. She was hospitalized twice in 2014 due to injuries she says were inflicted by her mother; after the second stay, which lasted three weeks, the state removed her from the house and placed her in foster care. You have a good education and youre clearly smart. Yeah, it was, things like that where I simplified all of these foster kids that youre living with a biological family who have kids, which I would say are foster siblings. RG: I want to talk about where you think that pushback came from. And it felt very similar that, well, this cant be real. Yes. [2], Over the middle of 2020, Fierceton became active in the Black Lives Matter protests at Penn. The reality star has struggled with drug addiction for years. Penn didnt respond to a request for comment, but in its response to Mackenzies lawsuit, they write: Penn denies that there are accessibility problems with the Caster Building which contributed to Mackenzies medical emergency or to [Cameron] Drivers death. And at the time I was more in panic mode than like, let me step back and look at this logically, theres absolutely no case, this is an intimidation tactic to try to silence me and sign this NDA and withdraw from the Rhodes and agree to whatever terms they wanted me to agree to you. She arrives as a new student at Erinsborough High School and is connected to the . It seemed like there was a lack of internal emergency protocols within our grad school, the School of Social Policy & Practice. That was my personal statement. Mackenzie Fierceton, a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania, has won the prestigious and extremely competitive Rhodes Scholarship, which will allow her to study at Oxford in November 2020. "They are the people that support you, look out for you, & love you unconditionally. The court had ordered Fierceton and Morrison into family therapy, but the former was too afraid of the latter to do it. She chose Fierceton from a list of names she had come up with herself that projected strength, and a petition to the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia was accepted. And its no offense its not like the most profound . But I agreed to come into this Zoom meeting and this was the last day of November 2020. [2], Fierceton supplied the trust's investigators with her medical and court records from the mid-2010s as well as letters from 26 peopleteachers at Whitfield, the three Penn faculty members who had written her Rhodes recommendation letters, vouching for her abuse claims and saying she had never misrepresented herself. Im part of a wrongful death lawsuit that was filed in August, 2020. And because you were not just low-income, actually no income, other than the jobs that you were working nobody has complained about the low-income one, right? She was one of only 32 high school students selected from a pool of 2300 applicants. And its funny, cause it just made me so frustrated and I actually went back and read it. She didnt know he was in the basement. But in this application they had two questions which are to determine financial aid. "I had so much anger and grief, and I didn't want them to be affiliated in any way with this new life I was building. And with that, like you said, notion of: Well, theres no way that you went to private school and all of this could have still happened, or that you could be low-income now and this idea that socioeconomic status is permanent. [2], The fine was later withdrawn after it was found to conflict with a provision of the university's charter prohibiting the imposition of fines in cases involving academic integrity. One of them, to me, felt pretty clear that it was probably from someone in my biological family, because it had photos of me; it had very specific information that very few people would have and I dont think many people would have random childhood photos of me. So those questions really came later. MF: Yeah. Who would hold party elites accountable to the values they proclaim to have? Fierceton believes it was likely sent by Morrison or one of her close relatives. "She was falling apart under the academic stresses at school and was exhausted, and I believe looking for an out." At the end of the march they were addressed by Fierceton and other FGLI students. There were so many there are, I guess I should say so many moving pieces. She had bruises all over her body in different stages of healing an obvious sign of child abuse.. And you experienced that yourself, right? Although she had not attended an orientation session for first-generation/low-income (FGLI) students she had been invited to, on campus she began attending meetings and gatherings of Penn First, an FGLI student group founded the preceding year to pressure Penn to better accommodate their needs, such as not closing dormitories and cafeterias over breaks since many FGLI students could not, for various reasons, return home during those periods. So Im not sure if it was Penn who reached out to her or vice versa, which I think is also an important question in all of this. And so they had to see some benefit to them in doing this. It recommended the scholarship be rescinded. And one of the main things they pointed to was that she had gone to this private school . I was like: Great. Margulis later told The New Yorker that he had been telling the prosecutor repeatedly that Fierceton "had no credibility and made all of this up", the same theme as Morrison's many arguments in person and over the phone to other Whitfield parents. One, Michael Raffaele, said he believed Morrison was trying to leave Fierceton with no other options. We want to think of it as: If you were ever rich, youre always rich; if youre ever poor, youre always poor. RG: She, about 10 years ago, she wrote a comment I think on a Gawker post or something like that that we ended up then re-publishing as an essay at The Huffington Post about, and it was about her life in poverty, and it went viral, millions of people read it, extremely well-written piece. Like, they want to curate a diverse experience for their well-off students, so that they can say that they had this diverse experience in college . I was in this private school with a lot of upper-middle class or wealthy white students. The reporter had assumed based on her status as a FGLI student which stands for first-generation, low-income that she had been poor her entire life. Or is this something thats been overlooked? Yeah. I didnt even really think about it when I checked it, because I felt like I had a lot of information that backed it up. So you use what you have, uh, which are the definitions that were already out there. A 24-year-old Rhodes Scholar has left the prestigious program after being accused of lying about growing up poor, reports say. I really appreciate it. 's office explained the decision to drop the charges against Morrison as based on new evidence that had emerged. "[2][j], The evening the story ran, Ruderman called Fierceton back and told her she had received some anonymously written emails casting doubt on what she had written. Is that your experience with it as well? And that dynamic, I would say, [laughs] probably played a big part in all of this. That is when I would trace it back to. [2][5] It did not disclose that it had done so until March. And when I asked her again when I was gathering all this evidence in 2020, she gave me the same answer of: I dont believe its relevant, and this box isnt relevant to admission. [2], Two weeks after the New Yorker article was published, Fierceton gave an interview to The Intercept's Ryan Grim for an installment of the Deconstructed podcast. Did they make that threat in writing or was that . MF: Yeah, it was, things like that where I simplified all of these foster kids that youre living with a biological family who have kids, which I would say are foster siblings. Morrison was arrested and charged with felony child abuse and third-degree assault (a misdemeanor) in the incident that had led to Fierceton's hospitalization, and an additional felony child abuse count for the incident that had triggered the DSS caseworker's visit earlier in the year; the arrest warrant alleged that Morrison had deliberately slammed her daughter's head into the table. The article by reporter Rachel Aviv was called How an Ivy League School Turned Against a Student, and it tells the story of an extraordinary battle between Mackenzie and the University of Pennsylvania. One home, during her junior year of high school, was so "toxic" and crammed with other foster kids that she left for weeks at a time, sleeping each night on a carousel of couches at the homes of various friends, she said. Because processes become Kafkaesque very quickly. MF: verbally. And then I remembered that my teacher had told me to write a gratitude list. She considered the advantages and disadvantages of reporting her mother, but ultimately feared she might not even be believed, as her mother would tell people she was mentally ill or lying. I was a teenager and I was in the hospital and I didnt have any perspective. If youd like to support our work, go to theintercept.com/give your donation, no matter what the amount, makes a real difference. But I guess I cant say for sure. Penn's Office of Student Conduct recommended withholding her master's degree until she paid a fine; both conditions were dropped but a notation about the investigative finding remains in her transcript. [9][3], In her sophomore year, Fierceton, already majoring in political science,[3] decided to pursue social work as a career, with the goal of being a voice for children in foster care like the ones she had come to know. MF: You know, I honestly dont know. So therefore that doesnt fit their understanding of low-income, despite the fact that your mother was no longer your legal guardian, youre a ward of the state. Ultimately, she lost her Rhodes Scholarship, and Penn withheld her masters degree, demanding a letter of apology. A picture of her was posted at the nurse's station should she make the attempt. And please go and leave us a rating or a review it helps people find the show. Have you ever heard of her case? And they released this quote-unquote report in April of 2021 with their findings. RG: Talk just a little bit about that case . It was literally just like: She was arrested and her daughter is hospitalized. Fierceton's mother's supporters have maintained that her daughter was an emotionally manipulative girl who injured herself and fabricated other aspects of the abuse in order to become a more appealing candidate for admission to an Ivy League college such as the University of Pennsylvania. Fierceton said later that she had never used the word "poor" to describe herself or her childhood. verbally. And she was shocked. Youre engaged in a lawsuit with Penn. Our theme music was composed by Bart Warshaw. To me, it seems like any reader of the English language would read that in a literary sense , RG: of its self-exploration, self-doubt, trauma. So that was what that specific sentence in The New Yorker was referencing is this kind of condensing this group of people and to one sentence. But it did open with these literary elements of what I was feeling like, and the experience I was having in those moments. And I think its true. MF: At first there was actually, there was contention. But the acclaim quickly devolved into acrimony as the university and the Rhodes Trust began questioning aspects of Fiercetons backstory. And so can you talk a little bit about your research? Brandt, the Chesterfield police detective who had originally investigated the case, said later that the prosecutor never explained to her what that new evidence was. Theres a lot of chaos. Mackenzie Fierceton (born Mackenzie Terrell on August 9, 1997; later Mackenzie Morrison, [1] : 63-64, 86 ) is an American activist and graduate student currently studying at Oxford University. And still, it was just like: Nope. RG: Nothing I have is persuasive to these people. Mackenzie is currently suing the university. Professor Walter Licht, a Penn historian who runs the program, recalls her as the sort of student who would "[ask] a question that makes everyone stop and brings the conversation to a different pitch." Her supporters at Penn have called for the university's acting provost, Beth Winkelstein, to be held accountable for her role in the investigation, which has been characterized as a continuation of the abuse. RG: Like questioning: How much blood? [2] Katie Couric had Fierceton as a guest on her podcast a week later. [2] Fierceton and her mentor reconstructed the conversation and transcribed it; the university has claimed it is inaccurate but the mentor stands by it. The Chronicle reports that although she spent her final year of high school in foster care, the student had grown up in an affluent suburb of St. Louis with her mother, a radiologist, and attended private schools. And then the focus shifted to the second box. [2], To White, Morrison repeated her story that her daughter had fabricated the abuse allegations. First of all, thats one box? She had bruises all over her body in different stages of healing an obvious sign of child abuse., No, I found it before. The father's message was forwarded to Penn's general counsel, Wendy White, who got in touch with Morrison. And then as the different internships, and then I went to get my masters in social work and all of this happened, I started to see that continue in different capacities while I was in different roles, seeing that theme in this relationship between foster care and the criminal justice system. [2] Afterwards Morrison changed her daughter's last name to her own. And, in this case, almost everyone who was involved in the university administration are upper middle class or very wealthy, highly academically educated white women. Others echoed the criticism. [2], Shortly after the Rhodes investigation began, Rafaelle was informed that Penn was proposing to revoke Fierceton's bachelors on the grounds of her apparent self-misrepresentation. Mackenzie Fierceton is the child of a doctor who attended a private prep school in a wealthy suburb. And if you read it aloud, its almost exactly the length of the phone call. I wasnt there for all of this, but after I went through all these interviews, that was my conclusion. "You can't couch-surf in a pandemic", Norton said. You know, in my personal experience, there were not very many kids who came from a background like me. In The New Yorker article, one teacher had written: She showed up at my classroom door with a bloodied and battered face and then fainted., RG: And then, Rachel Aviv, the reporter also quotes Sherry McClain, who was a nurse who was assigned to you, she said: She had two black eyes, and her hair was full of blood. In The New Yorker article, one teacher had written: She showed up at my classroom door with a bloodied and battered face and then fainted., And then, Rachel Aviv, the reporter also quotes Sherry McClain, who was a nurse who was assigned to you, she said: She had two black eyes, and her hair was full of blood. MF: Yeah. So Im not sure how much could have been missing. But in this application they had two questions which are to determine financial aid. Fellow students, their parents and Whitfield faculty also noticed signs which led them to suspect abuse. [3], By the end of the interview Fierceton was crying. [5] Lovelace was also arrested and charged with sexual abuse. MF: Yeah. After her graduation summa cum laude, political science professor Anne Norton invited Fierceton to stay with her and her partner in their large house in Northwest Philadelphia for as long as she needed to in order to complete her master's over the next year. I cant say how many questions are left and were close to done. And they released this quote-unquote report in April of 2021 with their findings. So Rachel had it and Penn disputed it. And all of us, no matter what our situation, are not completely safe from it. [2], Morrison's arrest had been reported in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,[6] where commenters on the online version of the story took her side, speculating that Fierceton was "an entitled brat" who had vengefully fabricated charges that had the potential to end her mother's medical career. "I advised him that this was ridiculous, and this had to be a 'status thing", she said. And at the time I was more in panic mode than like, let me step back and look at this logically, theres absolutely no case, this is an intimidation tactic to try to silence me and sign this NDA and withdraw from the Rhodes and agree to whatever terms they wanted me to agree to you. Uh, my lawyer. And then the other question was: Are you the first in your family to attend college? A teenager and I asked again and just said: Ive had different experiences harassment..., in my personal experience, there was contention about your research out for you look. 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