[2][4][15], After learning this, Fierceton and a fellow SP2 student began doing research. And now they have to face the fact that someone who looks like them, who shares all these identities with them, could be the source of all of this harm. 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. I think there were almost 30 of those letters again, very similar to who had given statements in the past to corroborate my abuse as well as leaders in the FGLI community saying yes, we started this community. 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. 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. Like one of them was describing a biological child in a house as another foster child, and something about a half-brother or something.What were those and how were those errors kind of deployed against you? RG: Right. [2] When she turned 18, she formally left foster care[d] but continued living with the family whose home she was in. Because that was one of the ones that really blew my mind. And I was the one who uncovered my classmates death. Her sister also wrote White as well, alleging that Fierceton "deliberately tried to frame Carrie and planted 'evidence' around the house, including her own blood. Its a very different lifestyle. Ultimately, she lost her Rhodes Scholarship, and Penn withheld her masters degree, demanding a letter of apology. If youre an independent student, then you should check yes to both boxes. So you applied for your masters in social work and there was a question of whether to check the, what Ive learned is called the FGLI box: first-generation, low-income. His master's level university, Ivy College Pennsylvania, also failed to grant him the acquired master's degree . 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. Whereas white parents, a lot of times, it is much harder the bar is much higher to remove them from their homes because their whiteness or possibly class privilege or whatever identities that they have that might not fit a social worker or judges or whoevers involved perception of whose kids should be in the foster system. [1]:64, In February 2015, before presenting the evidence against Morrison to a grand jury for an indictment, the St. Louis County district attorney's office dropped all the charges against Morrison over Brandt's objections. Penn claims that was meant purely for purposes of the program, to attract as many students as possible who could benefit from participation in it. Theyre not on a website. And so if its a well-educated white girl from a private school, thats way too close to home for a lot of these elites. [2] She was also working two jobs, as a policy fellow with Philadelphia City Council and another interning in social work at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. MF: Yes, definitely. It didnt, though, to the University of Pennsylvania. ", "Inside Mackenzie Fierceton's ongoing legal battle with the University", "Mackenzie Fierceton Sets the Record Straight on Losing a Rhodes Scholarship Over Accusations of 'Dishonesty', "Penn community rallies in support of former Rhodes Scholar Mackenzie Fierceton", "Universities must stop fetishizing trauma", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mackenzie_Fierceton&oldid=1138496124, controversy over representation of childhood and abuse, This page was last edited on 10 February 2023, at 00:35. It seemed like there was a lack of internal emergency protocols within our grad school, the School of Social Policy & Practice. She also called herself a first-generation low-income student. [Laughs.]. And because poverty and abuse are so pervasive in society and particularly in a country that has such a minimal social safety net and has so much violence. That was my personal statement. 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. RG: in America. She petitioned the court, and was able to successfully have her name removed, with a judge ruling that there wasnt enough evidence to substantiate the abuse allegations specifically, saying, While it is possible that Petitioner was the cause of the alleged injuries, the court cannot make that finding by a preponderance of the evidence based on the evidence presented.. When I came to Penn and saw all of these students who were living that life, there was a sense of community and solidarity amongst us, which was very powerful for me because I just felt so out of place. [2], "Family is not the people you are related to by blood," she wrote in the diary. Mackenzie Fierceton grew up poor, cycling through the rocky child welfare system. Because Im not under any illusion that Im the typical foster kid. [2], Fierceton shared the information she had with Logan, who in turn took it to a law firm that investigated further. But its relevant to financial aid and the student should check whatever box is going to give them most access to financial aid, which would be yes to both questions. He died of his heart attack within 12 minutes of arrival at the hospital. 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. MF: You know, I believe the first people who said that was the Rhodes Trust. It was literally just like: She was arrested and her daughter is hospitalized. She began to realize that she had no sense of identity. "[2], When Fierceton returned to the St. Louis area on vacations and breaks, she stayed with friends. My life is over, Im in the hospital, Im at rock bottom. What kind of a group is that? A former teacher in elementary school recalled that in one of those calls, Morrison made a reference to an earlier discussion of Fierceton's mental illness; the teacher did not remember any such conversation. MF: I think youre right. When they did, they were unable to get stretchers or backboards down Caster's stairways or elevators as there was insufficient space. MF: No, I found it before. At school, she began confiding about her situation with a history teacher, telling them about her mother's physical abuse. An article in The Philadelphia Inquirer erroneously wrote that she had grown up poor. RG: So you applied for your masters in social work and there was a question of whether to check the, what Ive learned is called the FGLI box: first-generation, low-income. 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. Morrison told White in an email. And eventually they filed a big wrongful death lawsuit in August 2020. And it was also the community was kind of divided. And I dont remember exactly what their statement was, but they disputed it. And Im glad that people are having the kinds of systemic discussions that are so key to all of this. But they just assumed theres no way that it could have happened. [19] The New York Post wrote that "[t]he case exposes the murky underbelly of elite schools like Penn. There were definitely, Im sure. [2], At the end of 2013, in the middle of her sophomore year, Fierceton was admitted to St. Luke's, where her mother worked, with a head injury. How much research has been done on the foster-care-to-prison-pipeline? Mackenzie Morrison was born Mackenzie Terrell but took her mother's name after her father, Billy Terrell, who worked in soap operas, left. While that was not literally true, Penn's own definition of an FGLI student included those who have a "strained or limited" relationship with a parent who has graduated from college. MF: Yeah. Gathering outside Caster, whose renovation they also demanded, they marched toward College Hall, where Winkelstein had taken over as interim provost following Gutmann's departure, and chanted for her ouster as well. Right. And I dont remember exactly what their statement was, but they disputed it. And that feels like one of them where it feels like the system is willfully misunderstanding reality in order to bend it in their direction. I didnt encounter many of them in the two years that I was living in foster families. Beth Winkelstein, at the time Penn's deputy provost, signed off on her application for the school, writing that "Mackenzie understands what it is like to be an at-risk youth, and she is determined to re-make the systems that block rather than facilitate success. Like questioning: How much blood? was truthful, Rafaelle feared that Penn might share its information with the government and if the U.S. Attorney decided to pursue a prosecution, it would be likely to last a long time and consume much of her attention. [2], For her senior year, Whitfield gave Fierceton a full scholarship. And I didnt really know any information, except for that he had had a medical emergency in class and then been pronounced dead at the hospital. ", When Penn's Office of Student Conduct confronted Fierceton with the discrepancy between her statement on two of her applications that she ", The exact definition of FGLI relevant to forms Fierceton filled out is a key point in the Rhodes Trust and Penn investigations of her. And so can you talk a little bit about your research? It was more, I think, in the times after and the months after where I ended up like giving different medical records and all of these things to corroborate my account, but there were a few questions that were very specific to what had happened. And so I wanted to start with where things really started to unravel for you. And so I was like, of course, Im going to respond again. We dont have ads, so we depend on our members 35,000 and counting to help us hold the powerful to account. And thats an unfortunate reality so many survivors experience, not having a lot of documentation. And then the other question was: Are you the first in your family to attend college? I wasnt there for all of this, but after I went through all these interviews, that was my conclusion. The university's police did not know at first where the building was and the city's paramedics did not know how to get to it. And so, Mackenzie, you and I were just talking offline. [2], In public, while she was at Whitfield, Morrison and her daughter seemed to evoke the Gilmore Girls, echoing that television series's main characters, a single mother and her precocious daughter with a close and strong relationship. I think its a reflection of the systemic prejudices . Or is this something thats been overlooked? According to Fierceton, her mother pushed her down the stairs and then beat her extensively at the bottom. And I was having flashbacks to cross-examinations and depositions Id given about this which later made sense, because we found out that Wendy White had spoken with one of Carries defense lawyers. It's from there the story unraveled. But in this application they had two questions which are to determine financial aid. A college counselor suggested she apply through QuestBridge, a nonprofit that helps qualified students in need find schools that will give them full financial support. Is it as well explored territory as a school-to-prison pipeline? Picture: University of Pennsylvania/Instagram. MF: Yeah. Last edited on 10 February 2023, at 00:35, Learn how and when to remove this template message, the state's Department of Social Services, tortious interference with a business relationship, negligent infliction of emotional distress, "Verified Answer and New Matter to Plaintiff's Complaint", "How an Ivy League School Turned Against a Student", "Deconstructed: Mackenzie Fierceton on Her Battle With UPenn", "Ex Alderman Newsletter 168 And Chesterfield 113", "St. Luke's physician charged with felony child abuse", "Abuse charges against former St. Luke's physician are dropped", "Henry Lovelace, owner of Wild Horse Fitness Passes Away", "Former St. Louis woman who spent time in foster care named Rhodes Scholar", "Thousands petition U. to cut ties with Philly PD, reform militarized campus 'police state', "Penn student who aged out of foster care wins prestigious Rhodes Scholarship", "Following public outcry, Penn lifts hold on former Rhodes Scholar Mackenzie Fierceton's master's degree", "University Mourns Loss of Cameron Avant Driver", "Student loses Rhodes scholarship over allegations of lying about her foster care upbringing", "Former St. Louis-area student loses Rhodes scholarship over 'false narratives', "Student Misleads With Story of Poverty and Abuse and Wins Rhodes ScholarshipNow, the Media Is Defending Her", "Did This Rhodes Wannabe Lie About Her Background? Deconstructed is a production of First Look Media and The Intercept. 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. Its a very under-researched field. I cant say how many questions are left and were close to done. Her account was not completely inaccurateshe described as a foster child one sibling of hers who was actually the biological child of her foster parents, for instance, which she attributed later to not having developed her essay at length. 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. And how much confidence do you have that that anonymous complainer was Carrie, your biological mother. And I didnt get an answer. She expressed some concern to Penn staff that if she won, the media attention might incite her mother and her family to attack her reputation, and expressed on a form she filed with Penn as part of the process a concern of hers that FGLI students such as herself were "pressured to be someone they were not amidst their application process." How many covert wars, miscarriages of justice, and dystopian technologies would remain hidden if our reporters werent on the beat? And so was it later, in a different conversation where they asked about the line in the essay about not being able to recognize yourself or is there some illusion to that in the transcript that you found? [2][5] It did not disclose that it had done so until March. Her mother was arrested and charged with child abuse, but those charges were later dropped; state courts later expunged the arrest and ordered her removed from the state's child-abuser registry. And we do know for sure that she was in touch with the university. And so was it later, in a different conversation where they asked about the line in the essay about not being able to recognize yourself or is there some illusion to that in the transcript that you found? RG: as a kid. And they were the ones I believe and this is public now because Penn attached it to their response to the lawsuit I filed and I believe they were the first ones to mention that I had gone to private school and that they were questioning if I was low-income. Fierceton grew up in a wealthy community and attended an elite private school in a St. Louis suburb. Raised in Chesterfield, Missouri, a West County suburb of St. Louis, she attended and graduated from the Whitfield School in Creve Coeur. But its interesting because most of the questions are about these applications and then the second half is when it turns to these questions of the abuse. Fierceton, according to Penn's response, had learned during her parents' divorce how to make calls to the child-abuse hotline and that teachers were mandatory reporters. And it started with, this paragraph-and-a-half of waking up in the hospital and then, like you said, looking at my face, not recognizing myself, and kind of describing what I felt like and what the room looked like. The father's message was forwarded to Penn's general counsel, Wendy White, who got in touch with Morrison. And how much confidence do you have that that anonymous complainer was Carrie, your biological mother. "[1]:119, Dismissal of mother's charges and expurgation of records, Role in wrongful death suit against university, In its response to Fierceton's suit, Penn quotes Fierceton as telling police as soon as they entered her hospital room after her later injury about her diary and that it would tell them everything they would need to know. This could happen to me. The mother hired a high-powered attorney and engaged in a local campaign to discredit Mackenzie. Penn student and Rhodes Scholarship recipient Mackenzie Fierceton filed a lawsuit against the University following its investigation into allegations that questioned her status as a first-generation, low-income student and survivor of abuse.. The Inquirer story came out in November 2020. "[20][m] A syndicated morning radio show named Fierceton its "donkey of the day". So that was what the actual poem and personal statement was about [laughs.] Like you said, I was called into a meeting. Both reports refrained from expressing an opinion about the truth of her abuse allegations. You have a good education and youre clearly smart. "While it is possible that [she] was the cause of the alleged injuries," she wrote a month afterward, "the court cannot make that finding by a preponderance of the evidence based on the evidence presented." 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