Academic Irony

What a tangled web of deception has come to light at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology:

Marilee Jones, a prominent crusader against the pressure on students to build their resumes for elite colleges, resigned yesterday as dean of admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after acknowledging she had misrepresented her own academic credentials.

It turns out that Dean Jones did more than just pad her c.v. through exaggeration or clever use of adjectives. She actually made things up by claiming to have earned degrees that she had not, in fact, earned.

According to Justin Pope of the AP:

She falsely bolstered her credentials to get a job with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and over the course of her career claimed to have earned degrees from three schools. MIT officials say now they have no evidence she ever graduated from college at all.

Apparently Jones couldn't even keep her own story straight: She claimed, over the years, to have degrees from Union College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the Albany Medical College.

What was it that Mark Twain said about lying? "Always tell the truth. That way, you don't have to remember what you said."