Mackenzie Fierceton, 23 Rhodes Scholar Who Allegedly Lied About Childhood Abuse, Poverty Loses Spot at Oxford

Mackenzie Fierceton, 23 Rhodes Scholar Who Allegedly Lied About Childhood Abuse, Poverty Loses Spot at Oxford

According to a November 2020 press release issued by the Rhodes Trust, Fierceton was one of 32 Americans virtually selected out of 2,300 applicants to study in her field at the University of Oxford in England in October 2022.

"We are extremely proud of Penn's newest Rhodes Scholar," President Amy Gutmann originally said about Fierceton's selection. "Committed to research and advocacy to make a positive impact in the world, Mackenzie is so deserving of this prestigious opportunity to build upon her Penn education and experience.

"As a first-generation low-income student and a former foster youth, Mackenzie is passionate about championing young people in those communities through her academic, professional, and personal endeavors, dedicating herself to a life of public service.

Fierceton would have been the 31st Penn Rhodes Scholar.

But the Ivy League graduate's dreams were thwarted when an anonymous tip submitted to the Rhodes Trust and University of Pennsylvania reported her for being "blatantly dishonest."

The source told the Rhodes Trust that Fierceton, whose birth name was Mackenzie Morrison, actually went to a private school in Missouri rather than spend the majority of her life in foster care as her application described.

An article published in the Chronicle for Higher Education described how Fierceton's past came back to haunt her, as officials at the University of Pennsylvania requested real answers behind her life story.

The Rhodes selection was followed by an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer, in which the publication printed that she "grew up poor, cycling through the child welfare system. Her circumstances, while difficult, set her on a path that made education her escape."

"School was always an outlet because I never felt like I had any control over my home life or any other part of my life. ...Also, I loved learning and it was genuinely a joyful thing for me," she was quoted in the story.

Also, in a 2020 story published by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, it was stated that Fierceton graduated from Whitfield School in Creve Coeur, a suburb of St. Louis, in 2016. Tuition at the school is reportedly about $30,000 per year before financial aid, according to the Evening Standard.
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"Statistics show that only 2% of foster youth graduate from four-year universities and most also do not even graduate from high school,” Fierceton told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “The overwhelming majority of us do want to graduate high school – it’s just that because of a million systemic factors and barriers and obstacles and systematic oppression that everyone faces, it’s just very, very challenging."

After the article was published in November of 2020, an anonymous tip was sent to officials at the University of Pennsylvania and Rhodes Trust saying that Fierceton was “blatantly dishonest in the representation of her childhood" and included photos of Fierceton skydiving, riding a horse and whitewater rafting, according to The Chronicle.

According to The Chronicle, the investigation revealed that Fierceton attended Whitfield, a private school in St. Louis with tuition of nearly $30,000 a year, and her mother was a radiologist with a college degree.

Fierceton has filed a lawsuit against the University of Pennsylvania over the investigation.

In a statement to USA TODAY, the University of Pennsylvania said, "We are disappointed that Mackenzie Fierceton has chosen to file a lawsuit, especially after she has received so many opportunities at Penn. Ordinarily, we do not comment on pending litigation. This matter, however, is far from ordinary... There is no basis for Ms. Fierceton’s claims. We are confident that Penn and the individuals named by Ms. Fierceton as additional defendants will be vindicated in the litigation."