Scholar St. Louis Rhodes has his honor revoked after an investigation reveals his past

ST. LOUIS, Mo. College applications can be tedious and stressful. Pressure on students to be accepted can be enormous. An alumnus of St. Louis was accused of straining the truth. Her story has earned her one of the most highly regarded scholarships in the world. The problem is that a year of her life spent in foster care doesn’t fit the sad story she’s telling colleges and boards.

Mackenzie Fierceton was named a 2021 Penn Rhodes Scholar. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Penn and is working on a master’s degree in social work. The 23-year-old plans to use the scholarship to go to Oxford to pursue a Ph. in social policy.

Fierceton beat more than 2,300 applicants from around the country to win the prestigious award. It allows the recipient to study for free at the University of Oxford in the UK.

She won the scholarship, in part because of her story. Mackenzie says she grew up in the foster care system, going from house to house and staying on friends’ couches because some of the living conditions were so dire.

Tell the Philadelphia Inquirer that She devoted herself to her studies, “School has always been an outlet because I never felt like I had any control over my family life or any other part of my life. me.”

“As a low-income first-generation student and foster youth former, Mackenzie is passionate about advocating for young people in those communities through academic, professional, and personal endeavors, devote himself to a life of public service” University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann wrote during the award announcement.

An investigation into her past is revealed by Chronicles of Higher Education shows that her story does not match reality. They say a tipper contacted the Rhodes and Penn committee, calling Fierceton’s story dishonest. She actually grew up with her mother in a house on a tree-lined street in an upper-class neighborhood. Her mother had a very good job at a St. Louis and Mackenzie have a hobby of horseback riding.

There are several other red flags. A 2020 profile in St. Louis Post-Dispatch shows that She graduated in 2016 from the Whitfield School in Creve Coeur. Tuition for that institution was about $30,000 a year before financial aid was available. She told the newspaper her foster homes are in Manchester, Clayton and Creve Coeur.

Fierceton spent a year in foster care. It was after an incident with her mother. But those investigating the case say her childhood was not as harsh as she claims.

The Rhodes Committee recommended that Fierceton’s scholarship be revoked. In response, she withdrew herself from her honor. Penn is also withholding Fierceton’s master’s degree because of their concerns about the truth. Fierceton says the administrators were involved in a conspiracy against her.

Still wondering about her unique last name? Fierceton changed it when he was in college.