Again following the advice of her college counselor, she did not identify her parents on her application, since she was estranged from both of them (she describes them both as "biological"[3][2]). [1]:86, Morrison prospered in her medical career, and she provided generously for her daughter, allowing her to ride horses, go on river rafting trips and attend exclusive private schools, such as Whitfield, in nearby Creve Coeur, where annual tuition was almost $30,000. . At school, she began confiding about her situation with a history teacher, telling them about her mother's physical abuse. [2], Two months later the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. [2], Brandt interviewed Morrison, who described herself and her daughter as "two peas in a pod". [2], One day in September 2014, she told the history teacher about Lovelace's abuse. It called attention to claims, such as the one in her application essay, that by the time she was six she "knew every police officer in my county by their first name", a claim Fierceton herself admitted was untrue and born of her fear of her biological family when she wrote it. Penn's admissions department thus automatically coded Fierceton as a first-generation student, a category it was seeking to increase among its undergraduate population, even though her mother had an advanced degree[2] and her grandfather was a college graduate who had taught at the University of Missouri. She bounced from one foster home to the next. She was an Ivy League student with an inspiring story. A former St. Louisan who shared a story of a childhood spent in foster homes has lost her 2021 Rhodes Scholarship. Then the University of Pennsylvania accused her of. NOTICE TO PLEADTO PLAINTIFF MACKENZIE FIERCETON: You are hereby notified to file a written response to the enclosed New Matter within twenty (20) days from the date of service hereof or a judgment may be entered against you. "Was the problem that a child who was placed into foster care and had no contact with her biological mother wasn't actually a first-generation college student? [2] Morrison's bond was originally set at $40,000, but lowered to $5,000 over prosecutors' strenuous objections. Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur | History, Culture, & Geography A cousin who lived with the Morrisons for a while did not see any signs of abuse and believed it was possible Fierceton could have inflicted the injuries herself. She added the additional detail that at the time of her first hospitalization, Fierceton had just failed her first AP Chemistry test. She and a separate witness said records of child-welfare agencies from years earlier are not easy to obtain. Jay Caspian Kang sounded similar themes in two different New York Times newsletters discussing Fierceton's story. "[2], In December, an anonymous 22-page letter was sent to the U.S. office of the Rhodes Trust, which administers the scholarship program. In November 2020, Mackenzie Fierceton was one of just 32 students to be awarded the Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford. [3] In high school there, Fierceton was a model student. Mackenzie Fierceton, of St. Louis County, lost out on what is known as the most prestigious international scholarship program, after claims that she lied on her application about being a "first-generation low-income student." . Mackenzie Fierceton was championed as a former foster youth who had overcome an abusive childhood and won a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. St. Louis Rhodes scholar has honor revoked after investigation reveals Then her university started investigating. Fostering Youth Voices - The Pennsylvania Gazette [23] In mid-April, Penn released Fierceton's master's degree. Smith said he believed the university had decided before it began investigating that Fierceton's abuse allegations were false and that she had fabricated them with the goal of finding an easier way into Penn or another elite school. Rhodes scholar denied honor after 'dishonesty' about life story

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