Rhodes Scholarship Revoked After Student Lied About Impoverished Background

A University of Pennsylvania student saw her Rhodes Scholarship revoked and her master’s degree withheld amid accusations that she fabricated details of her past.

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in 2020, Mackenzie Fierceton was one of only 32 people selected for the Rhodes Scholarship. She began working on a clinical master’s degree at the school. Then, shortly after, a story ran in The Philadelphia Inquirer that included an interview with Fierceton, and an anonymous tip came in.

Information was sent to the Rhodes Trust and to the University of Pennsylvania, claiming that Fierceton was “blatantly dishonest in the representation of her childhood.” She claimed to have overcome a difficult and impoverished childhood where she bounced around to various foster homes. 

Included in the tip were pictures of Fierceton horseback riding, skydiving, and whitewater rafting, according to US Today, citing a report from The Chronicle of Higher Education. The information led to the Rhodes Trust and school opening an investigation. 

“Penn and the Rhodes Trust received credible information that called into question statements Ms. Fierceton made in her applications for admission, financial assistance and scholarships,” the university said in a statement to USA Today.

The investigation revealed that Fierceton has attended Whitfield, a private school in St. Louis that boasts tuition of about $30,000 a year. In addition, it was determined that her mother was a college graduate and a radiologist. 

Investigators also found conflicting reports about the abuse Fierceton allegedly received at the hands of her mother. She spent under a year in foster care when she was 17 after accusing her mother of pushing her down the stairs. Her mother was arrested, but the charges were later dropped, according to the Evening Standard.

In response, it was recommended that her Rhodes Scholarship be withdrawn. She decided to remove herself. 

Fierceton denies lying about her background. Last month, Fierceton filed a lawsuit against the university alleging the investigation into her was a “sham,” that they are wrongly withholding her master’s, and that the school wrote a “secret letter” to the Rhodes committee. 

“We are disappointed that Mackenzie Fierceton has chosen to file a lawsuit, especially after she has received so many opportunities at Penn,” a representative for Penn told The New York Post. “There is no basis for Ms. Fierceton’s claims.”