Harvard thinks its program is more stressful than prison. Harvard is seriously out of touch.
104
Harvard, you blew it. Really. I want to know more about her and less about you.
65
This has N O T H I N G to do with race so knock it off! Ms. Jones murdered the body of her own child and till this day will not admit where he is buried. She lied for over two years before the police questioned her. She lied to friends and families and continued on with her life and in society like nothing happened.
She beat her child and even if she didn't, she admitted she left him alone for days. For days she lied to herself and felt nothing about her child being alone and fending for himself. She then lied for two years constantly to everyone. Now you want people to believe she's rehabiliated? The problem with serving your time is if you're a sociopath or in denial, that time served means N O T H I N G.
The guilt she should have felt from leaving her child alone for DAYS, beating him, burying him and then lying to everyone about his location should have weighed on her. Most people would crack instantly with that type of guilt but she never did. She went into prison lying.
You can be smart and a low-life sociopath. Serving your time doesn't mean you get to go to Harvard, especially knowing her circumstances.
122
She was 14 years old then.
48
How nice for her to have the time to study in prison and get her education for free. How many deserving young people would love to have the opportunity for this type of education but can't afford it? This woman brutalized her child and the left him to die alone in agony. And to not be forthcoming about her crime? She deserves nothing from anyone. Her penance for killing that boy should be to have a brilliant mind and not be able to use it to fulfill her potential. Why has she been released if she won't divulge what she did with this poor child's body? This is outrageous.
106
I have been thinking about this 4 year-old child all day.
Was he alone?
Was he in pain?
Was he cold?
Was he scared?
I'm so sorry this child's life was as it was.
121
I can't help but think about that 4 year old child also. I don't know the circumstances, but she was incarcerated for his murder. Not neglect, or accidental death. Murder. Of a 4 year old.
I strongly believe in forgiveness and rehabilitation. People do terrible things to other people. Good people do bad things.
But when an innocent, defenseless child is killed, I find it difficult to celebrate the murderer's future successes
98
Who's paying for her expensive college education?
36
She is out of jail. If you are implying that your tax dollars would pay for her PhD, you are just spreading more false information. If she gets into a college, it will be private funds that pay for it -- or don't you believe that private entities have a right to spend funds as they see fit? Those who look for welfare cheats mainly among the poor turn a convenient blind eye to the cheats who make millions, from the taxpayers, by their cheating.
68
I am appalled at the lack of empathy, sympathy and compassion that commentators have for this woman. She spent 20 years in jail and paid her debt to society. Do you want her to spend her entire life in jail? When does she get to move on? I am sure that some of you have committed far worse crimes than her and never served a day in prison. Shame on all of you!
69
If redemption means anything it means forgiving the unforgivable; Harvard is resentencing Michelle Jones, who has served her time, who has clearly done amazing things while in prison; admission to Harvard should not be a second sentence, which will be unconstitutional under the Double Jeopardy clause
While the rich can buy their children access to elite colleges; Jared Kushner who on the merits will not get into Harvard was admitted to the school because his father donated two and half million dollars, while a well-qualified Michelle Jones was denied a place because of her past.
53
There's a reason for the word: "Unforgivable." It applies here.
65
Michelle Jones committed a horrible crime. She served 20 years in prison for murdering her child. One US President after another with the moral and financial support of the US Congress has murdered hundreds of thousands in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen and other countries in the last 2 decades alone. Not one President or member of Congress has faced jail time for those horrendous crimes. To the contrary, they are celebrated, given honorary degrees, paid enormous sums to pontificate about morality, economics, foreign policy, etc.
69
So Ms. Jones was imprisoned for twenty (20!!) years and "others at Harvard questioned . . . whether she could handle its pressure-cooker atmosphere [at that Ivy League institution?]" Do these people realize what they are saying? For twenty (20!!) years, Ms. Jones must have let a highly regimented life and must have had stomach-turning experiences in the environment she found herself in, yet those "others at Harvard" wondered "whether she could handle [that Ivy League's] pressure cooker?" I would like to see them spend one week in the pressure cooker that Ms. Jones lived in for twenty (20!!) years, and see how they come out. Those "others at Harvard" should be deeply ashamed of themselves; an academic myself, I am deeply offended by their attitude. Their argument had nothing to do with "life in a pressure cooker", and everything to do with their fear of being ridiculed by Fox News and other right leaning media. Arguments like theirs go a long way to explain why the "Trumpeteers" are utterly disgusted with what they refer to as "the bicoastal elite".
53
The comments and reactions to this post are fascinating--and great material for a NYTimes follow-up article. This story captures a number of themes and issues that we, as a society, are grappling with today. As in America today, there's a great deal of diversity in these comments, but the consensus is hard to find, and is almost equally divided between what could be broadly defined as pro-Jones / anti-Harvard and questioning Jones / understanding of Harvard's position.
27
Ms. Jones represents the best of the best that we can possibly expect from individuals who have been incarcerated. Quoting her, “People don’t survive 20 years of incarceration with any kind of grace unless they have the discipline to do their reading and writing in the chaos of that place,” says how driven she is and how much she wants to repay society for a crime she committed and has served her sentence. She is a free woman and should be able to pursue her dreams like any other American. She does not feel sorry for herself. She should be set as the role model for what hard work and truly wanting to become a productive member of society represents. She doesn't need to be sentenced over and over Let her thrive and soar because she has the drive to do it. I applaud her and would love to meet her. These are the individuals who we should seek as role models - the ones who have had little and lost everything, but with determination and hard work, have rebuilt themselves. She will go far and find ways to remove any roadblocks because she is determined and already educated in some of life's hardest lessons.
42
Yes and she achieved her own redemption in a system that neither advocates or facilitates it. Two words for Harvard...one is a verb the other is a pronoun.
23
What I can't get over is how judgmental some of the comments are. As if Ms. Jones should write a letter of Confession to the world, as in "The Confessions of St. Augustine" wherein she accounts for her every thought and motivation in her past actions. It is actually nobody's business. This is not a theocracy. We do not stone women for their sins in the USA. She has already been judged in the criminal justice system and served her sentence. She herself as a child was a victim of extreme circumstances. Obviously, the people who are commenting here are incapable of understanding the disconnect that marginalized people feel in the world.
48
Women may not be physically stoned in our society...but stoned nonetheless in all sorts of other ways.
22
Intelligent narcissistic sociopathic people exist in society. Moral development and character are not the same thing as educational attainment. I would not want such a woman to ever be in a position of influence or authority over others, particularly young minds.
93
I am all for people serving their time and then reintegrating into society, but my God, it is truly abhorrent to profile someone in this fashion who committed such a heinous crime.
88
Harvard's loss; NYU's gain. I especially liked the prosecutor's comment. Harvard does not get to re-judge and re-sentence this woman who served who time and actually bettered herself while serving it.
35
If Harvard can hire Chelsea Channing, then Ms. Jones should have been a simple admit. The double standards are very disturbing.
21
Chelsea Manning, correct, double standard, Ms. Jones paid for her crime as sentenced. I do not believe she is a threat to us. On the other hand Manning, is a real threat to America in general!
9
As a guardian ad litem for several years in the District of Columbia, I saw firsthand how child abuse and neglect continues in those subjected to abuse as children. So it is no surprise Ms Jones killed and tortured her child. What is surprising is that she gets so much attention. She has already won, whether she attends Harvard or somewhere else. Right this minute, children are being abused, children are hungry, children live in substandard housing. Formerly incarcerated women need help and support. I'd rather have the Times allot column inches to these marginalized populations. Ms Jones is not, and should not be a poster child for these marginalized populations whom our society loves to ignore.
79
This is a rare instance in which a prisoner has risen above her unfortunate roots, her crime and her incarceration to begin to fulfill the promise of her intellect. In my opinion as a former probation officer, Harvard missed the boat and NYU did well to accept Ms. Jones. I hope she is able to continue on the course she has chosen for herself, redeeming her crime in the best manner possible.
32
Harvard should have done their due diligence before offering admission. It is not right that Harvard rescinded Ms. Jones admission due to their own negligence. I think the murder of a child is the most heinous crime possible and it is concerning that Ms. Jones minimized her actions. I hope she flourishes at NYU.
8
She got into NYU and not Harvard and that merits this kind of attention. Are you kidding me? Makes me want to become a Faux News watcher or something. Get a clue.
22
Washington Square Park miles more preferable than Harvard Yard.
9
Acceptance in a doctoral program is not the same as a Ph.D. If she had applied but not yet received the school(s) decision, would the headline still read From Prison to Ph.D?
13
It says a lot for today's America as a victim culture that so much criticism is raining down upon Harvard. The woman is a murderer. Not was a murderer. Is a murderer. If she is on the road to redemption, wonderful. She and America are the better for it. But geez, don't tell Harvard how they should evaluate their applicants. They're one of the top Universities in the world. They obviously get the job done. I'll trust them to make a proper evaluation and, even if I didn't, they're a private university and can accept who they want, within the bounds of applicable laws. One pundit here suggested this criticism of Harvard is why the Democrats lost in 2016. No, it's actually why America as a whole is in decline. Everyone is a victim these days, whether it's black murderesses or Trump's white nationalists. Victim culture is a culture destined for failure.
83
I think Michelle Jones might have found more satisfaction, understanding and self forgiveness in writing a book which would most likely be a best seller and might well have helped young abused women find their way without taking it out on their kids.
19
I can't help but notice the irony in the fact that it was Ms. Jones criminal action that likely got her where she is. I mean, if she'd had a perfectly legal abortion, her son would be just as dead, having never been born, and her life would have taken a totally different direction. She might have avoided prison altogether, though who knows? Hindsight is always 20/20, and we all have a million "coulda, woulda, shouldas" from decisions we've made, the good, the bad, and the ugly. How many girls are ready to become mothers at 15 anyway, particularly of a child with a disability? According to her appeal filed, "Brandon suffered from gynatictropin independent precocious puberty, a disorder which accelerated the child's physical development." Not that this excuses the murder of her child, but in a case of the father having sex with a minor, (did he do any time for that?), that some other solution could have been found. It is from dark circumstances augmented by dark actions that Ms. Jones has at least tried to pull herself up from. She will carry the burden of her choices and the choices unwillingly thrust upon her the rest of her life. If she can now contribute something positive to the world, she should at least have the chance to do so.
21
Get real. Once someone decides to have, and keep, the child, it is NOT normal to beat the child so badly that the child dies.
39
She'll get a better education at NYU.
12
“The boy died in 1992 in circumstances that remain unclear; the body was never found.”—Eli Hagersept, author.
This is fake news.
Even a cursory look would have found these facts, as found by a jury, and certified by the trial court and an appeals court http://law.justia.com/cases/indiana/court-of-appeals/1998/111301-lmb.html
• Jones confessed to a crisis clinician counselor and a police officer that she had left Brandon alone for several days and discovered his dead body upon her return.
• Jones confessed to her friend…that she had beaten Brandon, left him alone in his bedroom, and returned several days later to find him dead…[friend] asked whether Jones had beaten Brandon to death, Jones responded, "I guess so.". Jones also told[friend] she had misled police regarding the location of Brandon's body because she was scared.
• Jones lied to her friends regarding [Brandon’s] whereabouts
• State forensic expert John Brooks testified that decaying organic matter, such as flesh, blood, or garbage typically attracts flies in the volume observed at Jones' apartment
• Jones' neighbor noticed that during the summer of 1992, she stopped seeing Brandon and began observing Jones repeatedly washing the inside and outside of her car. Finally, there was no record that Jones ever enrolled Brandon in school or filed a missing persons report with police. Rather, after an extended leave of absence from work, Jones removed Brandon from all insurance coverage.
58
It's interesting to read the comments lording down from on high that she must pay penalties for the rest of her life, even when the prosecutor of the case wrote a recommendation letter for her. Spare us your faux outrage.
19
My question to Mr Stauffer: why are you worried about what Fox thinks? Where is your heart?
12
I see an account of academic achievement, but no sign of the "breathtaking ... rehabilitation" that the writer takes as given.
58
"[First] Harvard President, Henry Dunster very much believed in ‘second chances.’ As a Puritan believer, this very much grew out of his faith in redemption. One amazing story showing this is that of Harvard student James Ward, who, along with another student, was once caught burglarizing homes in Cambridge. Dunster decided to have Ward and his partner in crime, John Weld, publicly whipped, and he decided to do the punishment himself. Both young men were ministers’ sons, so what they had done struck especially hard at the very core of the religious establishment of the emerging Commonwealth. Dunster believed that strong punishment needed to be meted out, but once the discipline was over, he also believed very much in rehabilitation." FROM http://www.henrydunster.org/DUNSTER%20HOUSE%20PRESENTATION__HENRY%20DUNSTER's%20400th%20ANNIVERSARY_Nov%2012%202009.pdf
5
Did everyone here -- sympathetic author, sympathetic commenters, sympathetic professors -- miss something? This woman murdered a child in cold blood. We're not talking about someone who was barred entry to Harvard because they served time for robbing a convenience store as a teenager. Violent crime--the beating and murder of a four year old--is not a mistake. You cannot gain redemption from that. A traumatic childhood does (and should) excuse many things, but child abuse and murder are not amongst them. There is no excuse.
You look at this woman standing before you and you see a victorious struggle against inner demons and an unjust world. I implore you to have compassion! Look a little further! See who is not standing before you -- Brandon Sims, beaten to death by his mother. Brandon Sims, who never got the chance to apply to Harvard, and whose killer you exonerate as having 'served her time'.
We do not need our histories written by people with the blood of children on their hands. A civilized and compassionate society would never have let her out of her cell.
60
She served 20 years in prison! She has paid her debt to society and it is time for her to move on. Are you heartless?
15
Well it is very clear from our warring history (how many children have died at the hands of America's military and corporations?), the inhumane conditions of our prisons, and the very high incidence of children living in poverty that we certainly are not a civilized and compassionate society. You got that part of your self-righteous judgment right.
18
282 applicants ( out of 300) were rejected for the Harvard doctoral program in history. Not one commenter knows anything about the 94% who were rejected. They did not go public with their stories, hence, they get no sympathy or ink. I'm happy that Ms. Jones turned her life around. One could say that she was rewarded by serving less than half of her 40 year sentence on a horrifying crime.
53
Thank you. Your comment is very fair and balanced.
8
The folks at Harvard need to listen to the Invisibilia episode entitled " Invisibilia: Is your personality fixed, or can you change who you are:" It aired originally on June 24, 2017 and is about another person who committed a heinous crime and now seems to be completely changed and redeemed. Very interesting discussion.
7
As a 2x Harvard grad, I recognize and respect the intelligence, drive and passion of Ms Jones. But I do not understand the implicit (or overt?) assumption that she is entitled to a Harvard admission.
51
I do not understand how Harvard's administration can appoint Chelsea Manning as a visiting fellow at the Kennedy School and then overrule the acceptance of Michelle Jones. Both were convicted of terrible crimes. How is treason somehow less offensive to Harvard? How is it that they think they won't be lambasted for appointing Manning, who has not published on any relevant topic, but will be for accepting someone who actually has? One assumes both are repentant sinners looking to start fresh -- how is it that the white woman with no track record gets a job, but the black woman with a proven track record of scholarship is rejected. I hope donors, students and alumni take note of Harvard's obscene hypocracy.
19
Manning never should have been accepted.
17
Michelle Jones: I love you.
13
Compare to Casey Anthony case in Florida. White woman gets off free for basically the same crime.
23
But Harvard hires Chelsea Manning as a visiting fellow. I sense some inconsistencies here.
15
Ms. Jones seems to be a model of rehabilitation, and a very determined woman. While it is regrettable that Harvard overruled the recommendation for her admission, here's to the several schools that did offer her that chance.
I wish her well in her life from now on.
24
As much as I applaud Michelle Jones for getting her life together, she took the life of an innocent child. It sounds like a horrific death involving what amounts to torture, if the ex-boyfriend's account is true. We don't know what really happened because she hasn't said. And that begs some questions about who she really is. She has served her time and deserves a second chance. But that's not all there is to it. When universities look at candidates, they often look at their character. A high school student with straight A's and 2400 SAT's and an arrest record might not get into the school of his dreams. Despite Jones' circumstances, she did something so reprehensible - a university has every right to reject her. Especially one that has its pick of students. Not to mention she would receive a hefty scholarship. I don't think it would have been wrong or unethical if Harvard admitted her - but they certainly had the right to reject her. She will get a fine education at NYU.
52
Somewhere in the commentary it was mentioned that Jones attended a "theatre conference" while her son was dying? This detail made me curious about the context that Jones lived in at the time. The article notes that she wrote and produced plays while imprisoned. Does she have a significant background in theatre or the performance arts and if so, it seems at odds with the portrayal of her situation at 18 as being still significantly disenfranchised and vulnerable? Was she still a high school student or already a college student when her academics where interrupted by imprisonment? I was a little confused by this point and hoped for clarification if any commenters understand the circumstances better.
30
Ultimately, I believe that convicted felons have lost the privilege to utilize Harvard's unbelievable resources and later represent Harvard when there are plenty of qualified non-felons who will contribute to the university's community. Applicants gets rejected for many reasons significantly more minor than committing a heinous felony so I do not see how passing on Ms. Jones is a "no-brainer".
Should ex-convicts get a second chance? absolutely. There are plenty of second chances that include not attending a leading, highly selective university.
30
Harvard's mistake and Harvard's loss. The decision puts into question whether or not Harvard is a world class institution of higher learning.
5
Right.
1
What this individual has done is beyond any real redemption. Just because she seems to be able to move on doesn't mean any one else has to.
30
Ms. Jones’ scholarship? Application package / personal statement (both easily provided by Jones) which are at the heart of the rejection? Conspicuous by their absence in the article.
Looking for scholarly output to see if it would be reasonable for an “elite of the elite” program entry all I found was one paper. I also found Jones’ rejected appeal: http://law.justia.com/cases/indiana/court-of-appeals/1998/111301-lmb.html
Depravity & horror:
“Jones confessed to her friend…that she had beaten Brandon, left him alone in his bedroom, & returned several days later to find him dead. When [friend] asked whether Jones had beaten Brandon to death, Jones responded, "I guess so." Jones also told [friend] she had misled police regarding the location of Brandon's body because she was scared…After a jury trial, she was convicted…court imposed a 50 year sentence for Murder & a 3 year sentence for Neglect of a Dependent”
At one point Jones wants to throw out the above friend’s testimony “[friend] testified that she was a member of the Santeria Efa Yoruba religion & that, at Jones' request, she had performed rituals "intended to harm or confuse the people involved in the case."
At heart Jones is manipulative & duplicitous, & I fear she is still trying to work the long con.
Jones’ co-author, Lori Record, is also doing time for “Neglect Of Dependent Resulting In Death” http://www.insideprison.com/state-inmate-search.asp?lnam=Record&fnam...
50
I gather college students prefer attending University seminars with convicted woman of (any) color child murderers rather than with "privileged" heterosexual white perceived microaggressors.
29
Harvard just gave a fellowship to Manning according to CBS News. "Former acting CIA Director Michael Morell on Thursday resigned from Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs to protest the appointment of convicted leaker Chelsea Manning to a fellowship at the university’s Kennedy School."
Yet Ms. Jones, was turned down because they were afraid of FOX News having a field day with this!! Just wait and see what FOX does with this appointment!! I suppose they didn't want to look like they discriminated so they accepted a convicted transgender. Not sure if Manning ever published in academic journals???? Harvard U---hypocrites!!!
14
The circumstances of Brandon's death are not unclear in the published appellate opinion. Michelle Jones acknowledged beating the four-year old, possibly to death, and leaving him alone in an apartment for several days. She returned, found him dead and removed his body hiding it in a wooded area. She subsequently lied to others about where he was and then to the police about the body's location because she was scared.
Is Harvard such a sacred place that Ms. Jones shouldn't be admitted? No, but I would argue there is a difference between redemption and rehabilitation. Ms. Jones has the rest of her life to prove the former. I can understand why a university's reluctance to endorse her rehabilitation.
28
Is there a reason this article is referring to child rape as "Ms. Jones got pregnant at 14 after what she called non-consensual sex with a high-school senior."?
Legally, if someone is under 18 and the person either raping them or having sex with them is over two years older, it's child rape regardless of consent.
The wording also sounds like The Times is calling her a liar.
Call a spade a spade. Non consentual sex is rape, and the phrase removes the perpetrator. Do better next time.
14
The age of consent in Indiana is 16. However, Indiana has a "Romeo and Juliet law" that permits 14 and 15 year olds to engage in non-forced sexual activity with peers who are no more than 4 years older than themselves.
8
Yeah, like providing the details of her crime instead of tap dancing around it.
12
High school senior could have been 17.
7
After having suffered abuse as a child and become an abuser herself, Ms. Jones has nonetheless overcome incredible odds to earn a college degree and become a contributing member of society. She has served her sentence and deserves the opportunity to make the rest of her life a life worth living. I don't actually have an opinion as to whether she should have been admitted to Harvard - many qualified students are denied such admission - and she did have other good options. What I wonder about is how many more Ms. (or Mr.) Jones's we would see if a college education was more accessible. One shouldn't have to commit murder in order to obtain a state-supported college education - economic need and a desire to learn and better oneself should be enough.
14
The internal politics of colleges is not without interest. But here's the thing. Ms. Jones has come so far and accomplished so much. Why not focus on these achievements rather than a rejection? (She herself doesn't seem fixed upon it; see her quote at the end of the story.) And if that rejection is indeed an appropriate signpost for her story, then shouldn't her Yale rejection receive similar scrutiny?
9
The issue is that Harvard rescinded its acceptance. Yale did not admit her.
14
If anyone can tease apart the multitude of moral contradictions at a modern university like Harvard which, let's give faith its due, began as a seminary; you are more advanced than most living and breathing humans.
Perhaps the reason that so many have "clung" to Bibles over the millennia is because "the truth is easier to remember". If you can explain the core of Harvard's belief system, you are truly gifted or pretzel-like in your logic (with full credit to Steely Dan).
Without absolute truth, you are left with institutions like Harvard. It apparently has no concept of redemption and forgiveness, witness this woman. And, in the elevation of Elizabeth Warren to a tenured faculty position, indulges in politically-motivated lies to dress itself as ethnically diverse. Has Senator Warren disclosed enough information about her past? Perhaps DNA testing is appropriate. This woman, Ms. Jones, can walk in the comfort that all of her sins are now public. And live with that each day of her life.
Send your children here at your own peril. Some things in life are bigger than your college. And I have never seen a hearse towing a diploma behind it. As for Professor John Stauffer, he is one of the "men without chests" so eloquently labeled by C.S. Lewis.
7
Not surprised the NYTimes opened this one up for the comments section. Are there other similarly situated white Ph.D. candidates or current professors? At the heart of this case is what every first-year law student grapples with when they start Criminal Law, redemption or retribution? Her crime was horrific but as anyone who works in child protective work knows, the majority of perpetrators were themselves terribly abused as well. In a society that is crippled by institutionalized classism, racism, sexism and outright violence, I do not believe anyone should throw stones. We should all work to change the conditions that allowed the original crime to occur and have more empathy with people who are doing everything within in their power to do the right thing.
10
By that logic, I should give a pass to those who abused Ms. Jones. They deserve the same excuses she does.
10
Unfortunately, they didn't kill her. She's alive - her 4 year old son is not.
8
My question is why she didn't have to complete the entire sentence. I read up on her story, yes, and the callousness and disregard for human life, for her child's life, speaks volumes about this woman. To say she downplayed her story to Harvard is a huge understatement. Throw away all of the Trump this and the elitism that, and stick to the case. If she had to complete her sentence, this conversation would be moot. It wouldn't matter who she killed, it is more the manner in which it occurred, not an accident, not manslaughter, but a cold-hearted disregard for human life, putting her own wants and needs ahead of another in her care.
23
Harvard, by engaging in self-censorship, has chosen to live within the walls of a prison it created for itself.
Harvard's loss, NYU's gain.
4
Let's hope she is not a female Jack Abbott.
11
Forget Harvard. Enough said.
8
The only victim in this story was the little boy that was abused and died in terrible pain. No one who commits a crime like this can ever make it right. Have you no shame? For those that are portraying this woman as a victim or sympathizing with her , have you no shame?
62
@JSmith
She is never forgiven by humans. But she deserves compassion. Or perhaps your moral code is unbending on that score. Sad.
3
On the one hand I basically agree with the Harvard approach. No one is entitled to acceptance in an elite program, and having murdered someone is a pretty substantial demerit on any reasonably analyzed application. especially a child.
on the other hand there are a number of white murderers or white former terrorists enjoying tenured positions at institutions like Columbia and U of Chicago. For example, the Weather Underground wasn't about singing kumbaya. The Brinks armored car robbery comes to mind as a window into how white perpetrators do their time and become professors, while black perpetrators languish in prison or are forced to flee the country.
So yeah, she shouldn't have been accepted because she murdered her child. but I have to wonder what the conversation would look like if she'd been a white woman with similar history of abuse and personal tragedy who murdered her child and sought personal redemption in scholarship. maybe different?
9
Please. Angela Davis ring a bell?
6
Everyone has a bottom line ethics and Harvard gets to decide what theirs is. It isn't disgusting to turn away a child murderer, and it isn't disgusting to accept her as a changed person. I am sure this intelligent woman knows better than to expect everyone forgive her for such a disturbing crime, no matter how much time has passed.
10
Am sure she isn't asking forgiveness. Not least from the 'christians' who legislate, govern and rule, both in government and at Harvard. Because a crime is a crime and in America we never forgive.
4
Wow Howard. Has she not served her sentence already? It seems like this decision was all about PR and whether others might think she had taken the place of someone more eligible, deserving ... or what? It's not like this woman has not served her sentence. I think you blew it.
4
I think Mr. Johnson needs some reviewing of his work...Once again, separation of the "haves" and the "have-nots"...Ms. Jones is right, "Forget Harvard. I've already graduated from the toughest school there is." Harvard is the loser....
5
“It’s like we only have enough imagination — and courage — to envision second chances for the people who shouldn’t have been in prison in the first place,” Professor Johnson said.
-- No. People should also be in prison for burglary, robbery, manslaughter (e.g., drunken driving leading to a fatality), etc., and we can treat them like normal people when they get out. And someone who commits murder (or rape) may arguably be due "second chances" at some point, meaning that they get out of prison. But normal people should want as little as possible to do with murderers (and rapists); they certainly shouldn't be offering up their limited, coveted and prestigious positions to murderers.
15
I am reminded of the expression, "there but for the grace of God go I."
So many of these comments reek of white privilege
9
I just read that Chelsea Manning was awarded a fellowship at Harvard. Manning didn't serve her full sentence, but is apparently more worthy than a woman who did, a woman who has made great strides to redeem herself. Please, someone ask the higher ups at Harvard: what's the difference here?
8
I don't think those two cases are really comparable. They're very different in scope and history. I'm not casting judgment on either, I just don't think a meaningful comparison can be made.
13
The previous commenter is correct: Chelsea Manning's invitation to Harvard is for a semester or so, as a guest who will have an office at a politics institute, and speak on panel discussions and the like. In contrast, graduate students admitted to a Ph.D. program are full-time students with generous tuition and living stipends, who are members of the university for many years of coursework and independent thesis research, who usually as part of their training work as course teaching assistants and dormitory resident advisors with significant responsibility for the welfare of undergraduate students. The status of Manning, Spicer, and other short-term visitors is not comparable to that of full-time degree candidates.
11
The difference may be one dead child!
7
I was struck by the sentence "Brandon's father ... could not be reached for comment." There was no mention in the article of any father in Brandon's life. Shouldn't this have been phrased as "the rapist could not be reached for comment"?
14
Look at court case records.
5
Brandon actually lived with his father and paternal grandmother from the age of 7 months to about 3 years of age. He was removed from his mother's custody as an infant by the state due to neglect. He died in her care less than a year after being reunited with her. She then lied to his family and her friends about his whereabouts for 2 years - although she took the time to remove him as a beneficiary from her insurance. This isn't the usual case of a former inmate gaining an education and insight. She refused to accept guilt at the trial (she even refused to provide the location of his body) and she's refusing to admit her true role in his death today - 20 years later. This is very disconcerting. She gives a bad name to former inmates looking for retribution. I don't see why she should be given a position in which she oversees undergraduate students. There are other former inmates I would be happy to study under, but she's not one of them.
56
After reading Ms Jones's history I am somewhat torn. Half of me think there should be a good ending to her story and half of me think not.
Having said that, I wonder how many in our society have killed another fellow human being, or supported that killing, and went on to become high profile and respected citizens in our communities?
Should we give Ms Jones a chance at redemption? Yes! Should we hold her responsible for her past deed? That too requires a yes.
But who are we to judge!?
6
This conversation, as worthy and important as it may be; allows us to avoid a much more important conversation. And that is the discussion about how do we fix the present serious and deadly problem of having so many talented young Black students, who have not killed anyone or spent a day in prison. And yet they are unable to receive the type of quality K-12 education that would get them to a PhD program at Harvard or any other school. As a life-long educator that is my sorrow. I wish this lady the best in her career; but I want to cut the classroom to prison pipeline.
29
It is commendable that Ms. Jones decided to turn her life around. In the words of Diane Marger Moore, her prosecutor: she served her time, a long time.
That said, no candidate of any background is "entitled" to enroll at Harvard, one of the most selective universities in the world. This includes Ms. Jones. The university made a value judgment that strikes me as reasonable, given the circumstances.
It would seem that Ms. Jones had no shortage of options as she began her academic career, with offers from elite universities like Berkeley, Michigan, and NYU (the latter assigned graduate students to write welcome letters). There is a word for this abundance of opportunity: privilege.
11
I notice a lot of people honing in on her crime alone, and not the pathology. Ms. Jones was raped and impregnated as a child and against her will. Not only was she likely in a state of severe mental incapacity from abuse at home and in her "community" but at her age the human brain is not fully developed anyway. Her life pre-incarceration and her crime are tragic, and she paid a lengthy jail sentence for not being able to manage "life coming at her fast" as a child. Now with an adult brain she seems to handling things much better than some adults who were born into a loving family. Stop the additional judgements and punishements... And stop the War on Women! I know Ms. Jones will go on to achieve great success because she has the drive, determination, and support. She really will look back at Harvard and laugh one day, I'm routing for her!
9
She abused, neglected and buried her son in an unmarked grave. She spent all her free time in prison getting an education at our expense (tax dollars) and now she is free to get a PhD at NYU. It must be nice. I hope this doesn't get too widely spread... more parents might think this is a good idea. Kill your kids and get a free education and kudos for getting that education at someone else's expense. I raised mine, did 20 years in the U.S. Navy all around the world (and managed to get a BA at the same while underway), am working full-time as a contractor (and managed to get a MS at the same time while commuting 2 hours to and 3 hours from work every day)...and I paid for it with my own money.... Boy... this seems a little backwards. No one is giving me applause for my accomplishments. The system is obviously broken.
43
Thank you for being an honest, hardworking and productive member of our society. No doubt your service and example are quietly appreciated by your community and family even without the verve of applause.
11
What's your complaint exactly? That there's education available in prison? Are you trying to say that shouldn't happen because it makes a mockery of your own achievements? Why? Nothing is being taken away from you if other people are able to be rehabilitated.
18
Ms. Jones came from a background of abuse, but this does not excuse her from murdering her child.
I can not understand how anyone could possibility be redeemed after murdered their child.
21
I am disturbed by the hypocrisy of Harvard and of readers comments in this story. How can we condemn this woman when we and our leaders (many of them Harvard grads) have perpetrated far larger crimes against children through advocacy of war and pitiless public policy regarding the poor. Think Vietnam ( Robert McNamara) and Ted Cruz (Harvard grad)
How many are upset that so many Nazi war criminals with horrific crimes against children were not prosecuted after WWII due to Allied decisions re making Germany strong again to fight communism ?
History and collective responsibility are our teachers and will one day judge us on our actions. We are not innocent. So why do we throw stones at this courageous and beautiful woman who has overcome and deserves our respect instead of our condemnation when we have not apologized for our own crimes, collectively or individually.
10
To Merton in Minnesota--Thank you for saying what I was trying to formulate in my mind. Yes, many murderers have passed through the halls of our mighty institutions of learning. We could add many more murderers of many to your list. Not to mention the cruelty with which the people of the USA cheer on the advocacy of the police state, punishment of individuals who have gone astray, punitive attitude toward the poor, etc. Sad and hopeless society that we live in.
6
Commentators should read Ms. Jones's published article about the Magdalene Laundries; the link is in the NYT article. Having done so, and finding her academic work to be less than inspiring, I wonder if she would have made the cut for any highly competitive, first-rate, prestigious Ph.D. program were it not for her intriguing personal history. Or, as a friend of mine said more bluntly, "Would NYU have accepted her if she were not an sci-fi and a murderer?"
21
I am a victim of auto-correct! Aarrgghh...sci-fi is meant to be ex-con, as in "former convict."
7
I'm not going to pick on Harvard over this. A disproportionate number of our nation's leaders have come out of there. That's proof enough that the place is a hypocritical mutual admiration society that will always default to optics over substance.
I'd rather remind everyone that NYU is not exactly a school to sneer at. Unless, of course, you reside in the West Village, in which case it is a greedy gentrifying behemoth that must be tamed at all costs.
The only other thing I'd point out is that Ms. Jones is not on the precipice of this bright new chapter because she murdered her son. 20 years of free tuition and health care likely had as much to do with it as her own academic tenacity.
How much debt is your kid going to graduate with? Society seems to be a more forgiving creditor than the people we allow to run it.
7
“One of our considerations,” Professor Stauffer said in an interview, “was if this candidate is admitted to Harvard, where everyone is an elite among elites, that adjustment could be too much.”
Jesus. And in that statement is everything that is the stereotype of what is wrong with our advanced and prestigious universities and colleges today. And I say that as a graduate of one of them.
17
I'm supposed to be disappointed with Harvard because they rejected this woman for killing a 4-year-old boy? Give me a break. Harvard owes her nothing. Great for her that she has found a calling but the pain she inflicted can't just be glossed over, much as this article tries to do it. Seriously: could the author have been any more dismissive of the suffering this woman caused? In all these paragraphs, so little devoted to what this poor child must have gone through. And it's the rejection from Harvard that the reader should be troubled by?
109
There are a lot of mean-spirited people here. I will be interested to see what Ms. Jones makes of her opportunities at NYU.
7
This insanity from many of those who regard themselves as entirely non-deplorable is in fair measure why so many actual non-deplorables felt enough frustration to vote for Trump.
Ms. Jones has not achieved redemption. She murdered her child; worked assiduously to cover up the crime; was not particularly distressed by her own act; and has used all means at her disposal to achieve a well-thought-out goal.
There*s no finite bill one can satisfy after murdering one*s child. Earning parole doesn't mean that any university need clutch her warmly to its bosom.
Let*s check in, in ten years or so, and see how well she does. Sociopaths don't tend to miraculously rewire and become safe members of society.
You need a cause? This country is full of children like Brandon who need to be rescued from parents like Ms. Jones.
33
The language of Jones' application clearly tries to obfuscate the story of her imprisonment. If you did not pursue the details of her prison, and looked only at what she chose to reveal and how she chose to describe it, one might, wrongly, conclude that her son died of neglect and not through murderous agency on her part. The article discloses HER narrative:
"In the personal statement, which was not required, she did not detail her involvement in the crime [i.e., she murdered her son], but wrote that as a teenager she left Brandon at home alone, that he died, and that she has grieved for him deeply and daily since."
This suggests a degree of deception that is at odds with intellectual integrity. This dissembling is offered not by an 18 year old at the beginning of a 20 year term, but at the end of her lengthy imprisonment after decades of incarceration, therapy and rehabilitation services. She was not jailed for negligence that led to her son's death. She beat him to death and hides the whereabouts of his body to this day.
54
All of those that believe Ms. Jones is entitled for Harvard to pay all of the expense for her studies at Harvard would not want Ms. Jones to be the only adult in a room with their young children.
I am surprised at any university in the US that is willing to pay Ms. Jones expenses for study.
The fact that Ms. Jones murdered her child can not be automatically wiped out simply because she was released in prison and by the fact that she has academic skills.
As human being we try to forgive others, but there are some cases where we feel that we can not forget.
18
I think this is a case of "Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone." And, I suggest that "Before you condemn a person, walk a mile in her shoes."
8
There's sin - and then there's Murder.
10
I really find it strange of those that believe Ms. Jones is entitled for Harvard to pay all of the expense for her studies at Harvard.
There are commenters that are up in arms that Harvard will not do this simply because she has spent 20 years in prison for murdering her child.
I find this so strange.
Harvard after a real review of the back ground of Ms. Jones probably simply realized that parents would not be that eager at the idea that Harvard is paying the expenses of someone that murdered their child.
We live in a strange time. Bring out the right wing extremists, and the weird "everything is okay" opponents of the right wing extremists.
9
Reading the article and some of the comments, I am reminded again that unfortunately, the U.S. does not believe those convicted of crimes should be rehabilitated or will ever serve enough time. I don't know the appropriate amount of time Ms. Jones should have served for her crime because I don't have all the facts. What I do know is until and unless the U.S. focuses on rehabilitating those are who incarcerated and including them back into society once they are released, nothing will improve. And the consequences of our actions weigh heaviest on those who are minorities and less well educated. Shame on all of us.
11
Why? Because she doesn't get a free ride to an Ivy League school? She's entitled to redemption. People aren't debating that. She's certainly been encouraged and accommodated on her path but - for many - the Harvard offer is a reasonable bridge too far considering her heinous crime and lack of true remorse and continued obfuscation of her act.
16
"Ms. Jones, in an interview, said that if anyone at Harvard wanted her to elaborate on the criminal case or her preparedness for the Ph.D. program, they should have asked." Exactly.
9
Killing a child isn't nothing. I'd like to know more about it. Is this woman a psychopath?
14
How in the world does one "minimize" the murder of a 4-year-old? You can't. It seems more like these administrators got cold feet after some negative feedback from conservative groups. Nobody knows how Ms. Jones' feels about her child's death, but she served two decades behind bars and achieved something tremendous, with so much stacked against her.
What Harvard did sets back academic freedom years and says that people, no matter how hard they work and how well they serve their time, cannot be given another chance at life. I hope Ms. Jones finds admittance -- and a good future -- at another university. Her rehabilitation in prison is a model for others.
3
It's silly to try to control or modulate Fox News' reaction. Their business is to lie, and that's what they will do. Harvard should just do the right thing and let the chips fall where they may. Ms Jones may or may not succeed, but that's true of any student. And as she said, if Harvard had questions about her crime, all they had to do was ask. But they didn't ask.
If our society doesn't believe in the possibility of redemption, then what? In a highly individualistic culture, how do we deal with tragic failure? If the answer is "endless punishment" then we've decided that alienation, mistrust and hatred will always be a powerful undercurrent in our shared emotional life.
4
If you think that a prison is charged with the duty to rehabilitate in addition to punish, Ms. Jones is a success story.
If you think that a prison is charged with the duty to punish only, Ms. Jones will never be a success story.
What is Harvard's duty in this situation? Your answer depends on what you think is the purpose of incarceration.
If you would state any of the above as beliefs, you're not thinking.
5
Good luck to Ms. Jones, she is NYU's gain, and Harvard's loss.
7
I'm just curious, do the people that support this woman getting her education without any mention of her her 4 year old son have no children? I think it would behoove society to take a more neutral stance about the consequences of life after a murder conviction and time served. Otherwise it makes people sound insensitive towards the victims: an innocent child no less.
15
@Marylou: you ask if the people who support "this woman" (her name is Michelle Jones) furthering her education at Harvard have no children.
I ask if the people who opposed Michelle Jones are without sin.
One of us has asked a moral question. One of us has not.
8
The article leaves it unclear the totality of what Ms. Jones wrote about her son's death in her Harvard application. As paraphrased in this story, it seems evasive. One would assume that her faculty supporters in prison would have advised her to be forthcoming about what led to her conviction.
That said, I wonder why the Harvard brass didn't ask Ms. Jones to be more forthcoming in a supplementary statement on the topic of her son before rejecting her application. If she had been given this opportunity, no matter what she wrote, Harvard would have shown its ultimate decision to have been fair-minded. Instead they have come across as timid in the face of the expected rightwing reaction.
The article reports that the professors who flagged the application to top brass say that they wanted more explanation from Ms. Jones, not necessarily to block her admission. How did such an elite institution screw up so badly?
27
Why is there not one mention in this entire comment of the little boy who was murdered?
15
Yes, the real error here seems Harvard's process. It surely can't be a blanket rule that applicants are subject to a moral assessment, as that's unworkable, but it also doesn't seem right that public/media reaction should be a basis for rejecting qualified and excellent applicants. It seems like Harvard panicked from the quotes in this article, and did not do their due diligence. A private assessment of Ms. Jones should have taken place, and if they were satisfied that she was emotionally and mentally prepared for graduate school, then they should have had the honour and integrity to stick to that decision no matter how it would play out on Fox News. It cannot be the case that applicants are assessed by a hypothetical hysterical media, and any rejection of an otherwise qualified applicant for such personal reasons should surely have involved a far more thorough process that at the very least would have involved asking the applicant for an explanation.
4
I can not read all these comments. They make me sick at heart. I feel strongly that Harvard has made an extreme error. I do not think that I will ever be able to look at that great institution in the same light again. Worse yet they have damaged for a long time the value of a Harvard degree. They talk a lot about appropriate practices in large institutions or businesses and in one swoop called all their teachings in this area into question. I am really sad. Yes, NYU is an excellent graduate school. I hope that they can find a doctoral professor as a further mentor just as I view mine.
12
Shame. Deep shame on all of you who condemn this bravery and beautiful woman.
Who do you think you are? All you Harvard grads in powerful positions who have waged wars where millions of women and children are maimed and killed as "collateral damage". You who have condemned the poor to lives of hell through your pitiless public policies that make you rich and "admired". Shame on you!
This woman knows more about love, courage, and redemption than you will ever know. " On this day, with me, in heaven".
9
Are you serious? If she wants a phd, great. More power to her. But you claim a woman who beat her young child to death and left him alone to die knows more about l0ve and courage than we will know? Shame on you. No compassion for abused children.
27
Wait, so people are dwelling on the fact that she committed a crime and no one is talking about how Jones was raped, beaten and obviously in need of mental assistance earlier in her life?
20
No. If the nature of her crime had been less severe, perhaps they would.
11
committed a crime? she tortured (starved and beat) and killed her child. No extenuating circumstances excuse that. None.
17
"Committed a crime?" No. She tortured a 4 year old child to death. Her own son.
Thousands of people commit thousands of crimes. Child torture and homicide are in their own category. This woman was not convicted of shoplifting, or writing a bad check, or driving without a license. She was not even convicted of shooting someone to death. She tortured a little child to death.
Psychopaths don't need "mental assistance." There is no fixing them. They need to be isolated from society.
19
1. I believe in redemption.
2. As someone from a working-class background who fought to earn a PhD and has no truck with the connivances of our country's self-perpetuating elites, I cannot view Ms. Jones as less than an inspiration.
20
Who speaks for that boy, whom she isolated, neglected, abused, and from all indications, murdered or left to die while she traveled to attend a theater conference? Some people seem to think of redemption as a coupon; she has "paid her debt" over the cold dead body of her child, and now she's entitled to be a professor, teaching and evaluating the work of young people? What is the evidence that this person has truly *redeemed* herself? She has yet even to admit to how she killed her child, how long she left him there dying, or where she ultimately and expertly discarded his brutalized dead body (big brown stain on the floor of her apartment, flies clinging to her windows, a witness seeing her scrubbing her car inside and out, again and again). Instead, she seems aggressively cavalier about this horrific incident, and not at all forthcoming. To suggest that it was understandable for her to kill a little child because she herself had been abused is an insult to the many among us who have suffered abuse and took pains to ensure that we never did the same to our children. Yes, she was damaged and turned horribly destructive. Yes, she should go on with her life. Yes, she has paid her dues. But no, she has never demonstrated the kind of character who should be empowered to teach others. Being a professor isn't simply about the quality of intellectual work--at least if teaching any longer figures into the equation.
319
@Ms Prision wrote: "To suggest that it was understandable for her to kill a little child..."
No one suggested that. No one. For shame.
7
Thank you. This.
2
Who speaks for the hundreds of thousands of innocent children that Henry Kissinger, and so many others, made decisions that took their lives. And yet they remain honored by Harvard and other elite colleges. Murder by upper class folks just seems so much more sanitized, doesn't it?
16
From Michelle Jones' rejected appeal: In November, 1995, Jones confessed to her friend Clarissa Dunlap that she had beaten Brandon, left him alone in his bedroom, and returned several days later to find him dead. (R. 2149, 2150, 2151). When Dunlap asked whether Jones had beaten Brandon to death, Jones responded, "I guess so." (R. 2156).
What an inspirational woman!
61
Just goes to show how poor her mental condition was, after being abused and raped her self. I have more respect for her than the people who cavalierly condemn her
7
Per the same appeal, her son's father was her boyfriend, not some mere acquaintance.
And was an involved father who had custody of Brandon for several years. How do we know she was actually raped, or if that was just a convenient lie?
And if she could not handle caring for Brandon, why not have given him to his father rather than murder him??
14
She could also have put him up for adoption. At least he would still be alive.
8
If I read the background to the case correctly, the boy's father and mother raised him until he was given to Michelle Jones when he was three. If she didn't want him, why did she accept the responsibility? If she thought he were a misfit, give him up to the state instead of abusing him and killing him.
Her research into prostitutes used as laundry maids sounds interesting, but better to use her own story and experience to help abused and unwanted children find caring homes.
21
Do you not think that the "laundry women" were abused?
1
Yes, they, too, we're abused, their children taken from them, and committed to lives of drudgery, unpaid for by the nuns. However, a child of four abused, abandoned and left for dead by his own mother is quite another story.
12
what she did was awful and don't care if she was rejected. A four year old, come on!! After something like that, I think everything that comes out of this types of criminals is a lie. I feel like throwing up.
32
Since when did Haaa-vaaahd give a damn about Fox News?
If Bill Ayers can teach at University of Chicago, why can't Jones go through the Ph. D. program at Harvard?
Chelsea Manning is teaching at Haaa-vaaahd now, he/she posted security secrets that could well have endangered lives. So why is Jones singled out?
There's only one NYT answer to that: Haaa-vaaahd must be racist !!!! There can't be any other reason.
6
“But frankly, we knew that anyone could just punch her crime into Google, and Fox News would probably say that P.C. liberal Harvard gave 200 grand of funding to a child murderer, who also happened to be a minority. I mean, c’mon.”
So they opposed her because of possible bad press from fox? I would consider any attack from fox a compliment. I mean, c'mon.
63
It's a sad statement about our society that only Fox News would speak on behalf of a murdered 4 year old boy. That's hardly something for you to feel proud of.
12
She beat her own four year old child so badly that he died. His last few days were spent alone, dying from his mother's beating, along with starvation, lack of fluids, and lack of simple care and love. I hope this child finds peace in the next world, because this woman made his short life a living hell.
So, no, she does not deserve a $200,000 scholarship to Harvard.
78
Agree. Shocked this is a controversy!!
14
The pompous asses at Harvard and other elitist schools, who denied Michelle Jones a chance to pursue her academic goal at their institutions, refuse to recognize the undeniable truth: The greatest lessons in life are learned from the hardest school of life. In terms of that learning, they can’t hold a candle to Ms. Jones.
7
Where is the evidence in this extremely sympathetic piece that she has learned anything at all from having brutally and callously killed her own child and then leaving him to die alone, in pain and fear? What has she learned from that, pray tell, other than to lie and evade and claim she's more entitled to an elite academic position than other applicants who managed to not murder their preschoolers?
25
She regrets killing her son, but apparently not enough to reveal the location of his body and afford him a proper burial? Obviously, she doesn't have any genuine remorse and prison has done nothing to "rehabilitate" her.
60
She very well may not remember as she was most likely high and/or drunk when she committed the action. Not an excuse, but a likely explanation.
3
"Many commenters believe that the murder of a child outweighs all other factors. I wonder if the murder of an adult would elicit the same reaction."
I would find it strange for Harvard or any other university in the US to pay for the expenses of a student that committed murder.
We live in a strange time where Americans believe that the fact that someone has committed murder should be forgotten.
34
I try to reconcile the preaching of forgiveness and the explicir hatred and continued condemnation of Ms. Jones. Is foregiveness only for those who run off to Argentina, lie, and cheat on their wife. Is forgiveness only for a White Supremist, in talk and action, who then becomes attorney general. Is forgiveness only for a crotch grabbing misogynistic who does not win the election but still becomes president.
Hypocrisy knows no ends when the so called religious are involved.
10
You equate verbal vulgarity with murdering a four year old child???
14
She murdered her four year old child.
There is no atonement for such an act.
She belongs in prison, not grad school.
34
She beat a four-year-old to death. Am I to weep that her options for a doctoral program did not include Harvard after all?
60
Harvard has the right to decide who enters its halls. There will always be more people qualified for its halls than will be admitted. There will, therefore, be many times where the personal judgment by an admission’s officer of a candidate will decide admission.
I have no qualms at all with Harvard’s decision. I do, however, take exception to the comments that castigate Harvard for its decision and suggest that this woman is entitled to be admitted there. She is entitled to no such thing in my opinion. Abusing and killing a young child is not washed away by 20 years in prison; it is, and rightly should be, a burden carried for life. That she seems to remain vague on all of the details of her crime is troubling to me, and would certainly enter into my decision of offering her employment at my business. If I have two equally qualified candidates, I’m choosing the one that has demonstrated the higher moral code.
200
I would bet my bottom dollar that she does carry this burden to her grave, and probably is more aware of her transgressions than most of the hate filled, unforgiving, so-called Christians posting here.
I think they call that holier than thou.
7
Exactly. We should feel sorry for her that she didn't get into Harvard when several other elites admitted her? Boo hoo. I wish all the commenters trashing Harvard had such compassion for her dead, abused child.
10
Shame on Harvard!
3
Where is Brandon Sims?
16
My desire to spew out a bunch of expletives concerning Harvard is being held in check; but really, what a cowardly shallow decision. Their fear of an alt right media frenzy, rather than recognizing quality that is above and beyond the rest of us is pathetic
5
Most individuals will see that the title should be "From Murder Of A Child To PhD" instead of "From Prison to Ph.D".
The New York Times has gone down and now will publish anything that might start controversy.
20
There were two screw ups here in terms of the admission process.
First, before the History Department issued acceptance letters for its top 18 candidates there should have been an in-depth Internet search and a summary vetting report. This would have taken less than a day's worth of work and could've been performed by the department head, or doled out among the admissions committee. Thus, Harvard would have been able to make its ultimate decision out of the limelight and in keeping with best practices of any admission process as to top-echelon programs with tiny student bodies.
Second, once the acceptance letter had been written and mailed to Ms. Jones, it should never had been rescinded by top brass since there was almost no precedent for such a thing and because the purported reasoning (concern that her background would cause a backlash among rejected applicants, conservative news outlets or parents of students) is flimsy, at best, or paternal, reactionary, and racist at worst.
Finally, why didn't Harvard consider a third alternative: Offer Ms. Jones a provisionary acceptance, but put it off for a year, and ask her to supplement her admissions application with more material in response to Harvard's carefully-crafted concerns? That's the solution most open-minded and honest folks of all political persuasions could probably live with. The crime was truly heinous; twenty years is a long time.
7
“But frankly, we knew that anyone could just punch her crime into Google, and Fox News would probably say that P.C. liberal Harvard gave 200 grand of funding to a child murderer, who also happened to be a minority. I mean, c’mon.”
Why does any reputable academician care what Fox News thinks? That cannot be the bar with which a rational society measures anything at all.
8
She murdered her child, then spend 20 years lived off tax payers. So now the
society owe her a Harvard degree, an NYU degree is not even good enough?
24
Full rehabilitated Colin Ferguson, Dylan Roof seeking academic succor would generate tribal praise/outrage.
6
She killed her child. Why would anyone pay attention to her? Why is she out of prison? This person can NEVER be forgiven!
23
Poor children are abused everyday and now we have a New York Times article of a woman who served her prison time for murdering her child, not being able to be accepted by Harvard after the woman served her prison sentence.
Perhaps universities in the US and the New York Times instead of programs for ex-cons would use their resources to prevent the abuse of poor children in the US. This might prevent poor children being murdered or winding up in prison.
One tires of the Democrats who ignore the fact that the US needs child care for every child in the US. Other advanced nations provide child care to all children and these nations do not have high numbers of murder of children, or high numbers of those that wind up in prison.
2
Although I'm not aware of any Republican or Democratic intentions to provide childcare to all children, I do agree that we should join the advanced nations. They not only provide childcare to all children, they are lightyears ahead of us on healthcare. Here's a list: http://www.elle.com/life-love/news/a36652/countries-with-generous-social...
4
Confirms the old saw that you can tell a Harvard man anywhere, but you can't tell him much.
5
A comment
"If we're going to lock people up for decades, let's at least give them the tools they need to redeem themselves as Ms. Jones has done."
Apparently redemption from murdering a child is having academic abilities, while anyone that has murdered a child is not redeemed it they do not have academic abilities.
We live in a strange time where the conservatives have extremists ideas, and the liberals have the idea that Harvard is wrong for not paying the costs for a Ph.D. student that murdered a child.
11
She has all the right stuff...bravo, U.C. Berkeley here we come.
Did anyone criticizing Ms. Jones sketchy version of events regarding her son's death catch the fact that she confessed during her stay in a Mental Health Crisis Center?
Frankly I'm more interested in how a confession obtained in such circumstances was prosecuted to begin with, especially with no body being recovered.
4
Racism to the core.
3
"While those historians embraced her application, others at Harvard questioned not only whether Ms. Jones had disclosed enough information about her past, but whether she could handle its pressure-cooker atmosphere."
If these Harvard folks think Ms Jones hasn't been in a pressure-cooker atmosphere for the past twenty years, they don't know much about women's prisons. And why would Harvard possibly care about what Fox News might say? That would only indicate Harvard is doing something right!
1
"Redemption" is the wrong word for Ms. Jones. Redemption is not obtained by simply good behavior in prison, or having academic abilities.
Ms. Jones has not admitted that she killed her child, or where she buried her child.
It is surprising that any US university is paying the costs of Ph.D. study for Ms. Jones. At what point do universities view that academic abilities should over look killing a child.
Having academic abilities do not redeem Ms. Jones from killing her child.
36
What a strange position to be in, having everyone find out about the worst thing you have ever done, all at once and tied to something you've accomplished. This story requires that we hold all the truths at once, that she did a horrible, unthinkable thing, that she has accomplished great things and is still human deserving of compassion and that she paid for her crime with all of her youth spent behind bars. A few months ago the times ran a story about child soldiers in Africa forced to do horrible things like murder babies upon birth but then not always being forced. I think the dynamic is similar an abused neglected child turns around to abuse and neglect her child, with a horrifying outcome. But afterwards, can you live? How do you make sense of what you did and who you are? This story will linger with me for days.
8
I find it disturbing how many people on here demand "full disclosure" in order to exonerate her sufficiently. Disclosure to whom? It smacks of morbid curiosity - readers who want their right to judgment affirmed - more than any legitimate concern about her abilities or her right to study. She may well have "disclosed" outside of the media. I respect her privacy so long as she has paid her debt to society. I find it equally disturbing that the admissions team at Harvard would pursue "disclosure" of the details of her crime, presumably on a covering letter? She should be under no obligation to allocute to anyone not named by a judge.
The United States have a judicial system. Depending who you ask, it is designed to penalize and/or rehabilitate criminals. Once a prisoner has completed their sentence, they have paid for their crime in the eyes of the law. If commenters don't believe their justice system is working, I invite them to research reshaping it to better reflect their expectations, rather than making examples out of the people who have made the best use of their incarceration.
Harvard has centered itself in that exact field of research, and they stand to benefit tremendously from Jones' insights. It seems ridiculous to me that they would pass up such an opportunity, but their loss is NYU's gain.
I make no judgments about her crime - a court of law has already done that, and she has apparently more than satisfied their conditions, not to mention their expectations.
10
Many commenters here fault Harvard for wondering whether she could deal with a "pressure cooker" atmosphere. They note that prison is much tougher than a graduate program. But it's common for those incarcerated for decades to have a difficult time adjusting to life outside the walls. They have become accustomed to the regimentation. Making their own decisions creates anxiety that often provokes another crime. Jack Abbott is a good example.
The fact that she's highly intelligent does not mean that she isn't a damaged soul. One has nothing to do with the other. She clearly used her intelligence to befuddle and deceive friends, family and law enforcement about her son's murder. Nor does it appear that she has expressed much contrition over it. The boy's father and grandparents deserve better than "unclear circumstances" surrounding his death. Then again, if she completely elucidated her actions people would be so revolted she would never be considered anywhere for an advanced degree. In fact, she probably wouldn't have gotten out of prison on parole. I'm sure she knows that. Smart move.
So maybe she had a "psychological breakdown" or maybe she's a cold-blooded psychopath.
Good luck Michelle, but you won't be babysitting my kids.
15
She has not applied as babysitter.
5
As a Harvard alum, I am disgusted by my alma mater. Ms. Jones served her time. The arrogance an paternalism of Harvard and the overt concern with "public perception" and "conservatives," etc. ignores the very mission and purpose of an institution of higher learning - education. And education means allowing diverse backgrounds, viewpoints, and yes, even perhaps disagreement by some about who attends. Ms. Jones is clearly well-qualified. She has done amazing things. It is Harvard's loss - but then, I'm not surprised. As a previous alumni interviewer, I saw many students who should have been admitted but weren't, for reasons that I will never understand. Harvard's loss is NYU's gain.
5
Ms. Jones getting accepted by UC Berkeley, Michigan, and NYU, but not getting into Harvard, is not a story. The story would have been if she had not gotten into any PhD program because of her prior record.
She's the exception rather than the rule regarding men and women getting out of prison. Frankly, you would be better off spilling ink on the 66% recidivism rate in this country, which is the true outrage here, and getting worked up about the fact that "ex-con" is not a protected status when it comes to employment discrimination or public benefits rejection.
Ms. Jones will go on to have a great career and kudos to her on that. But let's not lose sight of the other 600,000 men and women who will get out of prison this year, who will struggle to even find menial employment and no public assistance, and what we can do to strengthen reentry for them to break the cycle of recidivism.
11
The defining moment of Ms. Jones life was, is and always will be the killing of her child. The system was successful in her redemption and return to society. The liberal in me sees this as a good thing.
The average American who has worked hard all her life, made the sensible choices to be a productive self-supporting member of society admits to other thoughts drifting through my mind.
So an imprisoned child murderer ends up with an education, that I never had any chance of achieving due to lack of money and opportunity? A dream life in her chosen field? No matter how talented she is, her place in any Ph.D program means someone who isn’t a child murderer was rejected.
In this case, conservative thinking seems to be winning in my liberal mind.
41
It is extremely disconcerting that a group of white or primarily white Ivory Tower Harvard administrators caved because they feared among other things "conservative" backlash.
I have no doubt that as a scholar and playwright, Ms. Jones' future accomplishments will make Harvard regret its decision.
4
Sorry when people can achieve greatness as Ms. Jones, and they are not accepted with open arms in all of American Society. How dare Harvard call themselves the elite of the elite? I am embarrassed to be white and a part of this snobbery. Ms. Jones went beyond the odds of her circumstances, The elite of the elite have proven they don't understand emotional challenges from dometic violence and not willing to try. Disgusted.
3
We are almost 100 yrs. removed from the first black woman, Ms. Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander to receive a Ph.D. and JD from my alma mater, UPenn. A portrait of her is displayed at the law school. As an Ivy League black graduate, about to be 2nd Ivy League, I am disheartened that Harvard rescinded its offer to Ms. Jones. I see both sides of the issue as I have worked on prison reform, the disparities that continue to exist in America’s prisons. Ms. Jones served her time for a heinous crime in the state of Indiana but Harvard's administration has decided otherwise. It was the decision of the Indiana Parole Board to grant her Parole and she is serving through a compact with NY State. If we are looking to rehabilitate offenders and this appears to be a success story, why all of the apprehension because of Sean Hannity and other blowhards such as 45 Trump? I can guarantee with certainty that Ms. Jones knows more about American history than the one at 1600 PA Ave.
Harvard and every other Ivy has a dark history when it comes to its slavery past. As Dr. Craig Wilder said in, Ebony & Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America’s Universities, “the colonial academy never stood apart from American slavery.” I am disappointed but not surprised that another black woman is being reduced to a sum part of her entire life, of which over half was spent in an American prison. My hope is that she does well in scholarship at NYU in the PhD History program.
7
If we were an eye-for-an-eye culture, she would have been beaten half to death and put in solitary confinement without food or water until she died. That's what she did to her young child. She should have never been released into the general population. I don't care how many great research papers she wrote.
12
And thank goodness we don't live in times that expect an eye for an eye. How in the world can punishing her that way make up for what she did? She will live with that pain forever. Is the need for vengeance so great? Jesus forgave and turned the other cheek. Maybe more of us should try that.
4
Michelle, you have paid your debt to society. I believe in rehabilitation. I wish you the best as you pursue your dreams. Don't give up!
7
Congrats to Ms Jones for turning her life around! However, she should count her blessings, be grateful and not be bitter. Most people with her background never recover and certainly could never dream of being courted by the University of California, Berkeley; the University of Michigan; the University of Kansas; and N.Y.U.
This article and its controversy has made me think a lot about forgiveness on a societal level. Are we willing and able to forgive? Do we see merit in forgiveness? How much is too much to be forgiven for? In this case, we are talking about an individual who committed a horrendous crime who has been punished according to the rule of law; there are many examples in which we could ask these questions of institutions, nations, etc. Forgiveness is a term often reserved for religion but perhaps we need to bring it into the public sphere. If we can't forgive, what is the point of trying to rehabilitate?
68
The most cogent response I have read. thank you.
4
I completely agree with you. But you see, according to many, religion should be banned.
Jesus the Christ was crucified between 2 thieves or murderers but only one believed and was forgiven. Forgiveness is an internal process. People may never forgive you but once you willingly turn to God, you will experience peace and your life will be restored overtime. God is not a man.
2
"Are we willing and able to forgive?"
NO. Not for child murder.
"Do we see merit in forgiveness?"
No. Not for child murder.
"How much is too much to be forgiven for?"
Child murder is too much.
5
Ms. Jones did the crime, has done the time and after twenty years on the inside is quite unlikely to ever want to become a repeat offender of any part of the law. Harvard and Yale may do as they wish, no matter how they couch it. But with some work and determination on her part hopefully she will be able to show that their loss is NYU's gain.
5
Harvard had the courage to insist on following it's conscience in this matter. In an atmosphere of extremes which they knew would prompt significant criticism either way, Harvard considered the vague and gaping hole at the middle of this entire situation as being too, well, vague and gaping to dismiss. For Jones' application to dance around the dark well of this crime does suggest she is unable to fully digest and claim responsibility for it, and that in some elemental way, her rehabilitation has failed, although she has fulfilled her legal sentence. She uses the language of sociology and psychology to steer the admissions committee around it, which is disturbing. As a student of history, Jones' is certainly aware that the language of a narrative can either obscure or elucidate. She chose to obscure.
Harvard made the right call in choosing to protect the integrity of the university. No doubt she has been in counseling and various therapeutic settings for years with the goal of addressing and shaping her understanding of her actions. Jones' discussion of the crime shows she has appropriated, at the very least, the acceptable language to configure her crime in a way that allows her to move on personally. That is a personal endeavor and journey she has been on for 20 years. However, society is under no mandate to absorb her personal psychological narrative as the standard by which to consider her crime in the wider polity. Harvard made the appropriate decision in this case.
28
This is less about morality than it is about scholarship. I am not sure how many of the commenters here understand what it takes to get hired as faculty at a major university, let alone by an Ivy League college. Publishing one paper in a third rate local journal is insufficient to get accepted in a graduate student program at a state university, but for faculty it is tragicomical. If Ms. Jones publishes impactful papers at NYU she surely will have the opportunity to apply to Harvard and be evaluated together with other qualified applicants.
7
So Harvard didn't like her level of personal flagellation, it seems. Just how much groveling is enough to qualify for the exalted status of admission? Perhaps a little self-mutilation would have done the trick. Bravo to Ms. Jones for not giving up, and shame on Harvard.
13
I'm surprised, really, by how many people commenting here are essentially saying that Jones disqualified herself for a Harvard degree when she killed her kid, as if the punishment for her crime -- for all heinous crime -- is implicitly something more far-reaching than just jail time. According to this reasoning, the implicit became explicit only because Jones was smart and hardworking enough to actually try to grab something that was and ought to be denied to all heinous criminals as a part of their conviction. It does raise the question of what other implicit punishments these readers believe come with a murder conviction...?
9
"It does raise the question of what other implicit punishments these readers believe come with a murder conviction...?"
A lot of things.
Convicted murders should be able to get medical licenses and practice a physicians, even if some medical school were to admit them.
Medical school should not admit convicted murderers.
She should not be eligible to be admitted to the bar and she should not be eligible to be a judge, whether administrative, local, state or federal.
She should not be eligible to be a member of Congress. Given the usual morals of politicians, she might fit in, but at least they are not known to be convicted murderers.
Her criminal past should disqualify her from being appointed to a Cabinet post or getting a security clearance.
In other words, YES, committing murder should carry LIFE LONG consequences. It is great that she has, apparently, turned her life around. But I do not accept for a moment the implication that, having been released by the state, everyone else is obligated to ignore her crime.
As for the reason Harvard made that decision- note that the people who actually made it have not commented. The notion that it was due to concern about how it would look on Fox News came from someone who was not involved in the decision from the central administration.
Is she ready for the academic pace at Harvard? Presumably the faculty members who decided to admit her thought so. Who else would be qualified to have an opinion?
9
“But frankly, we knew that anyone could just punch her crime into Google, and Fox News would probably say that P.C. liberal Harvard gave 200 grand of funding to a child murderer, who also happened to be a minority. I mean, c’mon.”
Since when is Harvard University intimidated by Fox News. What a pathetic excuse.
“One of our considerations,” Professor Stauffer said in an interview, “was if this candidate is admitted to Harvard, where everyone is an elite among elites, that adjustment could be too much.”
Really? Getting an education in a prison environment and successfully researching, writing, and being published in an academic journal seems to indicate an intelligent and flexible person that can adapt to Harvard University. Quite frankly, I would like to see one of these professors “adapt” to Ms. Jones prison experience.
The final paragraph of the paper, “Magdalene Laundries” that Ms. Jones and Lori Record wrote, explains what is really going on here.
“In incarcerating, abusing, and stigmatizing thousands of women, these prisons played an important role in shaping attitudes toward female sexuality and identity for 150 years, yet we seem to have lost all memory of them. We contend that this historical amnesia hinders our understanding of prisons and marginalized women, past and present.”
15
I agree completely. It is ludicrous of them to suggest that after 20 years in prison she couldn't handle Harvard. Goes to show what an overinflated view they have of themselves.
3
Harvard's decision to rescind their offer to Ms. Jones (apparently from concern about how right-wing critics might react -- really???) must be placed in the context of their recent invitations to Joe Scarborough, Chelsea Manning, Sean Spicer and Corey Lewandowski to serve as visiting Fellows. It is perhaps time for it's leadership to consider whether Harvard truly represents "the elite of the elite." Sounds more like a really rockin' season of "Dancing With The Stars." Congrats to Ms. Jones on steering clear of that hot mess. Sounds like she dodged a bullet.
12
Harvard, or how to discriminate and disenfranchise successfully.
4
Whammo! Nicely done, Maria. :)
I'm happy if all people who torture children to death are "disenfranchise." What about that poor little boy? Scared, alone, in pain, and dying?
7
I don't think it is Harvard's place to act as a kangaroo court for a woman who has already served her prison time and been through the criminal justice system. The only "due diligence" Profs Stauffer and Carpenter needed to do was an examination of her academic suitability. I agree that Harvard's process is paternalistic, and morally judgmental. Good place to avoid- isn't that Jared Kushner's alma mater? Did they take into account the criminal background of his father when he was admitted? Oh, I forgot, his admission came with a $2.5 million check.
10
Same sentiment regarding a redeemed Colin Ferguson, Dylan Roof?
3
that was his father and not him, right?
What about his criminal behavior? He is a slumlord. Read up about him
The level of knee-jerk judgment, banal moralizing, and plain misrepresentation of the facts is hard to stomach in these comments. First, for all of you who've wilfully misstated the situation, Michelle Jones is not complaining nor making herself into a victim for being denied a place at HArvard (it says so plainly in the article). THe issue is a procedural one: that departments select those applicants they admit, and that Deans and higher-ups do NOT get involved in the process. That they did is unusual and highly inappropriate for multiple reasons; THAT is the story the Marshall Project picked up. And Harvard DID admit her - so those waving the "victimhood minority" straw man can sit right down.
Second, those of you claiming that it's not enough that she completed her sentence and should not be forgiven or rehabilitated - WOW. Talk about making oneself judge, jury, and executioner. The arrogance stuns me. Do you all claim to know better than the criminal justice system? DO you all think you should set the conditions that would satisfy you that she has committed penance enough, suffered enough, grieved enough? If you don't believe the system should rehabilitate, what do you think its purpose is? To satisfy your personal litmus tests of morality or appropriateness?
Third, the absurd suggestions that she could harm her students or others, that she killed because her child stood in the way of her academic path - well, I can't bring myself to comment on those. For shame.
14
"Do you all claim to know better than the criminal justice system?"
I cannot speak for "all", but in my case, YES I think that not only do I know better than the criminal justice system, but that most people do.
5
Dbh, in my experience, most Americans know very little about anything, and certainly not the criminal justice system.
1
Contrare, she herself says "forget harvard," she's already graduated from the toughest school there is... and talks piously of her own "grace." Such statements do suggest she feel at least piqued, if not fully victimized, by the loss of her admission.
1
“One of our considerations,” Professor Stauffer said in an interview, “was if this candidate is admitted to Harvard, where everyone is an elite among elites, that adjustment could be too much.”
If Ms. Jones can handle 20 years in prison with poise, she can handle academic snobbery. She'll have a flourishing career at NYU.
11
It gives me hope to see this beautiful woman who has spent the last 20 years in prison at the top of the front page of the New York Times. Well done, Michelle Jones. You inspire me.
If we're going to lock people up for decades, let's at least give them the tools they need to redeem themselves as Ms. Jones has done. In Florida, at least, opportunities for higher education in prison are very limited.
7
As a professor at a state university, I have served on committees to hire faculty and accept students. Anyone who thinks these are objective, unbiased processes is mistaken. We use rubrics and algorithms, but behind it all is bias. Quiet calls are made to the applicants' employers, even before permission is given, to ask, "what do you know about this person?" Internet searches are done on prospective students to delve into their backgrounds. When things turn up that committee members find problematic, offers are not made. Period.
7
People seem very impressed with education. In prison, one has time to read. One has one's meals paid for. Probably not much worse food than what most doctoral students on stipends tend to eat. What strikes me is that in 20 years, she didn't also complete a PhD (or MA) in addition to a BA and she published merely one paper. It's not as if she were grading papers and working a second job. What distractions did she have? Not motherhood.
Anyhow, I am not impressed with her topic of scholarship. The article barely covers it. It's not as if she wrote a brilliant study of Kant or Kripke. She simply unearthed a bit of concealed history. To a former philosophy student, her type of scholarship seems easy-peasy. Like they say, no department with the word "Studies" in its name is a serious discipline.
19
Yes, prison would be the appropriate place for writing a thesis titled, "How can you disprove or prove Kant's famous statement, 'Out of the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing was ever made' ?"
3
As a former philosophy student, you must've been taught what an ad hominem argument is.
Looks like you forgot - perhaps conveniently in this instance?
3
Yeah, prison is like a Caribbean cruise
4
This is a strange article that apparently will only hurt Ms. Jones.
Publicly broadcasting that Ms. Jones is an ex-con that according to a judge and jury murdered her son will not aid Ms. Jones.
It really is not a surprise that Harvard did not want to accept someone that was found guilty of murdering a child. I can understand universities aiding ex-cons but the reality is that most individuals are not that willing to totally forgive the murdering of a child.
Like it or not ex-cons pay for being found guilty of a crime after they leave prison. Public broadcasting that someone is ex-con is not helpful.
10
After reading the comments and re-reading the article, I think everyone (including Harvard) would applaud her and wish upon her continued success had she killed the man that raped her, let the state take her son and place him in foster care, did her time, etc.
Every news network (maybe even Fox) would be clamoring to interview her. However, I don't think most people can get past the fact that she murdered her son.
6
Rescission after admittance makes Harvard look bad.
5
Two things struck me about this article: (1) who knew Harvard worried so much about Fox News and, more importantly (2) Where is the child buried? Why hasn't she disclosed where he is buried so that he may be given a proper burial.
8
Harvard's lack of spine in this instance is truly chilling. One wonders John Stauffer makes all of his decisions this way "But frankly, we knew that anyone could just punch her crime into Google, and Fox News would probably say that P.C. liberal Harvard gave 200 grand of funding to a child murderer, who also happened to be a minority. I mean, c’mon." Have we come to the point where pressure from Fox News is determining how one of our most prestigious academic institutions should behave? It appears that P.C. liberal Harvard can't seem to get out of its own way.
5
Harvard's decision to reverse the history department's is about racism, elitism, and hypocrisy, plain and simple.
Since, in Harvard's view, there's no such thing as redemption, I'm sure they'll expel all students who violate standards of academic integrity. Well, perhaps not if they're the "right" students.
Shame on you, Harvard.
3
No, it's about not wanting to reward someone who beat and then starved a 4 year-old to death. Bravo for having a spine, Harvard.
18
How silly of me to think that someone pursuing a "redeemed life, one of service and value to others” doesn't consider a PhD a reward, but an opportunity to do right by those she wronged.
As a product of 22 years of abuse and neglect at the hands of my parents - for example, a father who poured boiling water onto my shoulder because I didn't make scrambled eggs correctly, and a mother who backed me into a corner and spit in my face - and someone who hasn't turned into a monster as a result of it, I know that the lion's share of folks involved in these awful circumstances were "nurtured," not "natured," into them. Most are inherently decent human beings who need help, lots of help, finding their way out of what at times seems like infinite darkness.
Ms. Jones will never stop being ashamed of what she did (nor should she). But she doesn't have to pay for it forever. The folks at NYU understand that.
4
As a mother, this story made me sick. I began reading it because I was intrigued that this woman, against all odds, got a PHD in prison. Until, I got to the part that she murdered her son and the terrible way in which she did.
So many people endure HORRIBLE childhoods, filled with neglect and abuse and don't abuse their children, let alone murder them....
You can be whip-smart and be a sociopath at the same time. Harvard is making the right call.
53
Curious, what does Skip Gates think? I would be very interested to hear how other African-American, Black, Latino/a and Native American scholars and academics feel about this case and the strange fruit Stauffer who so greatly did his institution a disservice when he said, “One of our considerations,” Professor Stauffer said in an interview, “was if this candidate is admitted to Harvard, where everyone is an elite among elites, that adjustment could be too much.” What a sad strange little man.
3
Upon reading his article, I was upset that Harvard would reject Michelle. Then, I looked up her appeal and read it thoroughly - it turned my stomach. The fact that she attempted to have have her conviction appealed, using what I think is twisted reasoning, speaks volumes about her sense of responsibility for her brutal treatment of her son and his resultant death. While none of us can truly read the heart of another, I have doubts about how sincere this brilliant woman's remorse is.
249
The prosecutor and the parole board obviously do believe she paid for her crime and that she is ready to resume her life outside prison. Should she now have to go before a group of randomly selected citizens to beg for their approval also?
5
No. But if she chooses to request the approval of a random group of citizens, they are not obliged to provide it just because she served her prison sentence. They are absolutely allowed to have a personal moral system that requires more than that - such as also demonstration of true regret (as illustrated by saying where the body is buried, for example). And so is Harvard.
7
Michelle was a child "pregnant at 14"... without parental support emotionally. I can't imagine how anyone could be a responsible parent herself from that point on. I certainly would have been confused and angry. Enough to neglect my child? I don't know...
She was judged and sentenced. Incarceration for twenty years is enough of a punishment. Prison officials apparently feel that her remorse is sincere. It's time for her to move forward and use her accomplishments in the way that she hopes to. Period.
5
The comments and the kernel of this article pass over an issue more important than whether this woman goes to Princeton, Harvard, or the local state college. She has been incarcerated for 20 years- she is basically completely institutionalized. She will need an endless supply of emotional support, training, and a patience that will try the best of counselors and therapists. She has most likely submerged her emotional needs under the guise of intellectual pursuits and this has been a wonderful 20 year adaptive response set. But now she is going to have to make decisions, from what time to wake up, what to eat for breakfast, to how to make relationships outside of a prison cell. Let her take a few years and get her feet on the ground, and when she feels she is de- institutionalized her new .world will be waiting for her. Going to Harvard or any high pressure cooker university now will not only be a questionable choice, it may stifle her future growth as a free person.
4
Is this woman really a martyr? A good path to success is to avoid murdering people.
"In the personal statement, which was not required, she did not detail her involvement in the crime [i.e., she murdered her son], but wrote that as a teenager she left Brandon at home alone, that he died, and that she has grieved for him deeply and daily since."
14
Spoken from your ivory tower.
The woman beat her four year old son and then left him to die. Are people simply ignoring this fact as they attack a private institution for deciding not to admit a convicted child murderer?
If I was a PhD student in the same program as Ms. Jones, I would not feel comfortable being around someone who has murdered her child.
She has served her time and can now freely perform her research, but that does not mean any institution should be demeaned and faulted for not welcoming her with open arms.
Is this story related to race? Of course, in the sense that Ms. Jones' status as a poor, young, single black woman is a symptom of America's continued neglect for its black citizens. Yet the fact that anyone could make the case that Harvard is refusing to let her in because she is black, and not because she murdered her baby son, is beyond me.
Can't wait until the alt-right nutjobs get a hold of this manufactured outrage piece.
19
I'm trying to imagine a 14 or 15-year-old girl giving birth to a child with a disorder or a disability while cycling through foster homes, probably completely unaware of the options available to her to end her pregnancy or give her child up for adoption. In other words, a child giving birth to a child alone and left to raise him, with no resources or support. This thought is terrifying. I actually also wonder what would have happened to Brandon if Ms. Jones had had the fortitude TO give him up for adoption--a young black child with a physical disorder--and do we all believe he would have had much of a chance to end up somewhere better?
Ms. Jones turned her life around. She served her time. She deserves her success and she deserves commendation. I'm shocked that Harvard panders to what Fox News thinks when making their admissions decisions.
7
There can be NO question that this child would have had every expectation to "end up somewhere better" if he had been adopted. The logic that inspires such a question is farcical and fantastic, as if this outcome was inevitable and thus, should be accepted given the circumstances of social pathology. Of course he would have been better off. He would be alive, would never have experienced traumatic, savage beating followed by a tortuous and lengthy starvation and death.
3
Harvard did the right thing. The one voice not heard here, and the one that will never be heard, is the voice of her young son. Though the details are vague in this story, it is clear that the young boy died under horrible, painful and unforgivable circumstances at the hands of the person who was there to protect him. I have a feeling that if the person in question here were a white male under the same circumstances, not only would there not be any compassion for this person, there would be angry outrage that there should be any second chance. I know it's hard, or maybe impossible for some readers, but please do not make this lady out to be some kind of victim.
176
From all places, Austin, TX, the voice of sanity from the Bronx.
4
I expect that the judicial system represented the voice of the child. In upholding the interests of society, the prosecutor's role was to obtain "justice" for the victim (clearly the child, not Ms Jones), and the judge's role to decide the severity of sentence. Her 50-year sentence was imposed as per the law -- with no indication or expectation of any redemption. Her sentence reductions totaling 30 years were granted as per the law. If there were questions about her remorse or suitability for release, would not Ms Jones still be in prison?
1
I am very glad, and, I am sure that Ms. Jones is very thankful for the opportunity afforded her by NYU.
What a thought-provoking piece. Is a person really just the sum of their sins? Does a person deserve a second chance after serving their sentence, no matter the type of crime? Is an education the same as rehabilitation? What constitutes a second chance?
Is the value of what Ms. Jones' has to offer centered around the history of incarceration in America or as an example of incredible self-improvement? If Ms. Jones could make so much out of being in prison, what sort of person would she have been if she'd been born in different circumstances - to a loving, supportive family with access to hope and a decent education?
I certainly have few answers, but wish Ms. Jones' good luck in her future.
4
"Is a person really just the sum of their sins? "
At best. Most are less than the sum of their sins.
3
Come on, lefties. This is what we’re worked up about? This is what makes the front page of the Times? Imagine reading this story as an intellectually-curious plumber in Indiana, a guy who worked hard in school (but had no AP classes to take), didn’t know Harvard gives great financial aid (so didn’t apply), didn’t have the money to finish at IU, got derailed because he was taking care of his sick mother, has read an awful lot, is a local history buff, is a decent husband (which means he can’t just pick up and move cross-country for school anymore), never murdered even one child. Reading these comments, how can that man not be appalled at urban leftie America?
Ms Jones seems extraordinary and I wish her well. She is a compelling face of rehabilitation, redemption, and academic meritocracy. But I cannot get angry about Harvard deciding she’s not for them.
Anyway, is it immoral to have concerns about her ‘adjustment’? At the time of her acceptance/rejection, Jones had never had a cellphone or used an app. She had not gone shopping for 20 years. She will not pass a criminal background check, so many future jobs will be closed to her. She will be surrounded by fellow grad students almost exactly the same age of her dead child. She may thrive - she has, after all, overcome a great deal. But it’s within reason to have concerns.
I don’t think Harvard has any obligation to teach THIS person, in particular, and I especially don’t think it’s national news that they chose not to do so.
22
Harvard has always been about image first and academic achievement second. Oh the cache...but to be afraid of Fox News is sinking to a new low.
I find frightening the tendency in this country to keep those who have been incarcerated from moving onto a better life and giving back to society after serving their sentences. Let them pay 'til their dying day.
Good for you NYU...it is your loss Harvard but it will hardly matter to you and your esteemed image.
1
Hard to escape the racism implicit in Harvard's decision, and especially so in the views of Professor Stauffer.
Ms Jones fulfilled her sentence. Too often in this country, that sentence lingers into the apparently 'free' life of those who have completed their sentence.
Bravo to Ms. Jones. She will carry the guilt of her crime with her every day. But she will now have an opportunity to create something great from that tragedy.
Bravo to NYU for taking her. It is greatly to their credit.
4
I don't blame Harvard. I have great empathy for Ms. Jones and her horrifying past. I don't think she is beyond redemption. I understand why other universities would accept her. She sounds very talented. But the value of the life of the child who was murdered in this horrible way should be remembered, too. If she, as the murderer, seems unrepentent, then I think that Harvard is showing moral courage in not accepting her.
17
i laud Ms Jones growth as a human being. She may never be able to make restoration for the suffering she partook in, but at least she has attempted.
But i mourn for our failure as a society and our failure to recognize our obligations to each other. We have created nation that, from reading these comments, feel no obligation to take responsibility for our own failure of community to offer some alternative to a young mother so estranged, she would murder her own child then bear that fact for the rest of her life. We offered her no help when she needed it the most, then "feel good" when she managed the better herself.
Or others, who resent any compassion, and say "that's why Trump was elected", we have too much compassion.
i long for a society that aspires to actually offer help to the suffering *before* they drive themselves to cruelty. A society of a character that will connect itself to it's least fortunate. A society that does not live in little bubbles of indifference and loneliness and "let other people fix it".
i agree with "This is why Trump was elected." i only disagree with the aspiration that we are somehow better or wiser ignoring our brother and sister's in desperate need and demanding they make "good choices" without when their world is insane.
i do not expect to get many likes for this comment, but i do expect future generations to judge us harshly for our willful ignorance of failing as communities.
5
NYU is far better option. Congrats Ms. Jones.
I realize that Ms. Jones was young and experienced many hardships. I commend her for her dedication and efforts in becoming a better and educated individual. However, I don't think a person can genuinely erase or rid one self of the type a personality and emotional state that it takes to kill a human being.
Regardless of her mental state that she was in at that time; I personally feel that she can do that all over again if given the circumstances. Obtaining her education and PHD only proves her endurance and mental strength of perseverance. A person with this personality is to be kept with respectful distance and around people to can maintain their safety.
7
We do not always get what we want in life. Even those of us who have worked hard and have not murdered a child. Yes, time served, but there is also a moral code, and Harvard reserves the right to protect their "business" legacy.
14
What this woman did to her child is unforgivable. Harming an innocent life in this way is quite possibly the greatest crime possible. (How could you miss this part of the story?) Ms. Jones's penitence will never end ... and should not end. And while I am thankful she seems to now take that seriously, I applaud Harvard for drawing a line here. What got her incarcerated in the first place remains the primary, 'material' fact that must be considered in her candidacy. Thankfully, Harvard has not missed this fact.
24
I absolutely agree.
1
Never ever ever let Fox News and their ilk change anyone's mind about anything.
Do the right thing, do not care about those who will scream and rant, do not give them power.
I wish Ms. Jones the very best in her extraordinary journey ahead.
1
God bless you girl! You are one of the rare human beings that give me hope in the future.
She should have gotten a reduced sentence only when she revealed the location of her son's body; otherwise - life. That child is out there somewhere and was probably a meal for some wild animals, but mommy doesn't care, she only wants to be recognized for getting her Ph.D. I've known four murders in my lifetime and the perpetrators never fully rehabilitate - they blame the reason for their actions on someone else - oh, just like Ms. Jones.
27
Sorry, no sympathy here. She committed a horrible crime and then claimed a passive role in the death of her child in her application to Harvard. There have to be long term and sometimes permanent consequences for such a heinous crime. Does she deserve a shot at redemption? I don't know. But her victim, her child has no chance of redemption.
25
"...whether she could handle the pressure-cooker atmosphere."? Harvard or not, you don't find many pressure cookers more severe than prison. After a doctorate in psychology from UC Berkeley, a post-doc at Stanford, I did a 2 1/4 year stint at San Quentin as a staff psychologist, and the pressures encountered within such a setting are not to be underestimated. Many, many kudos to Ms. Jones...a role model for others, without question.
107
I keep reading these comments and find no one seeing what I saw in this story. Here is a victim of rape resulting in a child who did not deserve what happened to him. She was 14 and says she did not consent , but even if she did , she was too young to consent. Think of the horror of carrying the fetus of a rapist and then be left with taking care of it. No doubt his existence was a reminder of his origin . When she beat him she repeated her own parenting. The product of violence, the child, suffers violence. Her hard work making her life meaningful is to be praised , but this does not dissolve the bitterness of the crime. But those condemning her should perhaps think again.
3
As an academic, I would advise Harvard administrators to consider only the academic qualifications of any Ph.D. candidate entering their program. These administrators do not have the competency nor the directive to screen candidates on the basis of anything else (Harvard is not the CIA). Moreover, admissions to college or graduate school should not be about personality traits; it should be about aptitude and an inherent desire to learn, with the ultimate goal of contributing to society through knowledge and understanding. In this context, Harvard graduates list among them their fair share of individuals that have fallen short of that goal. Topping that list is none other than Theodore Kaczynski (the Unabomber). Ms. Jones has made a dreadful mistake that will continue to haunt her for the rest of her life; Harvard administrators do not need to resonate here with their own miscalculations.
3
Hmmm. What about someone who has been thrown out of a doctorate program for academic dishonesty? Say, plagiarism? Most graduate schools would rule out such a person on that basis.
Of course, plagiarism is a much worse crime than murdering a child.
4
Dylan Roof's serves 20 yrs to life instead of death penalty. While imprisoned gradually through reading, researching, writing, outside academic mentoring rebukes White Supremacy. Showing immense scholarly acumen, Roof sends out application to historically black Howard University. Should Howard accept a changed Roof?
11
Here's the thing: You either believe in redemption and forgiveness or you don't. No one is denying her crime was heinous (including her). But the question then becomes this: should a person who has completed the sentence for their crime and has worked to better themselves be forever denied the right to exist? And is it better that that person live in the shadows or actually contribute something to society once they leave prison?? It seems a lot of the comments on this thread only believe in redemption in theory. When the realities of it are staring them in the face they are judgmental and more than just a bit puritanical.
124
"You either believe in redemption and forgiveness or you don't. "
Right.
DON'T
"It seems a lot of the comments on this thread only believe in redemption in theory."
Not in practice and not in theory. She is out of prison and I hope she does not commit other crimes. But good for Harvard in, ultimately, getting to the right decision not to invite a murderer into the community.
"And is it better that that person live in the shadows or actually contribute something to society once they leave prison?? "
She does not have to be in the shadows. She can contribute to society without a Harvard degree. Flip burgers, or something. Assuming McDonald's is ok with hiring murderers.
5
She hasn't been denied the right to exist. She's been denied the right to take a coveted spot at a private university. If she wants to contribute to society, she can start by identifying the location of her son's body so he can be properly buried. He deserves no less and she deserves nothing until that happens.
8
If I am to be labeled judgemental and puritanical for thinking that an institution is within its rights to reject someone who murdered her four-year old child, so be it.
1
The comment by the reader below stating that she 'smirked' in her picture is telling. I don't see a smirk in the photo, and if I did see a smirk, I don't see why a human being gives up her right to smirk because she was convicted of murdering her child. This is just the type of piling on that happens all the time with ex cons, particularly with black ex cons.
To me, it doesn't matter if she robbed a convent, raped and shot a puppy murdered fifty orphans or burned ten churches. She has paid her debt to society. Now maybe her sentence should have been longer, but that's not her fault. She paid the debt that the arbiters of 'justice' said she owed. If prison is to mean anything, we have to allow those who finish their sentence to start with a clean slate. It is not society's duty or right to punish someone into perpetuity after their sentence is served. People, ALL PEOPLE, are capable of growth and redemption.
4
Sorry, there is no expiration on culpability of doing violence to others -- particularly helpless children. Harvard was right. She can still pursue her Ph.D -- behind bars.
And no, she didn't admit what she did to her kid and she glossed over it in the most vague way. I'm a liberal but there are some things that people on the left accept that astound me. If some far-right dude did the same thing and then wanted a scholarship, my fellow leftists would howl with rage.
No pass.
11
This is not the first time Harvard failed to set a good example for other institutions. A similar instance occurred in 1995 when Gina Grant's acceptance was rescinded.
Harvard Erred in Admissions Reversal
Published: April 12, 1995
To the Editor:
Re "Woman Who Killed Mother Denied Harvard Admission" (front page, April 8): As an alumnus of Harvard in his 35th reunion year and as a parent of three children, I was appalled to read your article on Harvard's decision to rescind its offer of admission to Gina Grant.
As one of the premier universities of the world, Harvard has a special public responsibility to exercise moral leadership by example in its actions. Harvard is a private university, but not merely a private university. The public interest, in this instance, is in the rehabilitation of people like Ms. Grant, so that they can become useful, productive citizens and realize their full potential.
The individual or committee that made this egregiously incorrect decision should reread Kant from Ethics 101 and ask whether or not the public interest would be served if all other first-rate universities would follow Harvard's lead and reject Ms. Grant. Clearly the answer is no. I urge Harvard to rectify its error of policy and morality to the extent it is possible to do so. RALPH DEEDS Washington, April 8, 1995
Read this court description of the murder before you decide.
http://law.justia.com/cases/indiana/court-of-appeals/1998/111301-lmb.html
7
Thank you for reaffirming my instinctive reaction when I first read the article. I thought about it all day and asked myself, am I really a bad person because I can't get past what this woman has done? Am I so horrible that I would never want either my self or my child to be taught by her?
My education level is nowhere near that of the many fine people who are defending her but I can't help feeling that Harvard did the right thing here.
6
I am currently in graduate school and i am in a rather "long" class so i decided to read this article, because like me, she is a black woman who wants to attend graduate school and unlike me she has been to prison for killing her own son.
I am going to speak to this, strictly from my perspective as a black woman attending Grad school. I remember the tedious and horrendous application process.I have often wondered how devastated i would be if i was not granted Admission. This is all i really want to do with my life and i have studied and worked pretty hard as most applicants to get here. Being the only immigrant in my class, i have often wondered if i got a place just so they can have a diverse pool or if i had a really strong application.
It is NOT a feeling anyone should have to go through. I wish Harvard looked at her application outside of her criminal record, and gave her an admission based on just their eligibility requirements. That being said, its clear that other Universities might want to court her due to the peculiarity of her case including her criminal record. So is it possible that she is getting accepted into NYU and these other universities and getting rejected by Harvard for just the same reasons? ( She is a black woman who has been in prison for 20 years and against all odds, qualified for a PHD program??)
Did she get in because of the peculiarity of her case or was she really good enough?I am afraid we may never know.
6
If any one of us grew up in the same circumstances as Michelle Jones, who could say if we would have made the same mistake? She committed the unthinkable, after she herself had been abused and sexually assaulted, but she has used her life to do good in the world and wants to redeem herself. As she states in this article, "I didn’t believe my past made me somehow cosmically un-educatable forever." I wish Ms. Jones the very best at NYU. Maybe Harvard isn't as great as they're made out to be.
1
I can. There is no circumstance under which I would murder my son. Your implication that anyone raised under tough circumstances is capable of beating to death a child is absurd and insulting. By the way, it wasn't a 'mistake.' It was an act of savage brutality against a defenseless child.
18
My mind is somewhat racing. This is an article of much nuance for me. I'm not just impacted by her race, her crime, her punishment; I am impacted by the "her" here. I'm left with a sense of "putting down" the woman - who appears to have experienced personal redemption, and then been rejected by what is ambiguity from my understanding of the Harvard response. And this leaves me with a sense that this is a case of misogyny.
Here's my hope for Ms. Jones: one day, perhaps, she will be recruited to come and teach at Harvard.
4
Flash! Applicant to PhD program is not accepted by her first-choice school.
That does NOT sound like news to me. This story has become headline news because the applicant is a convicted murderer, which makes it even more bizarre.
16
SHe WAS admitted. You didn't read the article.
1
This is a country that throws up so many barriers to rehabilitation. No wonder our recidivism rates are so bad.
3
Not getting into Harvard's program won't hinder this woman's rehabilitation one bit.
3
She killed her son and will not advise what she did with his body.
She blames her crime on a bad childhood. That said, what else is she capable of? Were she not touting her perils as an excuse for her past, is she not then to use them again?
Ms. Jones is a calculating murderess who wisely took advantage of education in prison. How could we think that she is qualified for Harvard or any other major university? Education in prison is simple.
We champion prisoners who serve their time through rehabilitation.
However, heinous crimes such as committed by Ms. Jones, and lack of responsibility (remorse) earn no accolades.
I think she should still be in prison and that she remains a snake in the grass.
Certainly, folks of all ethnicities respect the life of a child.
Harvard, indeed? Babysitting next?
21
Do you really think she should be put in charge of students somewhere, put in charge of classes? I don't know.
It you watched Cape Fear, the point of it is the guy is bad, not that he's a great person or anything. Or, for that matter, what about The Silence Of The Lambs? That antagonist had the credentials.
This is making me think, maybe an argument you'd want to make criticizing Hitler could be similar in principle to what you could say against this person. You know, you could say a person who has that kind of anger, or whatever his issues are, shouldn't be propelled to power, authority, and influence. You shouldn't take a questionable person and make them one of the voices whispering in everybody's ears.
Or what about Rasputin?
2
Gutless.
Harvard's history professor said Fox news would have criticized them.
That matters to a history professor?!
5
I personally can't imagine wanting to raise my rapist's child.
Some might think that child-murder is not unusual when a 14-year-old girl gets raped (assuming that is what happened) and has no counseling other than a belt across her stomach from her mother. Followed by, most likely, years of shame, humiliation and resentment towards the people who failed her. How much different might things have been had she had access to compassion and good counsel, and perhaps the choice to opt for an abortion. Abortion is a terrible thing. But then again, so is child-murder.
3
Adoption?
3
I wanted to be like Ms. Jones when I grow, except for the double jeopardy part (Harvard). Her's is a remarkable story pain, suffering and redemption.
3
Humbling. To think of what I've managed - and am managing - to do with my life starting as a fortunate American son .....it's hard even to imagine my doing what she has accomplished. And with ten years as an employee of the CA department of corrections at Soledad (remember Soledad Brothers?), I feel I can speak with authority.
Truly humbling
6
It actually doesn't seem all that hard to me to read some books and do some research when you are supported by others' taxes and have no job to hold down and no family to care for.
3
For all those talking about they want "full disclosure" of her crime, and that they want accountability from her: I would like to see those who participated in lynchings of African-Americans (some are still alive) to be brought to justice, to give "full disclosure" of their crimes, and their family members to give them up to authorities so they can face their crimes. I would like the children who stood grinning with their parents in those lynchings photos to come forward and provide justice and redemption on behalf of their family sins. I would like Carolyn Bryant, who lied about Emmett Till whistling at her, resulting in him being multilated and killed by a white mob, to be arrested and brought to justice since she has admitted publicly that she lied. I would like the descendants of slave owners and other beneficiaries of the profits from slavery to be accountable for the harm that has caused to the descendants of slaves - from the psychological to the financial. Trauma and financial disparity are passed down. So this is not in any way "the past."
Accountability does not only apply when the person is non-white. Show me your accountability and I'll show you mine. I, and the generations who will come after me and the ones that came before me, will be waiting...
8
It is Harvard's loss. It is easy for all those who have had support, etc., to succeed. You have learned through all kinds of obstacles. You will be an example for those who have had a bad start, too, and who will look to you and emulate you. It is easy to judge for people when they haven't walked in you shoes. I wish you success in all you do!
3
Harvard gave space and credentials to Ted Cruz, Steve Bannon, and Anthony Scaramucci. For them to think they have some moral clout in the life of this woman is not in keeping with their history. As the quote says, Harvard's job isn't to be this woman's priest; Harvard's job, *especially* at the graduate level, is to look for those talented and devoted enough to further the academic conversation in their chosen field. That's how you produce the best research. And it's nobody's job to reveal all their imperfections and past problems and mistakes to future employers and schools; nobody's required to disclose serious drug use or near-fatal depression or narcissism or nastiness. The difference between those of us without prison records and those with them isn't usually that we're better or more compassionate people; our lives were just met with a different set of circumstances.
And honestly, haven't we all read Beloved? Have we not seen soldiers come home traumatized from the experience of murder? Can any of us imagine someone who has been scarred more than she has by her own life and choices? Our outsider horror at her life cannot possibly measure up to the reality of the hell she has so successfully survived.
8
Well said. We can learn a great deal from those who have been traumatized and then manage to maintain their Humanity. Is that not, indeed, the eternal human struggle, the dance we all play in life. If we do not learn this as a species we will annihilate ourselves.
3
Didn't Michelle Jones do enough to rehabilitate herself? How much more did Harvard expect her to do to redeem herself? She has done the impossible: gotten herself educated to the point where they accepted her for a Ph.D. program. Then, in a stunning display of hypocrisy, they withdrew the offer. What if Ms. Jones had been a wealthy white ex-convict who had committed the same crime? Would there have been any doubt about her ability to withstand the pressures of the program? Would any questions have been raised about her minimizing her crime?
She did her time. Unless she is involved in another homicide or other crime it's of no concern to Harvard. Harvard has let in far more less qualified individuals than Ms. Jones. What they did to her now is a sign that even "liberal" Harvard doesn't believe in giving convicts a second chance.
4
It's interesting. John Stauffer is concerned about a conservative reaction to Ms. Jones's matriculation at Harvard. He is worried about the severity of her crimes, for which she has paid. Harvard is concerned that Ms. Jones can deal with the inordinate academic pressure at Harvard that leads to successful Harvard graduates.
Does Stauffer know how many of our citizens have died on battlefields due to decisions made by Harvard graduates? I volunteered in the Marines for four years in Vietnam with Henry Kissinger at the helm of that war. Some of my colleagues were butchered in that theater. And George W. Bush sent our troops into Iraq. These successful Harvard graduates have not paid for their crimes.
There is enough blood on the hands of Harvard graduates to more than surpass the horror of the crime of a disadvantaged woman who has ultimately excelled.
But I like this decision of Harvard, because it makes me realize that I went to a better Ivy League school. They've resolved an old conundrum of mine.
9
It is perfectly possible to be highly intelligent, capable of great scholastic work, and still be a terrible person at some level.
Ms Jones beat her child and left him alone, for days, to die.
And she has also, against all odds, become a promising PhD candidate.
One doesn't wipe out the other.
I don't blame Harvard, especially since appears she was less than candid.
28
There seem to be many factors in this case that the article skims over. Ms Jones appears to have had a Dickensian childhood herself, one that no doubt severely affected her ability to demonstrate empathy and good moral judgment in her youth.
We know from scientific research that the areas of the brain that govern moral decisions remain immature until a person reaches age 21 years or so. These two factors are very important in framing the crime.
However, why were the circumstances of the child's death left so murky? That piece of the puzzle really bothers me.
I strongly believe in the power of redemption, so I do not ask these questions to cast doubt over the amazing achievements Ms Jones has made in very trying circumstances during her incarceration. But having been around when Jack Abbott, Norman Mailer's protege, was released from prison because of apparent rehabilitation and exceptional literary ability in writing about the brutality of prison life, I am uncertain. Mr Abbott, upon his release, stabbed a waiter to death the same day his book received a glowing review in the NY Times.
Regardless of academic accomplishment, is it possible that damage during certain developmental periods in one's life are so very serious that they allow one to take the life of one's own child? Could these traits persist, and if so, how can we tease apart who is most vulnerable?
I have no great love for Harvard, but may they not be correct to be cautious?
175
The details of the death are murky because the mother refused to reveal where his body was located, so the cause of his death could never be determined. She's still refusing to tell, 20 years later.
5
You're making a lot of assumptions about those who have suffered trauma. I urge you to read this: https://www.amazon.com/Trauma-Recovery-Aftermath-Violence-Political-eboo....
1
This article highlights a large problem with our prison system /industry. Society says it would like to rehabilitate offenders, but what that means is elusive. For one person it may mean sentence completion, for someone else convicted of the same crime, same jurisdiction, it could mean completion plus a fine or parole. Remorse- how remorseful? What's the difference between inadequate and adequate - one paragraph or a page? Tears or stoicism? I would hate to be in such a situation, anywhere. As my brothers keeper, I hate the same for them too.
1
Well done Ms. Jones! You are better off without Harvard. Welcome to the PhD club.
4
Should part of redemption be atonement or apology? I don't see any mention of apology in this article. The subject hasn't even released the location of her son's body. There are many, many people in our country who are poor, abused, and neglected who would never inflict such horrors upon their children. Why doesn't the NYT profile them? Articles like this are why Trump is president . . . I do not celebrate this woman's success.
12
Was the crime based on free will or psychological forces out of her control? Intolerable abuse led to homicidal abuse. The statement that she fulfilled sentence seems to indicate that she has been punished enough. She has been transformed by her own efforts in prison.
2
It'a hard to imagine that if one has served their sentence they have paid their debt to society (the victim is a part of society). There are plenty of people that served shorter sentences for heinous crimes. Why is it so hard to say this woman isn't worthy of the same consideration, she did what we hope all prisoners do - served their time and improved themselves. No one should hope for less. She committed a terrible act, was punished and now deemed suitable to re-enter society and may be of benefit to people on the same trajectory. We have to show mercy and compassion for her now otherwise where is our humanity?
5
Under the law, she is paying her debt to society. I admire her intelligence and ability to do so well in such a tough environment. We should support those that are on a path to personal, educational and societal redemption. More than half our population never achieves what she has already achieved educationally under the most difficult of statuses. The president, provost, and deans of the graduate school at Harvard should be embarrassed that they show so little support of the concept of redemption. She is right she has graduated from the toughest school there is. NYU is strengthened academically by her admission and Harvard is diminished by rejection her. Alas Harvard used to be a great school like NYU.
5
First, let's all congratulate Ms Jones for her rehabilitation and accomplishments while in prison. The fortitude, work ethic and soul searching that characterized her work is beyond most mortals.
Second, it is her character and determination to become a good person that is the prime motivator for anyone truly interested in rehabilitation. Without knowing any of the data, my guess is that she represents <2% of all felons convicted of violent crime. In other words, while hers is a true success story, her accomplishments are not necessarily indicative of the potential for similar rehabilitation efforts, let alone outcomes.
Third, let's get off the Harvard issue; that's just a distraction to placate those who continue to bemoan that the world isn't fair. Harvard turns down the vast majority of applicants to its PhD programs. Ms Jones is in good company. She will be a success in her next steps and her accomplishments will still be her accomplishments. As she herself says, she's graduated from the toughest school there is.
6
Kudos to Ms. Jones. She shows that one can change course in life. (I hesitate to use words like "repentance" and "redemption" because they're hollow to me.)
But you spend way too much time and effort criticizing Harvard, as if the only way Ms. Jones could demonstrate significant change was to get a Ph.D. from Harvard. It also denigrates NYU, Kansas, Indiana and other institutions that offered her a chance. Not everyone who applies gets into Harvard or anywhere else. A "no felon" policy is not such a terrible policy for a university to hold, especially when there are abundant available alternatives.
5
Michelle, don't take any offense at Harvard's rejection. It is first and foremost a bastion and hatchery of the ruling class in this country. To achieve "diversity," it is quite easy to find bright minorities who never killed anybody.
3
Michelle Jones has been the model prisoner and completed all the legal and societal steps of rehabilitation. I would say to Ms. Jones and to all that New York University is the winner. Talk about privilege and celebrity adoration, Harvard is not the most, the only, the exclusive center of enlightenment. After its decision to deny Jones acceptance to the program, Harvard reinforces its loftiness, its separation from the mainstream. NYU, in the middle of Manhattan, is the real winner and the right place for Jones. Congratulations, Michelle. Show everybody what you can be.
96
Totally agree. As someone who completed grad school but was rejected by my first choice program, I believe that you end up where you should be. The pressures of grad school can be hard enough, and you want to make sure your program really wants, understands, and supports you. True for anyone but especially true for someone with Ms. Jones' unique situation.
1
The idea that Harvard is more of a "pressure cooker" than less elite programs is ridiculous; in the humanities, at least, these programs are in fact more supportive (financially and in other ways) of their students, nearly all of whom receive full funding via a tuition rebate as well as a generous stipend and offer of assistantships (and I say this as a graduate of an Ivy League Ph.D. program). That Harvard would overrule a department's intent to offer admission is uprecedented, and that it would do so out of faux concern for the student -- which clearly was actually concern for Harvard's own reputation and possible bad publicity! -- is shameful.
4
See http://law.justia.com/cases/indiana/court-of-appeals/1998/111301-lmb.html where the appeals court affirms the conviction. This was a horrific crime which the article does not address. I don't know how she lives with herself.
10
I thought I believed in forgiveness and redemption, but I don't know if I can go this far. Early in my career, I served on an ambulance crew in a small western town. I have seen the results of severe child abuse first hand, I don't know that I can forgive someone who could do that to an innocent child. I wish Ms. Jones luck in here life, but I don't think I would want to be around anyone who could do such a thing. It appears I have some growing of my own to do.
13
Please stop judging people based on where they go to school and schools on who they admit into their programs. Choices on both sides are very subjective. Even in instances where the debate is not so subjective, schools can make a choice that can seem outwardly biased. For instance, Harvard has made it well known that it would like to reduce the proportion of Asian Americans admitted to its programs. Should we care ? Maybe. But only to the extent that schools are tax exempt entities.
A better course of action would simply be to bolster / boost other institutions to the point where admission to Ivy League schools will not be a defining moment in who we are as people. They are after all, just schools. Playing up a few of them simply helps create needless hierarchies in Society.
As for Michelle Jones - more success to you. Move on. You have paid your price in ample measure and don't let the naysayers get in your way.
5
How convenient for Ms. Jones that the writer of this lopsided cartoon is willing to race past the murder and hiding of the body of a 4-year-old by saying the "circumstances...remain unclear."
Did he or anyone else ask the woman who we are are supposed to believe is such an exceptional and lucid thinker and writer that Harvard turning her down is a travesty what happened? How about a thorough rendering from the court proceedings? I think we can rule out that the child was nurtured to death. Sorry, unlike the writer, I consider the facts of the child's brutal murder relevant to whether the murderer deserves admission to an elite institution.
17
Don't let the story of Michelle Jones blind you into focusing on "Michelle Jones."
Her anecdote is a part of the larger picture of criminal justice and moral leanings in America. She's done her time, wants to contribute and do something good for our society, and yet her admission to Harvard is contingent on the details and semantics of her crime.
She is more than qualified in her academic achievement, resilience, and experience to be a PhD candidate. Educational institutions cannot tout progressive values, objectivity, and equal opportunity because it's convenient and looks good on paper. When it comes down to it...Michelle Jones is still just another "monster of society" who remains irredeemable, and many institutions like Harvard are just relics of an old and glorious time for elitism.
At the very least, Ms. Jones and what she represents should be our future.
4
This is the dirty underside of liberalism.
Yes, there are real causes.
Poverty-stricken high crime areas with brutal histories of essentially body dumping and forcing people to levitate up and climb out past the corner drug dealers by their fingernails - cutting schools until there's nothing left to give what start out as eager young learners in the baby grades.
It's brutal - it's rotten - and we have no way to judge what happens there, but we can and must:
Publicize safe haven laws so that more tortured girls know they can leave babies at fire stations;
Increase the number of social workers to help intervene for children in our own homegrown war zones, and
Educate the kids - help the kids change their future - give kids a safe pathway to school and back and give them safe inspiring adults to learn from out of school.
I'm glad prison finally did something right for this destroyed young woman, but too high a perch at Harvard is an inappropriate reward for a crime that - in spite of all of the causes that need society's commitment to work on - can't be shown to be publicly lauded like that. Yes, we can understand and we can and should support reformation, but we can't go so far as too applaud. Even in a situation with so much moral ambiguity, that's still wrong.
8
A perch at Harvard has nothing to do with her crime. It's a reward for her excellent scholarship. She served 20 years for her crime. There is no moral ambiguity here. The justice system proscribed a punishment. She served her time. Now it's time for everyone to move forward.
1
I think that, similar to what the parole system ostensibly looks for before discharging a prisoner, society is wanting and needing some kind of genuine remorse that was completely lacking in her Harvard app. She also needs to tell the justice system where the child's body is to show that, after decades of emotional and intellectual growth past her horrific childhood, she understands and believes that life is important.
4
I notice that the comments that sympathize with Ms. Jones barely mention her crime. The comments that don't sympathize talk about her crime and that's all. As for me, while I would rather err on the side of generosity, in this case I need to hear more from Ms. Jones before I give her a complete pass. Protracted cruelty against a child in your care culminating in murder is about as heinous as a crime can be. I would want her to take full ownership of what she did. It doesn't mean she has to grovel- but she can give a lot more than what's reported in this piece. I believe in redemption but it can't be cheap- especially here.
8
The degree of white privilege expressed here is astonishing.
6
White privilege? Don't you mean personal responsibility?
7
If I didn't know better I'd think your comment was clever satire.
3
She has not "paid her dues" until she has given a full explanation for her son Brandon's murder. After beating him (the appellate decision quotes her as saying "she did not want to raise a freak" due to a birth defect) and leaving him alone to die, she buried him somewhere. That poor baby's remains were left to rot. Now she is complaining that life is unfair? Give me a break
19
What explanation do you need? As a mother, I find her behavior regrettable , and of course, criminal, but fully understandable. A child herself forced to raise a disabled child - this was a cruel and unusual punishment for no fault of her own. Sometimes mothers kill disabled children out of love, believing - and with good reasons - that death is preferable to suffering. I don't know if this was the case, or Ms. Jones was just frustrated beyond endurance, but infanticide is far more prevalent than people like to believe. Historically, it was institutionilized in many cultures. The way to prevent infanticide is not by cheap self-righteousness and sentimentality but by abortion, contraception and social support for those children already born.
1
I agree with you generally. Reasonable people get that abuse breeds abuse and desperation, mindless selfishness, and violence, and that the alternatives to perpetuating the vicious cycles need to be much more readily available, including expanded safe-haven and temporary support solutions.
Don't agree here that Mary's comment reflects cheap self-righteousness and sentimentality. Killing children is heinous, even if it always was and is widespread, and the circumstances can be understood. In this particular case, there was also a father and his mother nearby as backstops; they even had custody for a while.
The explanation that is missing is what Jones plans to do about locating her son's remains and arranging for a formal burial. That may seem sentimental to some, but it's customary for closure, and strange that it's just brushed over.
As a woman and a Harvard Ph.D. in Economics, I am ashamed of Harvard University's behaviour
8
Look, every one of us has done things or said things that probably cause us great shame. No, we haven't all committed murder, & we especially have not killed our own child--the worst form of murder arguably. However, the real question is--do we or do we not feel that a person is capable of real redemption and transformation? I would argue that Ms. Jones has changed in profound ways--ways we cannot even imagine, both as a result of her studies and as a result of incarceration itself. But some people will never forgive her it seems. And even Harvard, an institution built by people who themselves participated in many shameful acts (slavery, the killing of people in Salem labeled as witches etc.), finds they must punish her for these acts.
How preposterous.
I think of a text I used to teach--"A Doll's House" by Ibsen, & remember at the end, Nora, the protagonist, decides to leave her patriarchal husband, and tells him they can reconcile if they could create, as she says, "A real wed-lock," in other words, a marriage of actual partnership. And, in the last moments of the play, her husband Torvald asks "A real marriage?, leaving the audience to ponder--WILL he change or won't he? My students are always divided...half believe, no, people don't change. Others--the sentimental & romantic ones, the spiritual & the hopeful--we all say--yes--he will change! Or, at least, he COULD change. That's what it comes down to: do each of us believe we ourselves are forgive-able?
4
She knows where her son's body is, right? How about Harvard considers admitting her when she goes and gets his body and brings it to the police for evaluation and a decent burial. How about that?
7
"One of our considerations... was that if this candidate was admitted to Harvard, where everyone is an elite among elites, that adjustment could be too much."
This about someone who survived the "adjustment" of federal prison for twenty years and changed her life. Pause and consider the arrogance of this statement. It makes me wonder if he has it the right way around.
139
Exactly. This woman succeeded in the harshest environment. The "elite among elites" are people who have been coddled and supported their entire lives, sent to the best schools, tutored, never had to give up study time to work. The kind who will succeed in college but fail in the real world, unless their careers depend on networking with other elites, of which there are many.
1
Ms. Jones was in an Indiana state prison facility, not a federal prison.
1
I just can't. We all remember being that young. Sorry, but the compunction to beat a living human being to death - a helpless baby no less? No matter the circumstances - it speaks evil to me.
274
And one can then never be redeemed and choose the path of good? I disagree. So does Jesus Christ.
1
As an older adult, now 62, I have pursued my PhD in history. What I have been told in effect by a number of NY universities is I am too old. I find this article most fascinating.
5
It sounds like she was a teenager, was raped, and committed a crime she doesn't exactly remember possibly during the acute, untreated stages of PTSD. She was possibly only was clear-headed enough to come forward about the crime after staying in a mental health facility. It would be difficult for her to be more forthcoming in such circumstances. I certainly think that Harvard was unfair to rescind her offer on the basis of her crime. They may have had reasonable concern about her ability to cope with Harvard's "pressure cooker" competitive atmosphere right after release from prison, but can they honestly really be sure anyone can handle the pressure when they admit them? If she is able to do the work, she should have a chance.
2
Stauffer: "[we] were simply trying to ensure that Harvard did its due diligence about the candidacy."
"If officials who take a careful look at the case decide that Harvard should move forward, then we think that the university should do everything in its power to welcome Ms. Jones .."
I love the way Stauffer slithered out of taking responsibility for his actions.
7
At the end of the day, murder is Murder.
9
And sometimes the consequences of ones actions follow you your whole life. We all have to live with them, she shouldn't expect any different. She can say all she wants that she's changed, but at the end of the day someone is still dead. She needs to live with that.
5
Yeap Amis at it again!!
Sorry guys never understood the US/and US states criminal laws and sentencing policies. In most europan countries this crime (as heinous as it is) would fall corrctly as been done by a minor, and would get at maximum 10 years, in most cases i would susbejt somthing betwenn 3-7 year, given that the whole support system crashed on this lady.
one of the very few woh got a cahnce in the Us after incarnation, especially as a black woman. I would really recommend to her to finish her PhD, and thean run as fast as she can out of the US (Canda, Australia or Europa), otherwise her history will never leave her.
4
On the surface, I can't reconcile her beating her 4 year old to death and believing Ms Jones is now reformed. I can however, take a somewhat leap of faith that after 20 years, Ms Jones is now better able to control her temper....perhaps...and feels a sense of guilt. However, given that the State has rescinded 60% of her sentence---that could have at one time been a death penalty, I would rather feel more inclined towards redemption if Ms Jones was pursuing the balance of her sentence and life through studies or activities that saved lives. Unlike the 4 year old son she murdered, Ms Jones is fortunate to be forgiven by the State and Country to walk and work among those less fortunate who have not committed capital murder.
14
Yale: The same school that "educated" our 43rd President, George W. Bush.
Motto: Lux et veritas
Harvard: The school that decided to give that same president an MBA.
Motto: Veritas
George W. Bush, who fell asleep on the job regarding pre-9/11 intelligence and lied to the world about weapons of mass destruction starting a war that's cost thousands upon thousands of lives and the American taxpayers over 6 trillion dollars and counting as those wars are not concluded.
The new motto of those schools should be this:
"We don't admit criminals (without connections), but we'll graduate them!"
8
There is no forgiveness for what she has done to her own blood regardless of her intellect.
14
Given the fact that there are a limited number of slots available at Harvard, I find some justification for deciding that one of them should go to an equally bright and talented scholar who did not beat a child to death.
47
In an article that is filled with thought provoking issues, about rehabilitation , the responsibility of an individual, redemption, and more this one paragraph left out for me :
“We didn’t have some preconceived idea about crucifying Michelle,” said John Stauffer, one of the two American studies professors. “But frankly, we knew that anyone could just punch her crime into Google, and Fox News would probably say that P.C. liberal Harvard gave 200 grand of funding to a child murderer, who also happened to be a minority. I mean, c’mon.”
That the insidiousness of Fox and it abhorrent attacks on individuals to push a narrative, drive ratings and appeal to the viewers they have cultivated so perfectly , the white, angry male ( mostly ) - has altered this woman's future, even more than her own actions.
That an institution such as Harvard is fearful of the press a right wing media organization may inflict to their ( harvards) reputation - speaks volumes of the power that that company wields on us.
There is much to absorb in this thought provoking piece, and just as Mr Stauffer's remarks were disquieting - Ms Jones eloquence with the last paragraph we inspiring :
“People don’t survive 20 years of incarceration with any kind of grace unless they have the discipline to do their reading and writing in the chaos of that place,” Ms. Jones said. “Forget Harvard. I’ve already graduated from the toughest school there is.”
7
I thought the last set of quotes sounded narcissistic. To me, those lines are something someone might say in praising a paroled felon, but about yourself? Could be that the NYT put them in her mouth, though, to have a nice-sounding "finish-with-a-quote", a common device.
You might google the 1998 appeal to get a further impression of Jones. She hasn't come clean to the authorities in Indiana or her son's father and grandmother about where she buried Brendan's body. She may have been so traumatized/addled that she doesn't remember, or she may be planning to but it's too painful to talk about, or nobody may care, but that's elided.
What else Stauffer said wasn't included in the article either.
It *is* interesting but incomplete.
1
This is ALL on Ms. Jones. Harvard did nothing wrong.
She should be so lucky and grateful that ANY school accepted her.
18
I'm struggling with this notion that serving a sentence should result in complete absolution. Serving one's time means that one doesn't have to be in jail anymore. I also think that serving one's time should mean that has one the right to participate in civic society (e.g. vote) and generally participate equally in the eyes of the government. However, I don't think it follows that it's wrong that there be any repercussions whatsoever, even in private arenas. Harvard and Yale turn swaths of people down for any number of reasons. Committing such a heinous crime, even if one did serve her time and even if it was a long time ago, seems a perfectly valid reason. If they turned her down for dealing drugs, theft, or prostitution, I'd feel differently.
23
I think this case of Harvard's rescinding its offer rests on her application statements themselves. I see two key problems: 1. I think she hardly has the luxury to ignore her crime, in deference to letting her academic/scholarly record from prison "speak for itself." Quite the contrary, I think she had an obligation to treat the incident head on in her application, in her personal statement--ideally in an effort to think through and align her crime with her broader life struggle and her subsequent work. She simply doesn't have the luxury of overcoming it by ignoring it at this stage in life, having just finished the sentence for the crime itself (and such a heinous crime, at that). 2. I agree with the American studies faculties' argument about the importance of making narratives "full," especially in academic writing. My concern is that, if she is so apparently willing to omit such a significant detail from her own narrative, she might do that in her own research as well. In scholarship, uncomfortable facts that don't fit a narrative must not be concealed or discarded. Rather, the narrative must somehow be adjusted to accommodate the facts, i.e. to be faithful to the empirical reality of the world. Its a key scholarly skill and quality, and if her application statement is any indication, it is a skill and quality that she may not sufficiently possess. My hunch (my hope) is that Harvard rescinded its offer on the basis of this logic.
8
Your argument that Harvard withdrew Ms. Jones' application because of the lack of detail about why she had been in jail. Excuse me: her application was for a Ph.D. program, not an application to get into or out of prison. A degree from NYU is just as good as Harvard anyway.
1
If the intentional or maliciously negligent killing of children is a crime, as it should be, then Harvard has to answer for it’s 2012 invitation to Henry Kissinger to speak at that university. Kissinger’s orchestration of the bombing of Cambodia, in a war the Johnson and Nixon administrations both knew could not be won, surely killed many innocent civilians, children among them. This sentence comes from the 3.28.12 Harvard newsletter, referring to then Harvard President Faust: "The event came about when Faust called on Kissinger in New York to extend an invitation to campus as part of Harvard's observance of its 375th anniversary—and he accepted.” So if you kill one child, your own, and do 20 years in prison and rehabilitate yourself to the level Ms. Jones has, after surviving a horrible childhood herself, Harvard says “No”. If you are a Harvard grad, as Kissinger is, and you are powerful--or were--and have knowingly killed many children, in a cynical cause, you get a personal invitation from the Harvard President. Money and power talk, as always. I’d be interested to hear what the various philosophy professors at Harvard have to say about this particular matter.
11
Why is it hard to understand why Harvard would question whether someone would be a credible doctoral candidate if the applicant did not honestly fill out the program application?
18
At age 40, my dad (Scottish and German, it matters) applied to PhD programs at both Harvard and Tufts (he had attended Yale undergrad and attended Columbia law school). Tufts accepted him, but Harvard did not, and strongly implied they thought he was too old to start PhD.
3
I meant "if it matters."
Harvard bows down to FOX "News." That should make Harvard alums proud.
3
There are millions of kids that do not get into their first (or second/third) choices for college. While I applaud her efforts to expand her knowledge and prepare to be a productive member of society, I cannot for the life of me understand the NYTimes take on her not getting into Harvard? Do the editors feel equally bad about the others that didn't get accepted, those that did not commit murder but worked hard through their adolescent years?
If she had been white, would there have been an article in the first place? Hate to ask, but really, I have to.
If she had been white, would there have been an article in the first place? Hate to ask, but really, I have to.
11
There's no question her crime was despicable. A crime against a child is a terrible thing, but this woman was also pregnant at 14. I'm a great mother now, but I can't imagine having a child that young. That doesn't excuse her, but she served 20 years and seems remorseful.
Meanwhile, colleges--including Harvard--often cover up rapes and keep the offenders on campus. Young, white men don't serve 20 years for rape, and neither do star athletes. Is Harvard really deterred by what Fox News will say? That is a frightening dampening of academic freedom.
Kudos to this woman for turning her life around. It won't bring her son back, but at least now she is building a life and contributing to society.
4
Harvard has hired convicted and pardoned Chelsea Manning as a lecturer to impart her wisdom to students. They are paying a white ex-felon to teach but they couldn't see their way admit Ms. Jones, who is black, as a grad student. Hmm. I'm all for second chances. Hurray for Ms. Manning.
Harvard isn't necessarily the best, but it has long been a symbol of the privileged elite. The message i take from these seemingly separate actions is black folks continue to be denied access to the highest levels of privilege in our society. Not surprising, but disappointing and wrong.
Thank you NYU. And good luck to you, Ms. Jones.
3
hummmm, let's see... Sean Spicer is headed to Harvard but Ms. Jones has been singled out by the higher ups (after initially being offered admission by the History department) as toxic to the Harvard brand.... remind me not to send any of my kids to Harvard.
5
Jared Kushner. 'Nuff said?
4
Ms. Jones said. “Forget Harvard. I’ve already graduated from the toughest school there is.”
Well put! Congratulations to you. You are a remarkable woman
4
An extraordinary woman and scholar, deeply deserving of this chance--if only she would acknowledge the stunning gravity and cruelty of her youthful offense, so as to integrate it to the degree possible and move forward as an example to others. Without that acknowledgement, a disturbing piece is missing. One wonders whether her own heartbreaking history of abuse, and the simple need for physical and psychic survival, has blunted her insight or capacity for remorse and empathy. I wish her well.
136
This comment is a bit ridiculous. There is literally ZERO indication that she has shown no remorse or lacks it. She simply has not poured all of it into this piece. And I am glad that the author did not make it all about her remorse- because that's not what this piece is about. It's about how much do we ACTUALLY stand by the idea of allowing people to serve their time and then be released and lead productive healthy lives??
6
The Indiana State Prison and its Parole Board must have been satisfied with her stated remorse and believed her to have been rehabilitated enough to cut her original sentence of 50 years and released her back to join society at large. However heinous her crime was, who are we to judge - she will answer to her God as we all will one day - and I am sure she regrets it everyday and she will carry the guilt forever. Let her be a productive citizen again.
4
She would not have been paroled if she had not acknowledged the deep gravity of her crime in full. Her redemption is her own, not for the voyeuristic consumption by the readers of this newspaper. We do not know, nor do we need to witness, her internal struggle or judge the appropriateness of her contrition.
5
Opening up this for comments - and allowing people to express disgust at this pathetic attempt to lionize a child murderer because of 2017 identity politics - is the only reason I'm maintaining my NYT subscription. Society might have released her from her prison term, but we are under no obligation to forgive and forget what this woman did, which will always overshadow her academic and professional accomplishments.
36
This was an eye-opening article. Although I also wonder about the circumstances of her son's death, the fact that she has done exceptional work during her imprisonment speaks for itself. She has served her time, and I am hopeful her work will improve the lives of those now incarcerated, and help society to understand and improve the system we now have. Perhaps her work will also help us to intervene sooner in those lives who are on the edge- the abused, neglected and hopeless.
1
I don't understand the point of this article. Why do I care that she didn't get into Havard or Yale? She got into grad school, which is an accomplishment for anyone, let alone a convicted murderer.
11
" everyone is an elite among elites?"
They may rank high in academic intelligence, but they hit rock bottom in humanity and social conscience. I would be embarrassed to be a Harvard grad right now.
3
No one disputes that what Ms. Jones did to her son was criminal and awful. Forgiveness and redemption are the hallmark of most world religions and are cherished by humanity. Ms. Jones paid, and I am sure she continues to pay, the price for her act as society handed her its punishment under the law. Ms. Jones can still do good in the world, and we ought to encourage her to do so. We need to forgive as we see what redemption can accomplish for humanity.
“You never really know a man until you understand things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird.
4
She received a reduced sentence, and was accepted into NYU's program. Why is entitled to be at Harvard? I don't see the point of these article at all.
1
And yet, Sean Spicer becomes a Harvard Fellow.
4
How is this even news? This woman murdered her 4 year old son. There's no excuse for that whatsoever, and even if her prison term is over, yes, you bet she still has to live with the consequences for the rest of her life - or, apparently, not, thanks to NYU. It's ridiculous that she got a place in any program - but, I guess she was aided by the fact that she didn't bother to mention in her application that she was a child-murderer and, now, apparently, it's fashionable to have convicted murderers of children in PhD programs. She says she wants to serve society? She's not walking the walk. What kind of "service" can she do in a humanities PhD program? None. She's an attention-seeking, remorseless, piece of human garbage, smirking for a NYT photographer. And, of course, academics are there to eat it up and to fund it.
10
Humankind should never provide an avenue for redemption or forgiveness to a woman that kills her son. The only power with that potential authority is God.
3
My kid couldn't get into any Ivy League school despite being senior class president, a National Merit scholar, a finalist for the prestigious Presidential Scholarship, with a stellar record of serving others as tutor to underprivileged children and a near-perfect SAT score.
We wondered, as a white child of middle class parents, what would have made her special enough to attract the attention of the cultural elites? Now we know.
29
Oh come on, you have to know that those achievements just aren't enough to get into an Ivy anymore.
1
Very moving article highlighting a person who was able to turn their life around and learn from the past. I wish you all the best Ms. Jones.
4
We're not privy to the details of Harvard's decision. But if it's as presented here, it's a sad day when Harvard bows to Fox News.
3
A criminal justice system with programs that focus on rehabilitation and education like the ones that allowed Ms Jones to discover her genius and propelled her to this extraordinary level and provided an amazing opportunity for redemption, is what is needed on a massive scale in this nation.
Such a universal model would strike a death blow to the “for profit prison industrial complex.” However, America is a nation that prefers to incarcerate rather than educate, especially its Black and Brown citizens.
After all, to generate massive profits for the prison industrial complex, recidivism is a must in order keep the prison cells and beds filled.
Well, her kid is never going to Harvard but why should I get in front of a sensitive, feel-good story.
13
Skimmed her paper (co authored with Lori Record) - it is extremely solid work. Normally (even as a product of the Ivy League) I take great glee in making fun of all things loopy whack a doodle PC that is epidemic in the Ivies right now. Colleges now truly deserve every bit of ridicule they get for the utter collapse of common sense.
This is not one of those cases. Harvard should not have rescinded admission in this case.
87
I can only find one peer-reviewed paper (the one linked in the auricle). It seems to be her only scholarly output; co-authored as well.
Can you post any of her other peer-reviewed work that would merit entree into an "elite of the elite" Ivy League PhD. program please?
4
As soon as she felt "rehabilitated" and sorry for what she did, she should have told the authorities where she buried her son. There's no excuse for his never having been found. She knows where she dumped him.
51
I doubt there is a person reading this story who has not done something, sometime, to be ashamed of, even if noncriminal according to the law. The basic question posed here is whether prison is supposed to be rehabilitation, in which case Ms Jones illustrates that, or whether it is lifelong punishment, even if that is not the sentence imposed by the court. Is society allowed to punish far beyond prison, in fact even if there is little or no imprisonment? Consider the case of the young man who raped a drunken girl by a dumpster, who seemed to get off very lightly, but did he? At what point do we say someone has paid enough for what they did? Ms Jones certainly has worked hard for her education and her research seems to be very contributory as a body of work. Whether or not Harvard admits her to a doctorate program is, I think, up to Harvard. It's a private school. Overall, though, do we think she's paid enough?
3
jean Kennedy, How many of us beat and killed our child? Bad comparison.
8
I don't feel that a person's criminal past in any way should affect their admissibility to educational institutions however one has to respect the right of those institutions to reject or accept any applicant as they see fit.
What is particularly tragic in this case is this woman went through some very traumatic experiences since she was 14 YEARS OLD and judging by some of the self-righteous comments on this forum that seems to be lost on the minds of those that still condemn her. These are the same people that would argue a 14 year old should be a given a life sentence or that they should never be released which is precisely why the United States is a mess with its incarceration rate and no discernible decrease in crime rates.
Yes, she will have to live with her actions for the rest of her life but its also not hard to see how it all came about to culminate in the tragedy of her son's death. The fire and brimstone mentality of some people just makes me shake my head.
5
There were many ways to write an article and in this article the NYT choose to minimize the crime and maximize the rehabilitation. The article was composed to direct the reader to the NYT preferred conclusion. Harvard is wrong and poor Ms Jones.
We have only two short paragraphs buried in the middle of the article that even begin to describe the hideousness of the crime. In fact we have more paragraphs relating to the Ms. Jones oppressed childhood before the crime than we have of the crime itself. That is we are given more reasons to justify the crime or at the least mitigate the crime than we have as to why any Judge and or jury might have seen fit to sentence her to 50 years in prison.
There is a saying that there are two sides to every story. The NYT has become good at giving one side while ignoring the other side. It places the onus on the reader to find out what the whole truth by forcing the reader to other sources. When the reader is lazy or ignorant and just accepts the NYT version as the whole truth he or she becomes upset at what they call alternative facts or they are surprised when events do not occur which if reading only the NYT would seem to be foregone. Ie Trump winning or the acquittal of the Baltimore Policemen or the fact that the Fed Justice Dept could not make a case against them or the fact that the Furgeson MO. Policeman is not charged even after review by local, state and federal officials. etc etc
20
It is good that she has turned her life around (as much as one can in her circumstance), but Harvard would probably not be best for her. After all, could she "handle its pressure-cooker atmosphere"? The woman murdered her son and has somehow found a way to go on with her life. I think she could handle the pressure. According to her, she did not consent to the act the brought about her pregnancy, so I read that to mean she was raped. Still, I would imagine that even raped, I could not kill the child once it was born. Had she had an abortion, I wonder it she would be a Ph.D candidate?
Ms. Jones survived 20 years in prison, but Harvard Professor Stauffer has concerns she can't handle the pressure-cooker of Harvard? What a farce! Best of luck to you Ms. Jones, as a lover of American history I look forward to reading your books.
3
Ehhh, screw Haa-vaad, who, and I do mean this pretty literally, needs it. She'll clearly totally blast off at NYU. Go-go-go, Ms. Jones.
1
To my knowledge, I don't have experience working with individuals who've committed crimes and served sentences. In experienced maybe, but that doesn't make me naive.
Her self-admitted crime was beyond words. Self-admitted. She will never forget it and its horror will haunt her forever.
I thought the "deal" was that once you've served your time, you're done. If you have to keep dragging the crime around with you, introducing the crime to everyone you met, then, essentially, you never stop paying for the crime. 20 years can become 50 years. Instead, you pay for the crime for the rest of your life.
Where is the benefit of rehabilitation if we force the rehabilitated to wear the scarlet letter for the rest of their lives? When is Ms. Jones free?
7
No matter which decision Harvard made, they would have received criticism. There is no good decision because rejecting her has led to accusations of "racism" "classism" and "elitism" would have been heard. She served her time, but the crime itself was not an accident. Just because she's clearly brilliant and determined does not make her a good person, and circumstances should make Harvard (and others) wary. If they had accepted her, many would (rightly) argue that her crime is still part of who she is.
64
To Jean in Tucson--I have a bag of stones for throwing. Would you like another one to toss?
2
This is why I am no longer a liberal. She murdered her child, and people are angry that Harvard didn't accept her? She murdered her own child. No crime is more horrific. I would have demanded a life sentence, if not the death penalty. This why I am no longer a liberal. I'm Jewish. My people were exterminated and massacred in the pogroms. Does that mean I could murder my child and still go to Harvard?
10
If we remain primitive in belief and only subscribe to the ancient biblical fantasy "a tooth for a tooth" form of punishment we will never crawl out of the swamp we came from. No law ever written, Gods' or Mans' in all of history was ever implemented without a consideration for the events that led to the crime. ISIS is trying to reverse that and in the eyes of most people they look ridiculous. Even if this person was given a life sentence there is a strong possibility that with the right kind of help she would change in 20 years. The days where we locked people in dungeons, or lopped of their hands for stealing bread, or cut out their tongues for lying are in the past. Many criminals will be criminals all their lives, some will not. I believe that saving those we can is a greater human act than than punishing them for the rest of their lives.
1
She has received a great deal of second chance- early release, entry into a PhD program at NYU, hardly a third rate school. But that doesn't mean that she is entitled for everyone to forget what she did, which is permanent- there is no second chance, no PhD or even high school for the son she murdered, just a cold grave.
3
Bring back Angelina Jolie's story and portrait photo.
This women does not deserve any accolades or promotional.
I do not feel any sympathy whatsoever. I just don't.
12
My problem is with this reporter minimizing this crime by using "the boy" and "the body was never found." Brandon Sims is the boy and his beaten starved unburied body should be an integral part of this story. Clearly this reporter had the opportunity to ask that simple question of her. Eli Hager must tell me his complete story too.
56
I applaud Harvard. Jones's child was also denied the opportunity to go to Harvard, or any other school for that matter. We can not lose sight of the colossal hole in our society caused by Jones's unspeakable act of cruelty. Harvard is right in rejecting someone who has failed to acknowledge their full responsibility in such a terrible crime, as such acknowledgment is a crucial attribute of rehabilitation.
37
Congratulations on your admission to NYU, Ms. Jones. I look forward to reading your work.
5
If this woman were white, people would say she should still be in prison for what she did. Nobody would be championing her cause.
10
Re: "...concern that her background would cause a backlash among rejected applicants, conservative news outlets or parents of students."
So the problem is not that Harvard would appoint a murderess; the problem is that Harvard might look bad.
Scholarship vs reputation.
Is Ms Jones the same person she was when she murdered her son?
Is she qualified to be a historian?
Is she qualified to be a baby sitter?
2
So Harvard is afraid of what Fox News says about it? That was my takeaway. What a cowardly institution. I wonder if John Stauffer knows how callous, and even discriminatory, he made his employer look. Michelle Jones seems exceptionally well qualified; she has won awards and been published in journals. She has served her time, let her be forgiven.
128
The article brings up an important point of when has justice been served? In a more humane society, a teenager that abused and abandoned her own child would've spent a long time in a mental hospital, not in prison. However we are not a humane society. Regardless of whether I would want to personally associate with this person, she should let her work speak for itself. There are many people who have committed crimes against society and never serve any time, why should Harvard not judge her on her merit alone?
7
When does Brandon get his chance to go to college?
18
Louis Althusser is even now widely read in the humanities - he killed his wife and was found mentally unfit to stand trial. So, yes, there is a way to redeem scholarship even if one finds the scholar unsettling!
But what I completely object to is the way the New York Times glamorizes such stories with its semi-fashion photography, and leaves out an uncomfortable detail in the crime (at least for me): Ms.Jones's son had a disability in relation to which Ms.Jones allegedly stated to her family/friend that she didn't want to "raise a freak".
Look NYT, I am all for rehabilitation narratives but don't present it in a disneyfied version. We need to confront all kinds of contradictory truths in order to move forward.
46
I am fascinated by her, and I am rooting for her. I have no romanticism here, I just believe she has a lot to learn and teach and the world could use her unique lens. Despite her horrible crime, there is little doubt she is extraordinary.
3
Murder is still murder! She should not be out and teaching at a university! Give me a break!
9
Sounds just like a Steeler fan--all brawn. What about serving sentences based on the seriousness of the crime and rehabilitation while incarcerated? I would like to know your opinions if you were caught smoking pot and put in jail and denied education or employment afterwards. Breaking the law is breaking the law--right?
This sentence is a sad representation of how Harvard legitimizes denying Ms. Jones' application? “We’re not her priests,” Professor Johnson added, using an expletive.
2
Reread the section. Johnson was supporting Jones' admission to the school
1
Lots of gray here, indeed. If, under the terms of the law, Jones has paid the prescribed penalty and has rehabilitated herself through good behavior and education, then she should be taken back into society as a full member.
That is not to condone what she did. Nothing is worse than the monster who murders any child, let alone one's own. But forgiveness is not ours to grant. That can come only from God.
As to Harvard. Geesh. Get over yourselves, folks. Either you are there to educate qualified students at all levels or you are not. It appears that Harvard is not. It's no big loss for Jones. A professor at Youngstown State told me decades ago that her students could get as good an education at YSU as any at Harvard. I believe her. And, don't I recall articles in the Times back along about graduate students at Harvard teaching graduate seminars, with no professors to be found? Odds are that Jones will also get a better "street" education in Washington Square than in Harvard Yard. And in the classroom, professors leading the seminars, not other grad students.
One day, Jones will have to face judgment. But while here, she has done all that was asked of her. NYU recognized that, Harvard wears blinders.
5
She has not "paid her dues" until she has given a full explanation for her son Brandon's murder. After beating him and leaving him alone to die, she buried him somewhere. That poor baby's remains were left to rot. Now she is complaining that life is unfair? Give me a break.
31
you NEVER heard her say that life was unfair....but I will. Life is unfair when the color of your skin dictates whether you get life for a crime you committed when you were 14...or a book or movie deal. You tell me Mary.
3
Harvard feels she would not fit in perhaps. But Harvard hasn't said too much about the long list of graduates that have spent time in prison for serious crimes. Perhaps that Harvard education wasn't all that uplifting and this woman is better off somewhere else.
BTW, Theodore Kaczynski, the unabomber, was a graduate of Harvard.
4
Although I admire her intellect and fortitude in going forward with her life, this woman beat and killed her own (young) child (by her own admission). Harvard should not be faulted for considering this in the admission process. How many applicants with stellar accomplishments and recommendations are rejected by Harvard every year? It's crazy that this is even a story.
29
This statement about Harvard University reason to deny this worthy student into the PHD program was laughable. " But in a rare override of a department’s authority to choose its graduate students, Harvard’s top brass overturned Ms. Jones’s admission after some professors raised concerns that she played down her crime in the application process.
All of the scandalous legacy applications of Cash My CHeck group of corporate raiders and those pious hedge fund leaders would not want to out-shown by a poor women of color who has worked to change her life and better others.
Guess her family didn't have a fat enough check book for Harvard University.
4
Having read this outstanding article, I am struck not only by the attitude and actions of Harvard, but also the many posts here that do not believe in redemption and that mental illness is a reality. Let he who has not sinned.................
7
There's no allegation that she suffered from diagnosed a mental illness. She was tried and convicted of beating and leaving her 4 year-old son to die of dehydration and/or starvation. Is there no depravity that appalls anymore?
4
So what that Harvard rescinded their offer? Colleges, including Ivy League, have recinded offers of admission to accepted students for perceiving anti-black slights made on social media. You have young people getting kicked out of high school or college for using the exact same word "civil rights" leader Jesse Jackson used to describe Obama. Cry me a river. If she were a white man who had killed a black child as a result of a dysfunctional and impoverished background there would be zero sympathy and zero offers from colleges.
8
A human being does not murder another, spend 20 years in prison, walk out lily-white, ready to embrace the world anew. Some stains are permanent. It's not to imply that Ms. Jones should not have the opportunity to get on with her life and use her talents to benefit society. However, what smacks of impropriety is the fact that she is seeming using her past life and incarceration as a springboard to advance her new life. There is a hell for a reason and a purpose and once one has taken up residence there, there is no pathway to heaven.
6
Beat and starved her kid.
Redemption is not an option in my mind, as I imagine a child dying all alone in his bedroom. I am tearing up just thinking about his suffering.
19
Harvard clearly within its rights. What I question is why this woman is seeking (or at least agreeing) to have this situation publicized. I would expect she would want to get on with her new life and bury the past in a cloud of anonymity. Now, as a result of this article, she will be forever looked on as the murderer who made good. Maybe this is what she wants.
4
Wow, I am astounded at the lack of empathy here for Ms. Jones. I presume NYT readers are so perfect that they feel moved to cast the first stone?
6
I am astounded at the lack of empathy for her murdered disabled preschooler, who died alone, in pain and terrified. I am astounded at the lack of empathy for his father and the rest of his family who loved him, and who now have to watch this sickening display of cheerleading for the "mother" who abused and murdered him.
And as a matter of fact, no I am not perfect, and yet I feel completely justified in judging the brutal murder of a child as a bad thing. Call me crazy.
3
I think the question that Ms. Jones hasn't answered is exactly how she murdered and buried her child. Until she faces that, I find it very hard to see how she can be redeemed.
The criminal justice system will never be perfect, and the length of "time served", whether too much or too little, has nothing to do with fundamental humanity. Whatever the circumstances that led to murdering her four-year-old child (and it certainly seems she was a victim of terrible circumstances), they should not be papered over.
She murdered her son. Getting past that requires full disclosure.
364
I don't think so. This is between her and her god...
1
I was about to comment virtually the same thing. Redemption is indeed possible and should be fully supported, but only with acknowledgment of one's offense, which in this case was apparently one of unimaginable cruelty.
4
Yes. The single most disturbing thing in this article is that Ms. Jones's son's "body was never found." Why not? Why was locating the boy's body not made a condition of her sentencing? Didn't the state of Indiana owe that much to the memory of the boy that he be given a proper burial in a marked grave?
9
She murdered her child.
That's a little bit of a step further than youthful carjacking, or an impulsive drug-addled stabbing, or selling crack.
We dislike thinking about the very disturbing truth that many sociopaths are extremely intelligent and capable of great achievements--especially when they see themselves as triumphing over lesser mortals, and the system.
Yes--she was made that way, likely, by the wretched version of parenting she herself received. But many, many human beings equally or worse abused manage to find within themselves the necessary civilized quality of protecting their own children.
This woman will do just fine. She's been adopted by the professionally progressive crowd, will sell books and be lionized, and will in every material way profit from what she did to that poor little boy.
27
All you need to know about this is that Harvard admins and some professors were terrified that big nasty Fox News would criticize them! Get a spine!
Also, there's appears to be some just-under-the-surface racism going on there. Would their opinions be the same if Michelle Jones were white?
5
What shocks me here, more than Harvard's discretionary decision to deny admission to its academic community, is the treatment of Ms. Jones as a very young teenaged offender. Even the language of this sympathetic article reflects this: "what she says was non consensual sex with a high school senior" at 14. (Everywhere in the United States, 14 is, by definition, below the age of consent.). The very lengthy prison sentence--50 years commuted to 20--for a crime committed at 14 or 15 by an abused juvenile seems cruelly excessive, and raises the question of bias against a female offender. Ms. Jones is to be lauded for her determination to use her experience and her intellect to contribute to debate and scholarship on penal issues. I hope she is very successful in her future academic career. But an individual academic institution may have good reasons to admit one candidate and deny another, based on such factors as difficulty comparing quality of academic work, the harsh intrusion of publicity, college size and location, liability issues, climate for other students of all ages, social adjustment (in this case, immediately post-incarceration, with no usual history of high school or college participation), the strengths and nature of other candidates, and honesty in all application materials submitted. Harvard knew multiple programs were competing for to enroll Ms. Jones. She may find a better fit at NYU, and her promise is such that she will likely be an important voice.
5
I'm glad she has found a way to try to make something of her life after her terrible crime. But beating a four year old boy to death, her own son, then secretly burying his body...can you imagine how terrified that little boy was as his own mother beat him to death? It's such an awful crime, it's very hard for me to feel much sympathy for her. The fact that the New York Times has splashed across their front page an article that could be headlined "Toddler Murderer Got into NYU but not Harvard" strikes me as the sort of incredible tone deafness that has contributed the widening divide in America.
There's an old adage about sociologists standing over the dead body of a murder victim saying "I feel so sorry for whoever did this." Seems apt for this article too.
29
So if I get into NYU it's not news. But if I murder my child and get into NYU I'm celebrated. It the son, who now would be 24, who should be enrolling in NYU, not his murderer. This is a disgusting celebration. We've seen it before. See "In the Belly of the Beast." From the New York Times: https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/12/mailer-and-the-murderer/?m...
19
This story makes me grateful to have an NYU diploma on my wall.
4
I'm disappointed to see that Yale did not admit Ms. Jones, but more disappointed to see Harvard reverse its decision in part because she "downplayed" her crime in her application. Why is the school focusing on the amount of space she dedicated to explaining her (horrible, very horrible) crime in her application? Admission would surely upset donors, alumni, students, faculty, and the general public. Admission, however, might inspire other inmates to pursue rehabilitation through education. Admission would also prove that schools like Harvard believe in rehabilitation and in creating a graduate program filled with top scholars who have diverse experiences. Does the thought of sitting next to someone who committed a murder two decades ago make you uncomfortable? Should that person be forever judged and denied opportunities because of something they did in their past? Is murder an action that crosses your ethical "red line"? Admissions is a tough conversation, especially because we're all trying to figure out why WE were rejected, and why someone else was admitted. (See articles on the debate over undergraduate admissions based on race at Harvard.)
5
On the one hand, I am against places discriminating against someone who has served their debt to society and especially someone so obviously wanting rehabilitation. On the other hand I see the face of a scared 4 year old being beaten to death by the person who was supposed to take care of him. This is a very very tough one. So glad I didn't have to make this decision.
8
This woman was the victim of a terrible crime: forced to give birth at the age 14. The perpetrators of this crime are her family and the social services who did not offer her a free abortion. Her son should have never been born. However, this does not excuse killing a four-year old who is already a person, not a mindless zygote. No matter the extenuating circumstances, this was homicide and she paid the price for it. But now her prison service is done and she is a free member of society. From now on, she should only be judged on her merits as anybody else would. If she was qualified to be accepted to Harvard, she should have been.
8
Being a free member of society is not the same thing as being accepted to the graduate program of one's choice. She is not entitled to admission. No one is.
3
Many commenters here are throwing out the hypothetical: "If she were white, she'd have been admitted to Harvard ..." (as if that were the only factor in this case).
While we're throwing out hypotheticals, though, ask yourself this: If this we're a young, poor, black ~man~ who beat his little ~daughter~ to death and spent time in a mental health facility, do you think he would ... A) have served only 40% of his prison sentence? B) have been courted by some of the nation's top graduate school programs on the basis that he had valuable insights and could serve as an "eyewitness" into the criminal justice system?, and C) have an army of journalists, academics, and online commenters claiming that it's a miscarriage of academic justice that Harvard denied him a prestigious graduate school spot?
12
My heart is filled with disgust for my alma mater. There's a yawning hole in the core where this institution's values, commitment to principles and commitment to integrity should be.
Also compare this with Georgetown hiring a former bank robber because he was the best for the job: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/04/21/bank-robbe...
68
I'm ambivalent about her admission. But there is a big difference between a bank robber and an admitted child killer. Yawning, indeed.
5
Robbing banks and killing a child, or anyone, are apples and oranges.
3
The Harvard faculty who thought that she may not be able to handle the "stress" of Harvard? Really?
People in poverty in this nation (as of 2017 there are 22 million children living under the poverty line!) live with daily stresses these Harvard folks clearly know nothing about. They may be different than academic stressors but the fact that she has survived and flourished alone make her an outstanding candidate.
The poor have gotten next to nothing in support in our country thanks to the 30 year attack by politicians on the social services safety net. Pile on the added stress to those poor (like Ms. Jones) who may have medical, mental health or drug addiction problems --and overcoming those odds is remarkable.
That she killed her son is gut wrenching. That she has turned her life around and is clearly very bright and capable is an example of what personal will and perseverance can accomplish.
Good luck to her.
12
This one is so tough...While I believe our prison system should produce more Ms. Joneses, my take away from this was imagining all the fear and terror that four year old felt in the final days of his short life.
27
What disturbs me about this article is the number of commentors who lack compassion and want this woman to be consigned to that other prison of "holier-than-thou" jailers. I pray she finds supporters and friends who will love and build her up.
17
Let's add up the cost of more than two decades of incarceration for this child murderer, and hand her the bill. She's "responsible" now, right?
She's now a brilliant role model to many, and she should follow through with her "recovery", pay her debt to society, and go on and live with the fact that she made her own decisions, and those decisions resulted in the death of an innocent child.
No hero in my book.
10
Michelle Jones is not only smart and strong, but also sensible. She is entirely right: if you want to know the answer, ask the question. Her future success will serve as an embarrassment to Harvard, with its pretentions and paternalism. Kudos to Alison Frank Johnson for speaking truth about, if not to, power there.
What impresses me most about this story is how like a White Citizen Council Harvard is acting to exclude the "other," a person of proven character, convictions, and conduct but with a background regarded as an indelible stain, like skin color. Shame on Harvard (and Yale, too).
8
Harvard was wrong and those that denied her should be ashamed of themselves - how awful to do this to someone who has come so far up from so far below. This is a wonderful example of redemption and moving forward. Good for NYU!
7
MOTHER. MURDER. SON.
I cannot get over that combo.
I guess in the larger scheme of things, the School acted vicariously on behalf of Brandon, depriving his mom of the thing she wanted most - Harvard; just as she deprived him of the thing he wanted most - LIFE.
18
Who needs Harvard anyway. It's probably already got so many white collar crooks on its alumni roll, it will hardly even miss Ms. Jones.
12
If this woman were not black would we be seeing some of the idiotic comments here? She beat her child to death. She deserves much less than she has been given. Let her go to the worst junior college in the world. She should still be in prison and talking about Harvard's "racist past" in this context is surreal. If she is so damned intelligent could she not find some other solution out of her life than battering a baby to death?!
41
Not saying that murder was right, or that the poor child didn't suffer.
But considering her mother beat Michelle with a board when she found out she was pregnant, where would she have learned to correctly handle difficult situations? Obviously she was weaned on violence; that makes a person think violence is the only solution.
102
She's changed. Ever make a mistake?
1
And what makes you think she will behave any differently now that she is out of prison?
2
She survived prison for twenty years, but is not tough or savvy enough to survive fellow grad students at Harvard? What does that say about them?
21
I don't think I've ever read nastier, snobbier, hateful and cowardly statements than John Stauffer's.
He and Harvard should be ashamed of themselves. They should also now go through EVERY doctoral studies application and review all candidates. I am sure that their are other candidates who do not meet the "honest and full narration is an essential part of our enterprise" standard.
As far as Harvard being a place where "everyone is an elite among elites and that adjustment could be too much" well, i can't say it better than Ms. Jones: "Forget Harvard. I've already graduated form the toughest school there is."
25
the comment by a Harvard professor that the admissions committee was 'worried/concerned' about her adjustment in an elite institution is so incredibly patronizing and exclusionary that it shocks me that it was actually said on record. The applicant survived prison and found a new path- let her decide what is right for her.
294
Do all applicants to Harvard and other Ivies get to "decide hat is right for (them)? Isn't there an admissions process? Aren't there criteria?
3
Regardless of her rehabilitation, the fact that the body was not recovered is disturbing. Perhaps a bit more detail on that bit?
10
How odd that Harvard is concerned about Fox News and the op-ed of Harvard's decision. Does the school believe in rehabilitation or not? More importantly, does the school believe that an individual has the right to move and grow beyond their history. This woman should not be forever condemned by her past. She'll never escape her personal nightmare of her crime for the rest of her time in this life. We have no business keeping her life trapped by her past.
7
Aside from prejudicial biases, Michelle Jones' story is the epitome of human redemption.
1
Redemption requires some degree of symmetry.
How many small, vulnerable, terrified childrens' lives has she saved?
1
She beat her 4-year-old son and left him to die alone in her apartment.
That can never be forgiven.
18
This is an interesting story, but the reporting is awful. NYT, you should be ashamed. I did just what the Harvard committee worried about -- I googled Jones's name and found the reported decision in her appellate case. The facts there are just bone-chilling. Awful, awful, awful in a way that is definitely not represented in this piece. Is it possible for the Times to write a piece that highlights both the terribleness of the crime without glossing it over AND her remarkable promise as a scholar? That might actually make for a better. more accurate story. As for Professor Thompson's recommendation letter talking about the horribly "repressive" conditions Jones had to face to do her work -- I just don't even know what to say. Aren't those conditions commensurate? At any rate, this is a much more difficult issue to sort out in moral terms than the NYT suggests it is.
180
Jones will go to graduate school -- whichever university it is -- and face a range of people (mentors and peers and those who are also parents) whose wildly different views are represented right here in this comments section. Some will say bravo and some will refuse to speak to her. And some will say bravo, and then slink away and judge her for her crime and her past. Some will let her be. Harvard's decisions or manipulations -- and eek, that creepy "sense of pique" -- will not matter as Jones simply goes forward and negotiates the day to day encounters with other humans.
1
An abused black adolescent who was raped, murdered her unwanted child. The young mother was a victim of unremitting neglect that did not register among the family service communities. Today, after serving a 20-year sentence, white academia sat in judgement of the minority applicant's failure to wallow in her perceived guilt. Society's failure to protect her most vulnerable citizens remains the flaw that had the SPCA precede the SPCC, animals then having more value than children. It's racism and neglect, the specter haunting ghetto communities to this day. Not all abused parents abuse and kill their offspring, but it remains a chilling predictor.
12
There's abortion and adoption you know. She had options other than giving birth to a child she didn't want and couldn't take care of.
3
Fourteen-year-olds don't have strong decision-making skills. And you have no idea why she didn't choose to have an abortion. Perhaps she didn't have the resources, or maybe her mother forced her to carry the pregnancy to term as punishment for the crime of being a rape victim (after she beat her with a board). As for adoption, all I can say is, unless you've placed a child for adoption, you don't know how difficult and painful that can be. A piece of advice- do not make assumptions about the lives of people you don't know.
I'm am very torn about this whole thing. Child-killers are particularly reviled in society. What Ms. Jones did is horrific, and there's a part of me that finds it unforgivable. But it's not my place to either judge or forgive her. She has to live with her crime every waking moment. Your callous, condescending judgment of a severely abused 14-year-old makes me hope she gets every single thing she wants in life.
1
As I read it, the point was her lack of candor in describing her crime. Disclosure = accepting responsibility. Less than full disclosure = less than accepting responsibility. Good for Harvard! I believe people deserve second chances, once they demonstrate some ownership of their misdeeds.
27
That was one point made. Another was skepticism that she could "adjust" to the "elite" culture of Harvard. Another was fear of bad publicity from Fox News?
Which point, I wonder, held the most sway?
1
Well, that sounds reasonable. Perhaps she is sincerely repentant but did not want to describe the crime in full detail for obvious reasons, however the fact of her not doing so is not helping her case. (Although one can see why doing so might not be something she wanted to do for understandable reasons. Which doesn't necessarily make it right, but does put her action in context a bit.).
Killing a child is a heinous crime; first, the child who has a child, and then the child now parent who kills her child. Ms. Jones did indeed do her time, but her sentence will never be fully served. She bears the burden of murdering an innocent, and despite reclaiming her humanity through scholarship we can see by Harvard's rejection of her that society will never be fully able to embrace her. Ultimately, Ms. Jones must live with herself, not Harvard, or other critics, and she is well on her way to doing that.
8
There are some mistakes you cannot make even once.
43
"[Harvard questioned] whether she could handle its pressure-cooker atmosphere."
Seriously?
Sure, not many people can withstand the pressure of Harvard- but even less can endure 20 years of prison and come out a Ph.D. candidate. As esteemed as they are, the professors in the ivory tower of Harvard have no right to belittle the dedication and endeavor of others just because their efforts were performed in a less reputable social setting. This is not just being paternalistic, it's downright patronizing.
Ms. Jones committed a despicable act, but has paid for her crimes. Even if she deserves further punishment, the ruling needs to come from a judge or jury, not an educational institution.
8
It's Harvard's loss. Plus it makes Harvard look judgmental, racist, lacking empathy and....oh, like the President of the United States who probably could have gone to Harvard if he'd put up enough $.
6
News flash to Harvard: There are lots of other outstanding universities. And didn't the Son-in-Law-in-Chief buy his way in there?
It's so important to have standards.
11
If you read the court record which is online she had been quoted as saying she "didn't want to raise a freak" because of her son's condition. Considering she abandoned him until he died I don't see why she's even out now. And people wonder why we have lost faith in the "justice" system. Her son didn't get justice but now mom is getting a degree. Where is that "justice"? Considering the facts of the case I wouldn't want her in my university either. Harvard is well within its rights not to sully it's name with taking in a murderer like her who has a callous disregard for life.
34
There is more to this story that needs to be told. As it stands, Ms. Jones will be further vilified by many of us who read this article and shook our heads in sadness for the little boy who never got a chance to do anything in life. I have no doubt that Ms. Jones is a strong, resilient woman who can accomplish what she sets her mind to. But that's not the story that i'm left with.
5
Fascinating article. Thank you NYT. I both condemn her actions and praise her actions. A reminder that some of us endure such horrific lives/events that we are capable of committing horrific acts. It makes me wonder whether prison was the place where her mind and soul could rest long enough so that she could find her soul again. That alone is astounding. Prison is a safer place than out in the world? But once she found her soul/self, she found the drive/intelligence to become human and evolve into something other than what she was. I don't excuse her prior actions, but does it not benefit society when a dark, vicious soul is no longer a threat to us all and finds a way to contribute to our society?
4
This woman brutally abused her four year old son, and left him dead or to die, while she attended a theater conference with her friends in Detroit: I guess her son was getting in the way of her academic self-advancement. Great that it all worked out for her; too bad about that little boy who got in her way. While I do support redemption, I do not support authorizing a person who has abused and murdered another to be given the rank of PhD and be authorized to teach and have control over young people. A university has a responsibility to protect students, and authorizing a known murderer--no matter how long it has been since her last murder--is a very poor decision. It feels as if our culture has gone slightly mad with the desire to address social injustice, such that we are incapable of making thoughtful, nuanced judgments rather than crudely applying the same broad principles to every situation.
458
"The woman brutally abused her four-year-old son..." for which crime she has duly served two decades in prison. She's not going to do it again. Even her own former prosecutor says she's done her time and should now join society again as a full citizen.
2
Obviously, for you, redemption is a word for which there is no meaning. One assumes you did not have Michelle Jones' coming of age experience, and I wonder what you had to overcome in your life. Your rigid dismissal of her accomplishments, and obvious anger interests me. Most people who read this article are cheering for this obviously brilliant woman, and her battle to give her life meaning. I hope she goes on to great achievements within her field, and has an opportunity to help those women, still incarcerated, to reach heights they never dreamed of.
2
After reading your comment about the theater conference, I did a quick Google search and read the Indiana appellate court decision from 1998 upholding Ms. Jones' conviction. Yikes. That poor child. Dying alone -- whether by neglect or beating -- and his final resting place never determined.
I am glad that Ms. Jones has found redemption while incarcerated, and will be a productive member of society at large and the academic community now that she is released. However, that does not mean that every university must admit her.
8
As an NYU graduate student I received the best education possible in my field at the time. It was also wonderful to be living in NYC. At that time, however, NYU did not support its female graduate students as well as it did the males, a criticism I have held against NYU for decades. I am glad to see that it now sees women are well worth supporting. May Ms. Jones thrive at NYU and in NYC.
8
I'm happy she found satisfaction in education, as I have, also late in life. However, my reasons for my delayed education are different. I brought a child with special needs to life and spent 18 years being there for him, teaching him to speak, sing and write and generally raising him to be the best I can be, including sitting down with him in school as his aide.
Now, finally in higher education, I've an admirable GPA in a highly competitive major with an overwhelming male majority. But I'm too old for scholarships now, so I clean stairs to finance my studies. Nobody knows my name and what I've done and nobody ever will. But when I read this story I'm really grateful this isn't me.
45
Best of luck. Hope things get easier.
2
Speaking from the perspective of academia, it's important to keep in mind what graduate school is intended and not intended to be. Graduate school admissions are based on which candidate faculty members believe demonstrates the greatest promise to improve the world through their future scholarship. It is a fundamentally different process from gaining admission to undergraduate programs, and it absolutely NOT about who "deserves" to go to graduate school.
12
I had some idea of how tough it is to be accepted into Harvard.
I sincerely appreciate that she has the opportunity to carve out a new path and build a life where her opportunities will multiply as a result of an IVY LEAGUE advanced degree; however, I wouldn't recommend the path that Ms. Jones took.
Permanently forsaking an innocent life that will never see the light of day is never an option.
4
Harvard, to which I owe my life, will always cover its assets, so to speak. Always behind the leading wave, waiting to see what becomes dominant, what becomes important, before swooping in with cash to claim it as its own. Harvard will probably hire her in at Full Professor after she's made her name in the field--after she's already done the hard work with some other institution's support.
9
There has always been a dichotomy about prison's purpose: is it to achieve penitence or to effect punishment? Many scholarly articles and books have been written on this subject. Ms. Jones' experience satisfied both. Her former prosecutor is right: Harvard acted more as a parole board than as a collegiate admissions mechanism. And, yes, Ms. Jones "...will have a lot to prove" to N.Y.U., but look at what she's already proven to herself and others. I'm certain few if any of their or Harvard's Ph.D. students have proven their abilities and readiness in equal measure. I wish her continuing success.
15
It would be interesting to how many *faculty* at the Harvard business school come from corporations and specifically financial institutions that have been subject to deferred prosecution agreements for financial crimes committed during the housing bubble and thereafter. If there are such individuals did anyone object to *them* not highlighting this sufficiently in *their* applications?
17
Perhaps it is just me, but i see a substantial difference between beating a child to death and selling fraudulent securities.
4
I was very touched by this article. And I wish this woman all the best as she moves forward. I believe she'll make it. And here's why:
Over the course of my career as a therapist, I worked with a number of people who had been in prison. Now, not everyone who has done "time" turns their life around, but people who are capable of insight, self-monitoring, and have both initiative and an ability to keep their eye on the ball, can truly become productive citizens.
Yes, I realize this woman committed a terrible crime. But she has had decades to reconsider her behavior and her progress indicates to me, a pretty cautious evaluator, that she deserves and will achieve a Ph.D. And we, as a society, will be the better for it.
She also, in my view, is proof that the death penalty is a mistake. Everyone deserves the chance to turn their life around. Not everyone will succeed. But we are better off with prisons that allow for rehabilitation. We are also better off as a society. I'm sure of it.
15
This is an important article in reminding us all that people are many shades of grey. Our society and particularly our political discourse encourages simplistic characterizations that degrade our understanding of the world. People are good or bad. We collectively love "heroes" and despise those who do wrong, often through the mob mentality of social media. We stereotype, consciously or unconsciously, because it makes things easier for us. Less complex. The truth is that there are few absolutes and the issues we care about are rife with nuances. This article begs us to probe the deeper questions. What is the purpose of incarceration? How should people be judged and by whom? Do accomplishments deemed admirable deserve to be rewarded or is it the person as a whole? Can we forgive and is it our job to forgive?
6
Every year graduate programs at elite institutions receive applications from exceptional students. Some of these students have worked for years to demonstrate their merit through scholarship, internships, jobs and publications. No candidate with a "quirky" past should be accepted or rejected simply on the basis of that life experience, and any departmental admissions committee that decides otherwise does a grave injustice to the many worthy applicants.
6
I agree with all who say that Harvard is well within its rights to take her prison record, and crime, into account in making their admission decision. Seriously, NYU isn't good enough?
I do think that this kind of thinking has a lot to do with why Trump is president. There are definitely shades of grey in this story. I'm very glad that Ms. Jones has found her way back into society through great determination and bravery against long odds. Bravo to her for that, definitely. But that doesn't mean that everyone must now look upon her as someone deserving of every opportunity in life, and that if an individual or an institution disagrees, then that is somehow a black mark against them. That's precisely the lock-step orthodox leftist thinking -- isn't it? -- that so many in this country spoke out against with their votes last November. Is it really so difficult to acknowledge that there are multiple sides to this story, and to be accepting of those who see things somewhat differently than ourselves? Is that really so much to ask?
570
It's not too much to ask, but I think that deeper thinking reveals Harvard's cowardice. One's criminal history should only be a black mark if it can reasonably be predictive of her performance in the position or her character moving forward.
I think the issue here is that we have justified lengthy sentences and terrible prison conditions on the notion that they are retributive and what criminals deserve. Ms. Jones has served her sentence and paid her price to society. She has also rehabilitated herself (which is the ideal expectation for a prisoner). Thus, the question is: should we tolerate the punishment after release on those with a criminal history? Should her sentence be essentially open-ended despite demonstrable remorse and change? If the answer is yes to both questions, then we should seriously consider shortening sentences and being more selective with those we incarcerate. As a society, we can't have it both ways.
5
She was not accepted to the Ph.D. program as a kind of favor for having had a hard life. Read the quote. Here is Elizabeth Hinton a historian at Harvard (and presumably no slouch) who characterized Ms. Jones as "one of the strongest candidates in the country last year, period." She was accepted on her merits and then people *outside* the department that accepted her intervened out of openly stated *fear* of how this would look on Fox News. As Prof. Stauffer said "...Fox News would probably say that P.C. liberal Harvard gave 200 grand of funding to a child murder, who happened to be a minority. I mean c'mon." There is a big difference in career prospects between a Harvard history Ph.D. and one from NYU and her career was damaged by shabby efforts to appease the right-wing propaganda machine.
5
A s-t-r-e-t-c-h: taking this story as a purported example of "lock-step orthodox leftist thinking". Last November's Republican voters didn't speak out against an environment that allowed an an-con to apply to Harvard, they voted against the advancement, based on hard work and achievement, of anyone who didn't look/talk/come from the same background as themselves, fueled by the convenient myth that those "others" received preferential treatment. Attempting to dismiss Ms. Jones's supporters as unable to accept those who "see things somewhat differently" merely reinforces the whiplash-reactionary nature of this criticism, which seeks to impugn the individuals involved, rather than consider the facts of the case.
4
Thank goodness this article gave Jones the last word.
29
I wonder what her son's last words were.
5
It didn't, she is still murderer of a child. She may have served her time but that blot remains.
2
There is no redemption for murdering your baby boy. Ms. Jones will have to live with that for the rest of her life. That photograph of her appearing to smirk does not help.
However, over the years Ms. Jones has pulled herself from the dark space that she once inhabited. She has served her time and proved herself to be a brilliant scholar and writer.
Harvard should have given Ms. Jones the opportunity to prove herself. Harvard cannot hold its head up too high. After all, they have their own dark past tied to slavery. I suspect that information is not in the freshman's brochure.
34
the optimum word here being "appearing" to smirk...in your eyes. Does she also "appear" to look like a thief, a drug dealer, a prostitute too?????? SHE and SHE alone has to deal with what she did as a teenager. The selective memory of some of this societies individuals is astounding. If you're Black, the crimes you commit are absolutely too atrocious to EVER forget...ie: OJ Simpson. If you are White, the crimes you commit are to be picked apart by medical professionals to find a way to "excise/justify/understand/sympathize/support" the behavior and welcome the person back into society with "support groups". Ring true??????
3
"Appearing to smirk" is unfair.
That's a good point. Most of our academic institutions have dark pasts, but have resisted addressing that. It's an interesting parallel, and thank you for pointing that out.
1
I wish Ms. Jones success at NYU. There are many, many applicants rejected by Harvard and that is the right of the school's admission board. Hopefully, NYU is exactly where Ms. Jones belongs.
It's good to see that she is getting this opportunity given the state of the American justice system as well as the attitudes of some Americans whereby someone is never allowed to truly be defined as anything other than a criminal.
30
What do YOU call somebody who killed their own child if not in an accident or by things beyond her control but a killer and criminal.
1
Such an amazing story. Keep in mind how young Michelle was when her life was in shambles. She has lived 20+ years and accomplished more than most of us who have never been incarcerated. Her memories of this past tragedy may have dimmed as the new part of her life has overtaken her attention and focus.
Harvard might have taken all of this into consideration when the administrators jumped to conclusions.
15
Age has nothing to do with it. Many of the Manson killers were younger than this woman. Her memories of what she did may have dimmed but the baby had no chance to develop many memories. Somethings are beyond redemption from society or forgiveness. She still hasn't said what she actually did or where the baby's body is. It was so horrific that she is still covering it up? It doesn't seem to me that she has faced up or taken responsibility for what she did so long ago. She should not have been released without doing so..
5
No amount of rehabilitation can ever completely erase a criminal past. That's the shackle one creates when they commit the crime. One can collapse in defeat and never reform, or one can at least try to reform. Michelle Jones has done a remarkable job at reforming. But she's still a convicted killer of her own son. Harvard has every right to reject an applicant based on their history. This is no great crime. Michelle Jones will achieve great things if she continues on her path. She doesn't need Harvard's blessing to do it.
83
Wow. Why don't we do as they do in totalitarian states. No trial and punishment. Just a single bullet to the head.
Exactly She committed the crime, not Harvard. Actions have consequences.
3
I thought Harvard was a bastion of diversity and equal opportunity. Yes, for some but not for all. A fine example of liberal academic elitism and hypocrisy.
16
Yes I hear the right just yelling forgive her and let her in. any of the right's religious colleges attempt to recruit her? Will Liberty accept her? My university, Notre Dame, thankfully didn't.
Two words: Jared. Kushner.
29
Who did he murder? And maybe he paid his own way...
2
There should be a course designed by Michelle Jones for all who are in Jail,how not to get overwhelmed and depressed by the jail environ and come on the top.
Michelle Jones is a truly admirable person for her ability and determination to seek afresh a life inspite of the crushing sentence of 50 years.
Michelle Jones owes the jail authorities where she was incarcerated a debt of true gratitude for having let her study and for not impeding her desire to study.
I felicitate the state of Indiana and its Prison authorities.Good Job.
To Harvard,i can only say,some students are victims of peculiar circumstances,judge them not,show thy empathy for the Lord watches and shall Judge.
She should have got into Harvard,never mind.Lifes a chance.
Congratulations to NYT for this heartwarming article.
18
Sorry, part of life is judging. That's why we have laws, courts and punishment. Empathy? For somebody who killed their own baby? I think not. Manson's early life was no better than this woman's. Should he be out? He never actually killed anybody only his followers did.
4
Thank you for this excellent piece. It is a shame that Harvard is not brave enough to "put its money where its mouth is." Like every higher education institution, including mine, achieving diversity in enrollment and faculty recruitment is an oft-stated, policy-backed goal. Michelle Jones is a truly rare candidate - exceptional for her life experience, her tenacity and achievement under adversity, her scholarly attainment and as a proud black woman. She is not just applying for studies toward a Ph.D. on a campus where the insights based on her lived experience are sorely needed. The bigger picture is her potential as a leader and scholar in a society that sorely needs her. Her achievements predict success, but she will need support. Be braver Harvard!
15
Harvard joined the ranks of the commonplace, long, long ago. Reality does not match fantasy, in this case. Shame on them.
16
This woman killed her four year old son, and the NY Times wants my heart to bleed for HER because she didn't get into her first choice of doctoral programs after serving 40% of the sentence she was given.
Nearly every day the Times reminds me of why the Democrats lost the election in 2016.
427
Read the article. She DID get into Harvard. And then Harvard punked out and rescinded. Jones obviously isn't an angel, but she served her time, and made the MOST out of it. If you don't think there are rapists, drug dealers, and overall violent people studying at Harvard right now, you are delusional. They just had the privilege of having money and good lawyers who could keep them from being convicted of their crimes; and I'm sure nearly all of them are white men.
4
Of course her crime was dispicable...but she was 14. What stupid things did you do at 14? and please don't say. "a lot but I didn't kill anybody". You didn't live her life either. Stephen, let me ask you...and TRY to be honest. If your son, daughter, sister or brother, had found themselves in such a situation, spent 20 years in prison and tried to better themselves the way Ms Jones has done...would you want them to be given a "second chance" or keep them in prison and throw away the key? remember...these would be YOUR relatives not some Black person you deem unworthy of anything in this world. try to be as honest as you possibly can.
6
Yup, they pick such lovely heroes!
4
I commend Ms. Jones for rehabilitating herself and making the most of her situation. What won't leave my mind, however, is the statement "The boy died in 1992 in circumstances that remain unclear; the body was never found." Shouldn't her rehabilitation have included making clear these circumstances and participating in a process to give the abused and abandoned child a proper burial? Oh well, I guess she can clarify those details in her PhD dissertation. At least the ol' Harvard Crimson has taken a principled stand!
161
@Joseph: I agree. As one reads the trial proceedings, what is genuinely disarming is why Ms.Jones didn't come clean to the authorities while she did indeed confess privately to her friend(s).
7
Presumably she remembers where she put his body.
4
""The boy died in 1992 in circumstances that remain unclear; the body was never found." Shouldn't her rehabilitation have included making clear these circumstances "
She admitted she buried her son without alerting authorities. It pays to read an entire piece before commenting.
5
She beat her 4-year-old to death. No forgiveness for that. Who cares about redemption? She deserves to suffer the rest of her miserable life.
71
@Ayecaramba------Hmmm. I think it is the Catholic/Christian belief that every one of us is a sinner but that, with real repentance, we all can be forgiven.
2
We are not the ones who have lived her life in the past 20+ years. We have not been with her throughout the trial and her prison sentence. Therefore, who are you, or ANYONE for that matter, to say that she hasn't suffered? That she isn't suffering right now? That she won't be suffering from the choices she made when she was 18 years old well into her future? You and others are upset that she's not wearing her suffering on her face, begging YOUR forgiveness. She did a terrible thing and she paid for her crime. But again, we are not the ones living her life along side her. She has a long road to travel yet and has traveled a long road so far as well. I am willing to bet that she thinks about that child every single day of her life and will continue to do so as long as she lives. When you, or anyone else, has walked a mile in her shoes, then you can have a legitimate opinion about her life. Until then, pray that you never do something so truly terrible that others are unwilling to forgive YOU.
4
Michelle has already been tried and convicted. Harvard is not a county of law. This is prejudicial on their part. Shame on them.
13
Good for Harvard! A Harvard education is not a right guaranteed to all. It's something that you earn by the totality of your life's accomplishments. This woman accomplished a lot, but on balance, does she deserve the best available education when there are many others deserving without the huge crime in their resume?
10
Do not be surprised by the discriminatory and "upper crust" better than thow behavioral patterns because they have a very long history of these practices. These Brahmans still consider themselves to be far above the rest of us peons..
9
Of all the letters Harvard hands out who knew 'Scarlet' was among them?
25
Brilliant comment!
Please...adultery is not murder.
1
They declined to admit her to join their ranks. How is that handing out a scarlet letter? How is Harvard any kind of continuing authority in her life? Do you walk around with a mark on you from the universities you you weren't admitted to, the jobs you didn't get, the women who declined to go out with you?
People and institutions are allowed to say 'no thanks.'
2
Harvard's decision has backfired. It is laughable that the powers that be were worried about what conservatives would say, that they would be criticized in the press, or that there would be protests. This shows a phenomenal lack of courage on their part.
Many commenters believe that the murder of a child outweighs all other factors. I wonder if the murder of an adult would elicit the same reaction. What if a father had murdered his child? What if the mother was white? These are difficult questions but important ones. We've already seen that fulfilling a prison sentence doesn't allow people to move on. In some states, people who served time for felonies aren't allowed to vote.
It would be helpful to see a study about who society considers rehabilitated and who is permanently stained by the crime.
212
Has nothing to do with race, gender but that she killed her own defenseless and still hasn't said where the body is or what happened. This woman hasn't admitted to what she did so how can be rehabilitated? Her defense in teh trial, without the body how can she be guilty. Her defense in the trial "Brandon is missing or has been placed somewhere by Jones." Sickening.
3
Thank you for this thoughtful comment. Is so agree with all that wrote.
Do you really think that it would matter who the victim was or whether the murderer in question was a man or woman, black or white? I don't think these are difficult questions at all - there's no difference.
During Michelle Jones trial, she stated: Jones contends the trial court erred in admitting her various confessions into evidence. According to Jones, the State produced insufficient evidence of corpus delicti to justify admission of the statements. In support of this contention, Jones argues that the evidence apart from her confessions does not support an inference that she committed either Murder or Neglect of a Dependent, but indicates merely that "Brandon is missing or has been placed somewhere by Jones." (Appellant's brief at 18-19).
This woman sounds like a psychopath to me.
140
@Sasha: yes, that is the little detail that makes me uncomfortable about this whole story. Perhaps, a case of distorted intelligence that got redeemed in prison at the cost of a child's life.
1
“But frankly, we knew that anyone could just punch her crime into Google, and Fox News would probably say that P.C. liberal Harvard gave 200 grand of funding to a child murderer, who also happened to be a minority. I mean, c’mon.”
Wow, Harvard is going to worry what Fox News says about who they should or shouldn't accept as a fellow? The same channel that is always crying liberal censorship of voices they don't like? Just throw their own censorship accusations back in their faces. What a bunch of cowards.
26
I cannot help wondering if Harvard would have ever asked this question if Ms. Jones were Caucasian instead of African American. I don't mean to imply that Harvard doesn't have the mandate to carefully vet all applicants from all angles; but I find it impossible to think that her race and her incarceration weren't the primary motivations for Harvard's decision. I will also allow that the narrative here in the Times is somewhat one-sided, since Harvard didn't want to respond, except in generalities. However, silence alone often speaks volumes.
189
You genuinely believe race was an important factor in this decision and that similar questions would not have been raised about a Caucasian convicted of killing her four year-old child? I'm not sure what to say to that.
7
Killing one's own speaks louder.
6
Of course they would have asked this question. Harvard has many minority students, and a long history of accepting even marginally qualified minority students for the sake of fairness. This was abut her morally bankrupt criminal background, plain and simple.
8
Is this a call for redemption, because she may not deserve that from us only from God. I appreciate the fact that Michelle has attempted to re-enter society.
I also believe the article glossed over the extraordinarily important point of what happened to your kid ?
116
Harvard gets a great, big, red "F" for this decision. Ms. Jones has been tried, convicted, sentenced and served 20 years for her crime. Yet, Harvard wants to what, have her re-try the case to satisfy their own sense of justice? Shame on you Harvard!
5
Barndon was a four year old who died in 1992, apparently. I'm not very interested in the rest of this story.
84
“I knew that I had come from this very dark place — I was abhorrent to society,” she continued. “But for 20 years, I’ve tried to do right, because I was still interested in the world, and because I didn’t believe my past made me somehow cosmically un-educatable forever.”
Lady, get it through your head, on this earth, you are and will remain abhorrent to society for the rest of your life, regardless of your quests. Own that, and you may someday be able to reconcile your self-image to that of others, whoever and wherever they be.
53
Michelle Jones paid her debt and did her time. Let her be.
Memo to Michelle - don't regret or one minute not getting in to Harvard. Count your blessings. Any institution that refers to itself as " the elite among elites" is, well, pathetic.
On top of that is the condescending, patronizing, vintage white-mall-entitled remark from the Harvard Prof. that Ms. Jones "adjustment [might be ] too much" (you know, being among so many elites like him (who IS this guy ?))
I would RUN from a place like that.
Certainly, there is a threshold level of merit at H, but after that, many who get that big H "welcome" letter are "elite" only by virtue of getting the letter, and their admission was based on family connections, how much money Daddy donated, or how unusual or exotic is their trajectory or background (raised by wolves is a sure bet.)
Good luck to you brave lady.
I think you dodged a bullet.
18
It's a shame, isn't it, that Michelle Jones is now a "victim." Perhaps her new status as brilliant historian denied the "right" to attend the graduate school of her choice will give her just a glimmer of insight into how her 4-year old felt, when she beat him and left him to die, alone, in pain and terrified.
Failing that, maybe she can write a book about it. Let the proceeds go to battered children funds.
Serving a sentence simply means the criminal justice system is done with you. It doesn't mean society has to treat you as a model citizen, or even a desirable one.
322
She was beaten and raped as a child. I think she knows more about those things than you do. That said, I don't think Harvard owes her an education.
1
@alexander hamilton
Her status as a Black woman made her a victim the day she was born.
That's the Liberal mantra, is it not?
The article, so written, was a challenge and an affront to a lot of intolerant Liberal values.
Your post is evidence that the article needed to be written.
2
I was beaten as a child. Lots of people have been. I've since raised 2 wonderful children, and have managed not to kill anyone along the way.
3
Surprised that the Times isn't calling for all colleges to create a protected class of Ph.D candidates: the reformed felon.
47
One of the most valuable things I learned growing up white in a black town was that you can be a nice black kid and go to jail for murder. Because I grew up with a nice guy who, at age sixteen, went to jail for murder.
It is possible. Inconvenient. But possible.
So I will always believe that some folks who go to prison for the worst crimes really do deserve a second chance.
9
I agree with Ms. Jones..."forget Harvard" She's better off at NYU. Harvard's "memo" sounded like a bunch of prevarication.
8
An amazing story of courage, redemption, and passion. Also this woman, Mrs. Jones, unlike some other ex-convicts i.e Mr. Jack Abbot, who was supported for parole, by the famous Author, Norman Mailer, has demonstrated a social conscience and regret for her past crime. She, was a victim of child abuse and not a sociopath. She served her time and overcame tremendous obstacles, to say the least.
10
Any empathy for the pain the 4 year old child felt being left alone in the apartment for number of days before dying? Can you imagine the 4 year old in the state of hunger and thirst for water for number of days before the hand of death dealt a slow and painful conclusion to the child's life? This was not gun-shot, quick death; it was slow, it was painful, it was agonizing, it was psychologically damaging, it was death coming at a crawl, lasting hours if not days before finally exasperating the life of ouf the child.
8
Exactly, Dantes. People willfully blind themselves to others' suffering and pretend as though it just didn't happen.
4
This article is a perfect metaphor for why folks distrust the "mainstream media" and "academia". They pick and chose who to champion and who to disparage.
This story would not have been written if "Ms. Jones" was "Mr. Jones", a white, male who murdered his four year old child. First, no academic institution would have admitted "Mr. Jones". Second, even if "Mr. Jones" had gone on to cure cancer at Harvard, his story wouldn't fit the narrative of the NY Times.
153
But see, it wouldn't have happened to a male, because males don't get pregnant. And while men experience rape, it's more commonly experienced by women, who get the added trauma of pregnancy (and she was not a woman, she was a girl! Fourteen!). Also, when men become fathers against their will, they can and do flee. Women are stuck with a child they don't know how to care for. I'm not at all excusing her heinous crime, but this was a deeply troubled young woman (barely out of childhood) not equipped to raise a child she never wanted.
4
So tell me, am I supposed to feel sorry Ms. Jones OR or am I supposed to feel sorry for the other doctoral program applicants who did not have the benefit of Harvard staff members completing their applications and who were ultimately denied entry into the program?
Perhaps if those applicants who were not accepted had done a heinous homicide --- that would have given them a leg up in getting into Harvard and/or NYU.
158
Ha good point! How about all of those kids who just spent the last 25 years in school keeping their noses clean and, oh yes, not murdering any children. Pick one of them!
5
So much for believing in rehabilitation. And I do hope those learned scholars at Harvard didn't base their reaction solely on what they feared would be broadcast on Fox News.
13
The Harvard professors and administrators who questioned Ms. Jones fitness and capacity to handle Harvard simply demonstrated their deep lack of knowledge about prison life, childhood abuse, and redemption. Their narrow view of those realities is both sad and deeply disappointing from those who have had the great good fortune to be part of a major educational institution. None of those involved in this regrettable decision seem to have truly benefited from what education should teach us -- be careful about one's biases and assumptions. Question carefully what you "judge."
24
Yes and I do judge somebody convicted of killing their own, who hasn't admitted what they have done said how it was done or where the body even is.
7
People are complex and environment is extremely important. This story represents an import example of human resilience and the inherent desire of all humans to better themselves. Sadly we will never know the achievements of this person had they not lived as a child in such miserable circumstances. Harvard demonstrates the usual calculating nature of large institutions; no courage on their part and a story for the media with an ad hominem flavor.
8
'Sadly we will never know the achievements of this person had they not lived as a child in such miserable circumstances.'
Even less will we know the achievements of the child that she killed. Let's not forget about him.
7
Redemption as religious absolution or moral as in a return to ordinary society is understandable and valid. However, there are also institutions, rules and limitations whose standards are just as valid. Harvard University is an American institution whose students' acceptance is measured morally, legally and academically by outstanding records in each. Prison records cannot be dismissed. Ms Jones has an opportunity to reach her goals by accomplishment in the public sector. Her personal satisfaction is one she must find.
14
"..whose students' acceptance is measured morally, legally...by outstanding records in each."
ME LAUGHING OUT LOUD. Do you honestly think that EVERY STUDENT at Harvard has morals above reproach?! That there are no Harvard students that have committed CRIMES (even if they weren't tried or convicted)?! You CAN'T BE SERIOUS. And let's not even get into some of the faculty members...
3
Welp, every student at Harvard CERTAINLY hasn't MURDERED her child (and then hidden the body, which probably would have revealed years of torture)....
3
Yet they make room for a fellowship at the Kennedy School for Corey Lewandowski, whose contributions to scholarship or society are what, exactly? The university's comment on that announcement, via Newsweek, "an invitation to spend time at the Institute of Politics does not imply an endorsement of the views or actions of any of our Fellows." How convenient for them.
43
Um, let me understand.
You're comparing a convicted child murderer to a charged (charges later dropped) arm grabber?
5
It is beyond belief that Harvard that great institution of learning cannot and it appears does not believe in rehabilitation. Ms Jones has proven her worth over the years and a unanimous vote to cut her sentence should be more than enough to prove this, not to mention her amazing work.
24
On the other hand, the internet mob is quite OK in calling for the ouster of a Catholic priest who admitted to certain right-wing activities decades ago. Somehow the mob failed to take into account that the very mission of the Catholic Church is redemption....
5
Harvard had every right to decide as it did. I don't understand why The Times thinks it's its dury to climb on the soapboax for someone who killed her four-year-old son. Perhaps it's that she only killed one son?
208
as opposed to a group of people who systematically kill generations of people by murder, hanging, rape and pillage?????????????????????????????
1
Of all of the people who have overcome odds to succeed, couldn't the NY Times find one that didn't kill their own kid?
390
who is to DEFINE what are considered odds????????????? if it were your sister who committed such an act when SHE was 14, raped and mistreated, would you want her to be committed for the rest of HER life???????????
3
@RPSmith99
There's a lesson in this story that has less to do with "success" and more to do with redemption and forgiveness.
Expand your mind. You ARE a Liberal aren't you?
Um, she murdered her son; end of story for me.
212
then you are obliged to show that she should still be punished despite having finished her sentence.
Is the justice system enough? or is there a lengthy sentence of shaming that must be served as well?
9
20 years of a 50 year sentence is hardly "justice" for murdering a child because you don't want to "raise a freak". There are plenty of parents out there who are raising children with disabilities that most people would not take on and didn't murder them.
12
She didn't finish her sentence. The article said she was sentenced to 50 years in prison, but was released after 20.
3
She still killed her kid.
109
Bravo!
Ms. Hager, This is an excellent piece of work!!!! So, good I actually clapped at the end of the article.
As I read the article, I came across this little "gem": While those historians embraced her application, others at Harvard questioned not only whether Ms. Jones had disclosed enough information about her past, but whether she could handle its pressure-cooker atmosphere.
All I could do is chuckle at it's irony. Only hubris would lead someone to believe this. As if discipline, perseverance and tenacity is something that could only be learned in such an esteemed institution. News flash: if you don't have or develop any of these traits in prison, I can guarantee you won't make it thru the day.
Ms. Jones' story is Maya Angelou's "Phenomenal Woman" poem personified. And Harvard's loss. Congrats Ms. Jones, please keep doing your excellence work.
147
Sorry, but Ms Jones personal satisfaction cannot be the measure for Harvard University to consider. That one could overlook the fact that she herself forfeited certain rights is part of the "definining deviancy downward" (The scholar and late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihn's magnum opus) is what plagues our culture today. Actions have consequencees. Churches may provide absolution in accord with their holy mission. Harvard has no such burden.
34
Where does slavery and a wholesale dehumanization of people based on the shade of their skin (for over 10 generations) fit in to the concept of "definining [sic] deviancy downward," in your opinion?
1
S/He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her.
If the woman who prosecuted Ms. Jones is satisfied with her having served her time AND supports her future efforts, then I have no complaint. Who better than Mrs. Marger Moore knows the gravity of the situation and what message could be sent by Harvard's admission.
Truth be told, I find subtle prejudice/sexism in your and many posts about Ms. Jones. She has owned her part in her crime and has been highly active in her own rehabilitation. Yet, way too many comments here focus on her tragic mistake as reason that she could never live a truly redemptive life.
It's not like she's running for the White House.
4
On the one hand if our system is that of correction rather than penal, then we must have faith in the parole board that stated she has earned a right to reenter society. That being said the crime does not nor will it ever go away. It is a big part of the fabric of her life and her community. It is well within the rights of Harvard to take her crime into consideration and decide if they want, not just to admit her, but to put their imprimatur upon her.
60
Good for her! Harvard's loss.
22
Ms. Jones is an amazing human being -- obviously more amazing than the guys practicing something other than scholarship and humanity. Go, Michelle!! We have faith in you.
11
Speak for yourself. She is NOT an amazing human being. I HAVE NO FAITH IN MICHELLE.
7
The comments of the American Studies professors serve as an indictment of Harvard's admissions process. The administration did not want to deal with the possible conservative faux outrage, which shows a lack of courage on their part.
86
Yeah. I guess Harvard isn't brave enough to hire a child murderer. What cowards.
5
Ms. Jones fulfilled her sentence and has risen to achieve what society could only hope that other incarcerated individuals achieve. It's ridiculous for some people at Harvard to question if she had disclosed enough about her past and to question if she could handle the pressures of their program. Let Ms. Jones have the opportunity to soar or to fail on her own accord. This question of letting her into the program strikes at the heart of society's false promise agreeing that incarceration rehabilitates. So many prisoners languish inside prison for a set term and then are dumped on the street with $40 and a bus ticket. Ms. Jones is exceptional and should be held as an example of what can be achieved. Society should at the very least honor the commitment that once a sentence is served, society is obligated to make every effort to support prisoners with opportunities for work, education, and mental health services.
471
Sure. And in this case, thankfully, society has provided such an opportunity--including an early parole and admission into an excellent graduate program. But society doesn't owe anyone the right to go to Harvard, a private university that accepts and rejects applicants for its limited slots for any number of reasons. While some might question their choice here, it's well within the university's discretion to make that choice.
22
"Owe?" She EARNED the right.
2
Wrong - she didn't "fulfill her sentence" in the slightest. A jury of her peers sentenced her to 50 years (when she should have been executed). She served 20 years of it - merely 40% of the original sentence. I highly doubt the jurors thought she could get away with killing her little boy for "good behavior" and "educational attainment."
6
We've seen similar scenarios before, most memorably the author of, I believe, "in the belly of the beast" who was championed by Norman Mailer and that crowd. These things often don't end well, I'm afraid.
What this case does seem to demonstrate is the laughable state of university doctoral admissions.
Good for her, though, for making these opportunities possible.
17
Definitely. Let's pre-decide her case on the basis of one other.
This case does not demonstrate the laughable state of university doctoral admissions, which are exceedingly tough at the schools to which she applied.
It's far easier to be cynical and go for the laugh than believe in redemption.
4