Marilee Jones’ image might be tarnished, but her message remains clear and strong.

Jones is the deposed head of admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who was revealed this week to have “embellished” her resume to earn a position at the prestigious university some three decades ago. She fabricated having degrees from three New York colleges, and resigned on April 27.

The real rub came from her post-prevarication success. After landing the job, she rose through MIT’s ranks to become its dean of admissions in 1997, and then an outspoken national advocate for changing the anxiety-filled roller coaster ride, for students and parents, of earning admission to college.

Around this time of year, the arrival of an envelope – hopefully plump, not dreadfully thin – at homes of high school seniors is an occasion. The postmarked package of parchment is a symbol of sacrifice and academic toil, or in certain cases, athletic prowess. It’s a yardstick of achievement, and potential.

For parents, college acceptance, or rejection, affords opportunity for reflection on their parental performance. A string of fat envelopes, indicating acceptance, can drive a parent giddy, while skinny correspondence from desirous colleges can send them spiraling.

Jones wanted admissions to quash these scenarios, and make the decision-making process more tailored, to remove the feeling that admissions is solely based on cold measurements like test scores, or number of extra-curricular activities. Bates College, in Lewiston, still makes headlines for its 1984 abandonment of standardized testing as an admissions requisite.

“Nothing will change unless we get up, look ourselves in the mirror, and say ‘I’m responsible,'” she told The Associated Press last September. “We have to look ourselves in the eye and say, ‘Am I an educator, or am I marketer?'”

These lines have blurred. In recent weeks, the handshake deals between colleges and financial lenders have been exposed, in which potential students were steered toward preferred lenders by universities in exchange for perks. The investigation was spurred by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, and is reaching the halls of Congress.

Jones, in her capacity, was a staunch advocate for changing the business of college. She urged students to consider their personal happiness, injected a human touch into admissions, and advised others that “Success, after all, comes in many forms over time,” according to the Boston Globe.

Yes, she lied on her resume, and appears the quintessential hypocrite for doing so, and then advising students to be honest in their applications to college.

But her decades of experience at MIT speaks volumes, and her conclusion – that college admissions practices need reform – still has the same gravity, despite her fall.