Agony Aunt

A relative I haven’t spoken to in years is fraudulently applying to my department at a large university. To put it simply, this is a potential Rachael Dolezal situation. “Connie” is applying for a research and teaching position in my department. Her mother was married to my uncle for about 15 years and for 15 years I spent most weekends and every holiday and summer with Connie. We were quite close as kids.

For full clarity: Connie is white. She is not an immigrant, she is not adopted, and both of her parents come from white, American multi-generational wealth. There is not a hospital, museum, or major university in our city without her family name on at least one building. Her mother and my uncle got divorced quite a while ago, but our mothers are still very good friends. Connie and I lost touch as we grew up but reconnected on social media a few years ago.

When we were introduced in the interview, she pretended not to know me. During her team interview with me, two department chairs, and four other faculty, Connie spoke passionately about being a white-passing woman of color who has to confront racism daily, and how her past struggles with an impoverished upbringing as an immigrant in the U.S. have shaped her teaching values. I was speechless the entire time. Her resume is impressive, which makes me concerned she’s been lying to get certain grants/opportunities or that her resume is false.

The two department chairs were very impressed with her, a few people are neutral, and the rest seemed uncomfortable during the interview and passed on notes saying such. How do I approach this? I’m struggling with ethics vs optics: it’s unethical to put Connie forward as a voice for an underrepresented student population and an expert on certain racial and social justice movements and issues. My mentor (an older white male) told me to stay out of it because the optics are poor. I’m white, and I have had a privileged life that allows me to live comfortably on an academic salary. It would look like I’m attacking a candidate based on race in a predominantly white department. Regardless of optics, I would be complicit in this unethical situation if I didn’t say anything and she’s offered the job. So far nobody else has been invited to interview.

First, I’m assuming that you know this is definitely the same Connie you grew up with. Assuming that’s the case, say something.

You can’t let someone you know to be white and privileged lie about her background when she’s applying for a job to be a voice for marginalized populations (and presumably taking that job from a candidate who isn’t lying about their background). You can’t ethically say nothing, and it’s likely to harm you professionally if it later comes out that you knew and didn’t speak up.

I’d approach the person on the hiring panel whose judgment you most respect and who’s reasonably senior/influential, and share what you know. Your framing should be, “I’m concerned this will hurt the department when it comes out.” (Not if — when.) That’s not attacking Connie based on race; it’s sharing info about significant misrepresentations she’s made, and the potential for real harm if those lies go unchallenged.

From there, it’s up to them but you’ll have sounded an alarm that you’re uniquely positioned to sound right now.