Humanist Leader Dismissed for Falsifying Credentials

A leader of a secular organization at Harvard was fired last week after admitting that she falsified the credentials she presented to the group, according to a story in The New York Times.

Teresa MacBain claimed to the Humanist Community at Harvard (HCH) and in press coverage—including a profile by The New York Times—that she received her divinity degree from Duke University. But after the Times published the profile, the newspaper said that the director of communications at the Duke Divinity School, Audrey P. Ward, contacted the Times stating that the school had no record of MacBain having attended or earned a degree.

MacBain acknowledged in a telephone interview with the Times that the information from Ward was correct, but did not provide any further explanation as to why she chose to falsify her credentials, according to the paper.

MacBain was hired in August to lead the Harvard branch of the Humanist Community Project—a nationwide initiative that seeks to expand the humanist community—a year after the former Methodist minister came into the spotlight for declaring that she no longer believed in God.

Greg M. Epstein, the chaplain for HCH, released a statement on Sept. 26 that said that MacBain would no longer be working for the independent organization.

“We at HCH have approached this situation as best we can, striving to apply our reason in the service of both fairness and compassion,” he said, noting that the search for a new director would begin soon.

In a tweet, Epstein redirected inquiries from The Crimson to this public announcement.

Epstein expressed regret at his organization’s failure to verify MacBain’s credentials in an emailed statement to the Times.

“Clearly we should have verified Teresa’s M.Div degree rather than relying upon her resume and the frequent, public references to it as she worked for and with several Freethought organizations,” Epstein wrote.

Sarah E. Coughlon ’15, an active member of Harvard’s humanist community and former vice president for the undergraduate community of humanists, atheists, and agnostics, commented on the impact of the discovery.

“It will be a setback for them opening that new community center,” Coughlon said, referring to one of the endeavors MacBain was set to pursue. “But I doubt that it will have any kind of terrible, long-term implications for the world.”

Chelsea S. Link ’12, a former campus organizing fellow for HCH, said she thought the recent events would have a negative impact on the group. Link added that the event was particularly unfortunate given the impact it might have on the organization’s credibility.

“I’m not going to lie. I’m a little bit embarrassed to have it on my resume now,” Link said. “I’m worried that if anyone has heard of this organization, it would be in The New York Times associated with the falsification of credentials.”

However, Link said that she thought that the organization would recover.

“I’m totally confident that they’ll bounce back from this,” she said.

MacBain and Ward could not be reached for comment.