- Ah, mortuary school, the trade school that takes itself very seriously
due to a myriad of reasons, primarily connected to
men and their self esteem, that I won't get into in this video. (emoji huffing) But so seriously is mortuary
school taken by those involved in mortuary school that
one, the American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Service, was called the Harvard of mortuary school. The finest mortuary
school in all the land. This will be important later in the video. I went to mortuary school and
graduated what I just realized was a literal decade ago. Here I am with my bangs, a
good inch and a half longer than they had any reason to be. Mortuary schools, at least
in the United States, teach towards a final test,
the national board exam, of which there is an art
section and a science section. This national board exam is administered by the International Conference of Funeral Service Examining Boards, which is such a hoity-toity
name for what it actually is. (sighing) Here is my certificate for
passing the national boards which I didn't think I had but I found it taped to
the side of my fridge. Now I have my own opinions on this test, this national board exam. I don't like it is my opinion. I think there is much more value in knowing the regulations and
laws concerning dead bodies and contracts and cemeteries
in your particular state, which is why my California
Funeral Directors licensing exam did much more for me
than my national boards, where I had to determine (clock ticking) something. I don't remember what was
on my National Boards. I passed easily, not because
I'm a better funeral director than anyone else but because I went to a college prep high school
and then a fancy college, so I know how to take a test. And sadly, that is what
it rewards, in my opinion. Actually, let's do a
couple of sample questions provided by the Conference's website. I have not looked at these in 10 years. The part of the casket handle
(computer beeping) which the pallbearers grasp
is the lug, arm, bar, ear? That doesn't matter at all. How many ounces of 32-index fluid are needed to make two gallons
of a 2% fluid dilution? Eight, 12, 14, 16. (gasping) No, I remember this. The religion of the
United States is basically Buddhist, Judaeo-Christian, Muslim, Hindu. (record scratching) (bomb booming) I remember why I was so mad a lot of the time in mortuary school. What? That is so dark. Also the answer is E, capitalism. You're the funeral
industry, you know that. So, with that information, God forbid, I should tell you a story without giving you my
opinion first, let's get back to the McAllister Institute
of Funeral Service. Now, the Harvard of mortuary
schools is quite a claim but their reputation and scores
bore that description out. Several years ago, the national
board exam passing rate of mortuary school students
in the US was about 72%. For McAllister, their rate was 92%. Oh, much high, very fancy, score big. But in 2013, an anonymous
student sent an email to the Conference saying that Meg Dunn, the president and CEO of McAllister, had sent out emails with
quote "very specific "and direct answers to
the National Board Exam." Then other students
started coming forward, saying they had been pressured by Dunn to disclose what was on their tests so she could then
disseminate the information to other students by saying they were her visions.
(bells ringing) That 92% passing rate started
to make a bit more sense. It was a mortuary school scandal. In March of 2018, Meg
Dunn and seven teachers were officially charged by the New York State Health Department with distributing questions and answers from the exam to their student body. According to the Health Department, Dunn and the accused teachers engaged in a widespread conspiracy that would give their
students an unfair advantage. Then the conference
itself sued Macallister for giving their students an advantage and endangering the health
and welfare of the public. Which. That last part is a little dramatic. I don't think anyone in the public was injured by the someone not knowing the third stage of grief as
defined by Elizabeth Kulber-Ross especially since the five stages of grief aren't used anymore and
haven't been for years. What danger! If a student graduating in 2020 doesn't know grieving
theories from the late 1960s. To be clear, I'm not saying you should cheat on your
National Board Exam. Cheating bad. (bell dings) Macallister confidentially
settled with the Conference for $1.2 million in 2014, but the scandal didn't
just hurt their reputation and bank account, it
mostly hurt their students. By 2018 over 300 graduates from the previous five to 10 years had their passing board scores invalidated by the Conference. In many places, most importantly New York, where presumably many of
the graduates were working, that invalidates your
license and ability to work. Most had until the end of
the year to retake the test to keep their license. Other students accused of
more egregious violations, according to Funeral Service Insider, yes we have trade magazines
called things like that, were not only asked to retake
the exam, but also pay $500 to the Conference's
Examination Defense Fund. That poor defenseless exam. The most heavily penalized individuals had their licenses revoked and were barred from retaking
the exam for five years, in effect sabotaging their careers. As for Meg Dunn, first born
of the House of Cheating, giver of questions, as
of December 31, 2018 she had resigned as president
and CEO of Macallister in a statement that sounds
like she had done a great job and was just retiring. Heckuva job, Brownie. Now how deep does the corruption go, here? Meg Dunn is not helping her case by having been married to Joseph Nicelli, the infamous Brooklyn
body snatching mortician, who was sent to prison in 2009. And let's face it, one of the number one things
we want our morticians to be, the people taking care
of our beloved mother and who we're giving $10,000
for a funeral, is honest. But was the collateral damage worth it? Some people in the
industry have criticized how the Conference served as
judge, jury, and executioner, calling it a witch hunt. Students and active funeral directors whose scores or licenses were
invalidated by the Conference were not given a chance to
defend themselves in a hearing or properly review the
evidence against them. We already have too few
licensed funeral directors so taking hundreds of them out of practice in one fell swoop doesn't
seem to be best for protecting the needs of the public. My personal thoughts on this remain the same as they have always been. Which is that I don't think any school, whether it's competitive high school or mortuary school
should spend so much time learning towards a test. Especially since many
studies have shown tests like the SAT tend to reinforce
race and class inequalities. Again, I could learn what
the national board wanted and easily pass because I have that kind
of test taking training. I was working as an
SAT tutor for rich kids while I was in mortuary school. But that was not what helped me in my job as a funeral director or
now as a funeral home owner. Thanks for coming to my TED talk. What do you think about the Harvard of Mortuary Schools scandal? Do you think justice was served? Or was this a wake up call
for mortuary educators to think less about testing
and more about training? This video was made
with generous donations from death enthusiast just like you. (whimsical music) ♪ Here I am, I'm ready to do it ♪ (chair creaks) Oh, no, hopefully that's not distracting. For what it actually is. I put it on the ground. Which is such a toity- toity, which is such a hoity-toity name. Glug, glug, glug. Eye ball it, I don't know. C, Muslim, D, Hindu. (vehicles revving) Vroom-vroom, carry on. I'm not taking a test here or anything. Ewe, much hi. Ewe, much fancy. Oh, no, the sun. That poor defenseless exam. That poor defenseless exam. That poor defenseless exam. Oh!
