There’s a very interesting op-ed in the Wall Street Journal by First Things editor R.R. Reno. It’s at the link, but behind a paywall. So if you’re not a subscriber, I’ll just recap the major points.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-i-stopped-hiring-ivy-league-graduates-11623103004
It’s called “Why I Stopped Hiring Ivy League Graduates.” This is hardly shocking if you’ve been keeping up with all the horror stories coming out of these elite schools lately about leftist administrators and faculty indoctrinating students with socialism, Critical Race Theory and anti-Americanism, and campuses being run by mobs of leftist cry-bully students who want to silence and punish anyone who expresses a “painful” and “problematic” opinion that differs from theirs.
But many parents still dream of their kids going to Harvard or Yale because they’re coasting on their rapidly crumbling reputations for excellence. They think that Ivy League sheepskin will mean a lifetime of prosperous employment, so they pony up the outrageous tuition. But according to Reno, your kids might be better off spending a fraction as much to attend a state college.
He says he’s found that many recent Ivy League grads who apply for jobs with his company fall into one of three categories: (1.) Oversensitive, thin-skinned narcissists who make inflammatory accusations at the drop of a hat; (2.) Those so cowed by fear of accusations of racism or some other offense that they remain silent if there’s any risk in speaking up; or (3.) Those who actually have the gumption to fight back, mostly conservatives, but who are so used to having to fight that they seem to have PTSD and have developed a habit of aggressive counterpunching.
None of those traits are helpful as part of a team that has to deal with the real world. The Ivies used to train students to be leaders. Now, they may still attract top level students, but they coddle and encourage the dysfunctional ones while attacking and abusing the normal ones. For all the money students pay to go there, the schools don’t add value, they reduce it.
Reno suggests that students who want to learn how to be leaders and prosper in the real world attend schools such as Hillsdale College, Thomas Aquinas College, Wyoming Catholic College and the University of Dallas, as well as large state schools and their satellite campuses. He says their students are more likely to get good educations, to learn to accept the authority of those with more experience, and not to be deformed by toxic political correctness.
And I would add, don’t worry about all the Ivy Leaguers who are unfit to work in the real world. I’m sure they’ll find lucrative jobs in politics or the media.
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