OPINION:
Kelly Sadler cites R.R. Reno’s June 8 assessment in the Wall Street Journal as the reason “woke” universities are spitting out unhirable individuals (“Woke universities produce unhirable graduates,” Web, June 18).
In his piece, Mr. Reno explains that he now prefers to hire from “quirky, small Catholic colleges such as Thomas Aquinas College.” As the mom of a Thomas Aquinas College rising sophomore, I agree with Mr. Reno’s reason: TAC students “haven’t been deformed by the toxic political correctness” now tearing apart the Ivies.
The reason, I would argue, is that TAC intentionally focuses instead on formation, both moral and intellectual. My daughter’s freshman theology tutor (hired in 1969 as the college’s first employee) personifies that focus. His class reads the Bible cover to cover. His purpose, he says, is “to spend his life helping to defend and restore Western civilization.” His students love him.
At TAC students progress in an orderly fashion through the seven liberal arts and the sciences (philosophy and theology included), and read all the greats of the West. A truly liberating education, it’s what the Ivies used to offer before activism reimagined academics.
Mr. Reno writes from the perspective of an employer, but perhaps parents helping their kids choose a college will also pay attention. What’s the priority: fancy credentialism or fortifying curriculum?
MARY MILLER
Beaverton, Ore.
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