8/22/2014 Book Review: 'Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite' by William Deresiewicz - WSJ

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Book Review: 'Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite'by William DeresiewiczStudents sacrifice all to grades and resume building—'I might be miserable,' a Yalie noted, 'but were I not miserable, Iwouldn't be at Yale.'

Aug. 20, 2014 7:14 p.m. ET

Many of the freshmen arriving on campus this month at golden institutions like Harvard,

Yale, MIT and Stanford already have resumes that would make a corporate headhunter

salivate. These future leaders have scored off-the-charts on their SATs and juggled—if

not founded—a handful of extracurricular clubs. They aced their STEM classes while

playing three varsity sports, and eked out the time to spend their summers volunteering

in African orphanages.

For William Deresiewicz the rat race for college admissions—and, later, for entry into the

top banks and law firms—has robbed these ultra-high achievers of their passion,

intellectual curiosity, purpose and depth. Students today, he suggests, regard their

education at elite institutions not as an opportunity to develop their character, but as just

another credential, "an algorithm to be cracked in order to get to the next level," as one

graduate of Deerfield Academy told the author. They chase "success" with no greater

purpose to guide them. And the universities they attend, which regard them increasingly

as customers rather than students, do little to provide one.

Mr. Deresiewicz has taught many of these students as a professor of English at Yale and

as a graduate instructor at Columbia, where he received his doctorate. His book

"Excellent Sheep" is a cri de coeur against the credentials arms-race that now defines

young adulthood—and even childhood—for many Americans. But you don't have to take

his word for it: The book features interviews and correspondence with students and

recent graduates of elite institutions. Beyond their glowing transcripts and the fact that

they have become "accomplished adult-wranglers," these students are anxious,

depressed and searching for some deeper meaning in their lives. "For many students,

rising to the absolute top means being consumed by the system. I've seen my peers

sacrifice health, relationships, exploration, activities that can't be quantified and are

essential for developing souls and hearts, for grades and resume building," one Stanford

student told the author. A Yalie put it more succinctly: "I might be miserable, but were I

not miserable, I wouldn't be at Yale."

The crisis Mr. Deresiewicz lays out is, at its root, a moral one. In the past, elite colleges

were attended by students who were destined by their upbringing to inherit and occupy

the rungs of power. Our finest institutions sought to develop character, intellect and instill

"devotion to the benefit of others, not yourself"—in short, noblesse oblige.

But beginning in the 1960s, college admissions changed radically, shifting from "the old

aristocracy to the new meritocracy: from caste, 'character,' and connections," writes the

author, "to scores and grades." Elite universities today are more meritocratic, but they

are also more materialistic. "In 1971," Mr. Deresiewicz writes quoting a study, "73

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8/22/2014 Book Review: 'Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite' by William Deresiewicz - WSJ

http://online.wsj.com/articles/book-review-excellent-sheep-the-miseducation-of-the-american-elite-by-william-deresiewicz-1408576444 2/5

WSJ In-Depth

Excellent Sheep

By William Deresiewicz

(Free Press, 245 pages, $26)

percent of incoming freshmen said that it

is essential or very important to 'develop a

meaningful philosophy of life.' " That same

year, 37% said being wealthy was

important. But by 2011, the values of

young adults had changed: Eighty percent

said being rich is a very important priority,

while only 47% were interested in life's big

questions. Even in a decade of economic

turmoil, about half of the graduates at

Penn who pursue full-time employment,

for example, go into finance and

consulting each year.

This is not the purpose Mr. Deresiewicz

has in mind for this country's best and brightest. He believes in an education that asks:

"What is the good life and how should I live it?" It is as much an education in character as

it is in critical thinking. The author chronicles the gradual process by which the traditional

liberal arts education that was once a staple of these schools has given way to the

research university agenda, where "fragmentation and specialization" define the

curriculum. Rather than being taught the accumulated wisdom of the past through the

great books, students now select from a bland a la carte menu of "distribution

requirements" that leave them without a holistic understanding of the debates and issues

that shaped the culture they now live in. "Nothing adds up," he writes, "because nothing is

designed to add up."

In writing about the crisis in higher education, Mr. Deresiewicz is venturing into culture-

war territory. Thankfully, politics and ideology don't bog down his book. In his chapter on

the virtue of the great books, for example, Mr. Deresiewicz writes with spirit as he

champions the crucial role the humanities play in cultivating young hearts and minds.

"The humanities are what we have, in a secular society, instead of religion," he writes.

They are where "educated people went to contemplate those questions of meaning and

value and purpose" after the traditional source of that knowledge, religion, was

discredited by science and skepticism.

The current system, Mr. Deresiewicz writes, is "exacerbating inequality, retarding social

mobility, perpetuating privilege, and creating an elite that is as isolated from the society

that it's supposed to lead—and even more smug about its right to its position—as the

WASP aristocracy itself." Some of the solutions he offers will doubtless provoke parents

currently shelling out thousands of dollars for SAT tutors. Chief among them: He

encourages high-schoolers to look beyond the elite institutions of the popular imagination.

Students serious about getting a real education, he argues, should apply to liberal arts

schools like Kenyon and Sewanee that have stayed true to their mission, and to public

universities, many of which have excellent honors colleges.

Mr. Deresiewicz also suggests replacing race-based affirmative action with class-based

affirmative action. Some of the biggest losers in the current system, he rightly points out,

are middle-class and poor white kids who don't stand a chance competing against their

upper-middle class peers. These students would also offer campuses a diversity that's

more than skin deep.

Ms. Smith, a writer based in New Haven, is the managing editor of the Hoover Institution

Journal "Defining Ideas" and the editor of Acculturated.com.

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8/22/2014 Book Review: 'Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite' by William Deresiewicz - WSJ

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Bernard Levine

The reviewer suggests that this book proposes putting BandAids on the deck chairsof the Titanic.

High on the list of idiocies of our era is the whole concept of consulting.

Think about what it means.

The high paid managers of big companies are too clueless to do the jobs they werehired for, and are too greedy to resign.

So they hire glib kids right out of school, with no experience in anything real -- i.e.consultants -- to pretend to do their jobs for them.

And who will complain?

Not their employees, not as long as their own paychecks clear.

Not their shareholders, who are mainly mutual funds and institutional investors thatknow little about the 500+ companies they have invested in.

Certainly not their customers, because no one listens to customers, and no customerexpects to be listened to.

If your role includes hiring, you can help break this cycle. Don't hire consultants. Don'thire college granulates. Do hire veterans. Do hire people who are interested in YOURbusiness.

Newest

There are 19 comments.

8/22/2014 Book Review: 'Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite' by William Deresiewicz - WSJ

http://online.wsj.com/articles/book-review-excellent-sheep-the-miseducation-of-the-american-elite-by-william-deresiewicz-1408576444 4/5

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Michael K

It's also worth noting that both the author of this article and the author of the book sheis applauding have a scant or amateurish understanding of science. Because if theyreally understood science and it's foundation, they would be shocked to find out thatscience also rests on axioms that are to be taken by "faith". We don't call it faiththough, we call them principles in science. But the same accusation that is used byamateur "know it alls" to discredit religion can be leveled to discredit science.

Jim Kellett

In my experience, highly technical jobs don't require the intellectually gifted, butexperience in dealing with challenges of the organizational, systemic and personalkind, ie, how to get the job done, not how to do the job. OJT, creativity, positiveattitude, interpersonal skills and willingness to absorb from others are way morevaluable than the educational institution or perceivedintelligence/memorization capability. Professional judgment is not learned in school. It is said the dumber think they are smarter than they are; this applies to the other endof the spectrum as well.

ESTELLE BRENNAN

@Jim Kellett Professional competence and judgment require intellectual giftsand work. Don't confuse an intellectual effete with an intelligent person/

Jim Kellett

I wasn't trying to say intelligence isn't required, it is, and it can be found at allinstitutions, but rather that hyperintelligence alone isn't as valuable as abalance of capabilities, all of which aren't reflected in the sheepskin. And, tobe sure, there are many from top tiered schools that have everything it takes. In my day, it was said the degree got you your first job, then it was yourresume.

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8/22/2014 Book Review: 'Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite' by William Deresiewicz - WSJ

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