When Your Degree in Thinkology Costs More Than a House
Dear Magicians,
Last month at UCSD, I had the privilege of moderating what became one of the most intellectually combustible conversations I’ve hosted — bringing together Dr. Peter Salovey, Yale’s former president and co-developer of emotional intelligence theory, with Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik, America’s most provocative Jewish intellectual and senior rabbi of the nation’s oldest synagogue.
The ostensible topic was universities and their future. The real subject was idolatry.
Education as Faith, Not Fashion
Soloveichik opened by grounding our discussion in profound theological territory. Drawing from Jewish tradition, he explained that education — chinuch — means “to dedicate someone to the highest ideals, preparing them for civic and spiritual life.” This echoes the Greek concept of paideia, which involves preparing individuals for life in society rather than merely imparting knowledge.
The ultimate task of teaching the next generation, Soloveichik emphasized, is to have faith in what the next generation can accomplish when we — their professors — are no longer here to guide them. The Hebrew word for child-rearing, he noted, is intrinsically linked to faith itself (emunah).
The Golden Calf Syndrome
This theological foundation made my central provocation even sharper: elite universities have become our golden calves — objects of worship that distract us from genuine learning and moral development. I asked the dynamic duo, “Has the university become a ‘kosher idol,’ a status symbol for parents rather than a genuine educational goal for students?” I asked, citing the Varsity Blues scandal as evidence of parents sacrificing integrity, money and even their freedom for elite admission prestige.
Salovey acknowledged this uncomfortable reality while defending the institutional mission. The parental anxiety and competition around college admissions have indeed intensified beyond previous generations, he conceded. Still, this fetishization of elite schools — focusing obsessively on a handful of institutions among America’s 4,000 colleges — represents a fundamental misunderstanding of education’s purpose.
Wisdom vs. Credentialism
Rabbi Solly (Meir) brilliantly skewered the modern university system by invoking the Wizard of Oz’s “degree in thinkology” — that meaningless diploma the Wizard grants the Scarecrow who already possessed wisdom all along.
As Meir pointed out with characteristic wit, we’ve created an entire higher education industrial complex around handing out expensive pieces of parchment to students who mistake credentialing for actual learning. The irony, he noted, is that like the Scarecrow, most students already have the capacity for critical thinking before they arrive on campus — they just need someone to help them recognize it rather than charging them $200,000 to validate what they already possess.
The real magic trick, Meir suggested, isn’t what universities teach, but how they’ve convinced families that wisdom requires a branded certificate from behind an emerald curtain.
Peter was more diplomatic but essentially agreed. The purpose of education according to Salovey should be developing critical thinkers, communicators, citizens, and moral adults. His claim was that credentialing and vocational outcomes can follow naturally if their foundation is strong.
Later, Soloveichik invoked Justice Scalia’s Holocaust Memorial speech, warning that education alone doesn’t guarantee moral conduct — absolute standards are needed, often rooted in religious tradition.
The $200,000 Dating App
The evening’s most uncomfortable moment came when I posed the provocation directly: “Are we charging families $80,000 annually for what amounts to an expensive dating and networking platform with some education sprinkled on top?”
The audience — a mix of UCSD faculty, students, Ivy League parents and alums, and other brilliant members of San Diego’s intellectual elite — erupted in nervous laughter. Salovey’s response revealed the complexity: yes, social capital formation occurs at universities, but dismissing the intellectual enterprise entirely overlooks the revolutionary research and discovery that are happening simultaneously.
Antisemitism and Accountability
Our most charged segment addressed institutional antisemitism. I asked both guests whether universities tolerating persistent anti-Jewish hatred should retain moral claims to public funding, regardless of their research contributions.
Foremost on my mind was UCSD’s campus Jew Free Zone — an illegal encampment erected 100 meters away from where we sat nearly a year ago to the day of our campus conversation. I testified to Congress last June about the outrage I felt being excluded from my own campus during this terrible event.
Soloveichik’s answer was uncompromising educational institutions can’t fail to uphold basic moral standards, and if they do, they cease to be educational institutions. They become performance venues for ideological theater.
Salovey navigated more carefully, emphasizing due process while conceding that many universities failed catastrophically in their response to campus antisemitism post-October 7th.
The Heart of the Matter
What emerged wasn’t consensus but clarity. As both speakers emphasized, trust in higher education is declining, yet its role in innovation and society remains vital. The challenge lies in returning to education’s foundational purpose.
Peter took the tact that civil discourse and engagement with differing views are essential to education. He relied on his faith in American higher education while surely acknowledging it stands at an inflection point where its sacred status depends on remembering its core mission: the relentless pursuit of truth and the cultivation of moral adults, not the comfortable maintenance of credentialing orthodoxy and coddling kids to not upset their parents nor the university’s donor class.
The evening left our audience with uncomfortable questions and no easy answers — exactly what university discourse should provide.
What type of conversation would you like to see me moderate in the future? Let me know here.
Until next time, have a M.A.G.I.C. Week,
(If I only had a) Brian
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