Amanda Watson: We need to normalize telling people to STFU about things they know nothing about. Starting with people with business degrees yammering about the arts and humanities.

We need to normalize telling people to STFU about things they know nothing about. Starting with people with business degrees yammering about the arts and humanities.

Marc Rowan, chair of Wharton's advisory board, "said faculty members in Wharton [,] as well as the engineering and medical schools, care about academic excellence and research. 'If you are in [Penn's] arts and sciences school,' said Rowan, 'not so much.'" www.inquirer.com/education/ma...

Donor and Wharton board chair Marc Rowan criticizes Penn’s arts and sciences school, drawing backlashwww.inquirer.com Rowan said faculty members in Wharton, as well as the engineering and medical schools, care about academic excellence and research. “If you are in our arts and sciences school, not so much.”

J. Michael Straczynski has a story about a script where he had to cut a character’s “Not everyone has their own personal Ahab” line because an exec at the table didn’t know the reference & the exec “had a Harvard MBA” so if he didn’t know it of course no one else would either.

The best part of the story is that after Straczynski agreed to cut the line, he went out & bought a copy of the Classics Illustrated comic of Moby Dick & mailed it to Mr. “I have an MBA from Harvard.”

Illustrated!! Hahaha

This, sadly, illustrates why the standard of education in the US has slipped continually so horribly low for decades now. Plus it sounds like the exec was either a nepo-hire/nepo-admittance or his family just paid for said degree. Either way, this is sad.

Years ago, the new head of the art department where I was told me he meant to make the survey courses (which everybody has to take) into an advertisement for the arts, so that a future CEO who was only ever exposed to that class might say yes to an artist or art project one day. I liked him.

Arts and humanities have higher standards for plagiarism than STEM majors, with a much more rigorous set of hurdles to reach publication.

I taught some at Penn and trust me, the Wharton students were not the best. I had one who was quite angry that she had to go to the library for an assignment. She later expressed amazement at how useful the library actually was once she went there. 🤦🏼‍♂️

And, honestly, I can’t even begin to describe the incompetence of some of the Wharton MBA students I met. A lot of words come to mind when I think of Wharton, but neither excellence nor research are among them.

But the arrogance among Wharton students-the assumption that confused purchased power with academic excellence-was quite common. Marc’s myopic idiocy is a perfect match.

This makes my head and heart hurt. I shouldn't, knowing the stats, but it does.

Time and again, even me, starting my library science degree; if I had known this back then, my undergrad would have been so easier...

They are so pompous about their ignorance.

This guy doesn't even know anything about business. He's in private equity, which is basically an anti-business.

For 30+ years I've dealt w/ arrogant fools who portray themselves as authorities in my field - just bc pontificating is easy. My 1st History Chair was the archetype for me; a US Civil War 'scholar' ("it wasn't about slavery") who wanted me to know he's an expert on Thucydides. He doesn't read Greek.

Arts and sciences, even!

He probably failed biochem and is still mad about it.

*failed even with a tutor and some paid assistance for producing papers. These donors are the dumbest most disgusting people on the planet. Put them in a bucket 🪣 and send them out to sea.

Better yet, stop making big donors board members. If they want to donate money, fine, but let the professionals run the school. They don't like what the professionals are doing, donate money elsewhere. They shouldn't just be able to buy higher education like this.

Or people with business degrees going on about anything, really.

I've long held the belief that business degree should be used as honeypots. If they finish their degree, when walking for graduation, they're ushered into a boat and sent to a Lord of the flies style Island to do whatever they want.

I like this idea more than I want to admit, but still feel compelled to admit so...

Could leave the second sentence at “Starting with people with business degrees.”

Blockheads.

THIS!!

So stifle speech? Nah…..just let them spew and then embarrass them with reality.

bsky.app/profile/blag...

did anyone try this? "you're a hedge fund scumbag, nobody cares what you think"

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