A Christian magazine editor has revealed he'll no longer hire graduates from Ivy League colleges because they're too woke, self-important or scared
R. R. Reno
R. R. Reno is the editor of First Things, a monthly religious magazine with a circulation of 30,000.
to speak out against cancel culture even if they don't believe in it.

R. R. Reno is the editor of First Things, a monthly religious magazine with a circulation of 30,000.

In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal on Monday, he said used to jump at the chance to hire from Ivy Leagues, but now it turns him off applicants.

He said from his experience, kids from colleges like Rutgers in New Jersey are 'as talented but less self-important than Ivy Leaguers' and 'more likely to accept the authority of those more experienced'.

'I'm not inclined to hire a graduate from one of America's elite universities.

'That marks a change. A decade ago I relished the opportunity to employ talented graduates of Princeton, Yale, Harvard and the rest. Today? Not so much,' Reno wrote.

He cited a recent example at Haverford, the college he attended, where outraged students protested against what they called anti-blackness on a Zoom meeting where he said they showed 'thin-skinned narcissism and naked aggression'.

Harvard
Reno said that kids at the likes of Haverford and Harvard are 'thin skinned' and 'narcissistic' which aren't qualities he wants in staff
Yale students
Yale students protesting about climate change during half-time at the Yale Bowl in 2019. They ran onto the football field at half-time
'If students can be traumatized by "insensitivity" on that leafy campus, then they're unlikely to function as effective team members in an organization that has to deal with everyday realities. And in any event, I don't want to hire someone who makes inflammatory accusations at the drop of a hat.

'Student activists don't represent the majority of students.

'But I find myself wondering about the silent acquiescence of most students. They allow themselves to be cowed by charges of racism and other sins.
First Things magazine
First Things is a monthly religious magazine with a circulation of 30,000
'I sympathize.

'The atmosphere of intimidation in elite higher education is intense. But I don't want to hire a person well-practiced in remaining silent when it costs something to speak up,' he said.

First Things has offices in Manhattan and employs nine editors currently. It's unclear how many writers the magazine has.

Reno said that while not everyone at Ivy League colleges are too woke, a larger problem is that those who aren't are keeping quiet for fear of retribution, rather than speaking out against things they disagree with.

'A few years ago a student at an Ivy League school told me, "The first things you learn your freshman year is never to say what you are thinking."

'The institution he attended claims to train the world's future leaders. From what that young man reports, the opposite is true. The school is training future self-censors, which means future followers,' he wrote.

He was praised online for his honest words. Some said they'd heard similar things from CEOs privately, but that the issue was never spoken about.

Now, Reno says he'll only hire from religious colleges and large state universities. schools.