"The college graduate is presented with a sheepskin to cover his intellectual nakedness"
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A “sheepskin” is a credential with barnyard origins, and Hutchins wields it like a switch: the diploma as literal hide, draped over “intellectual nakedness.” The insult lands because it reverses the sentimental story colleges tell about themselves. Graduation is supposed to be a coming-into-knowledge; Hutchins suggests it’s a costume change, a way to look educated without the discomfort of actually being educated.
The intent is not anti-learning but anti-credential. Hutchins, the famously combative University of Chicago president and a leading voice for the Great Books and general education, spent his career attacking the idea that higher education should be job training or social sorting. In that context, the line reads as a warning about institutions that trade curiosity for compliance: students accumulate credits, not understanding; they master the rituals of schooling, not the habits of mind.
The subtext is also about shame. “Nakedness” implies exposure and vulnerability, the fear of being found out. The diploma becomes a socially sanctioned cover story, a document that signals competence to employers and peers, regardless of whether the graduate can think clearly, read closely, or argue honestly. Hutchins is needling a culture that confuses certification with cultivation.
It works because it’s economical and physical. You can feel the scratch of the metaphor: education reduced to a garment, knowledge reduced to something you can put on. In one sentence, Hutchins punctures the prestige economy of higher ed and dares graduates to ask the nastier question: if the sheepskin vanished, what would be left of me?
The intent is not anti-learning but anti-credential. Hutchins, the famously combative University of Chicago president and a leading voice for the Great Books and general education, spent his career attacking the idea that higher education should be job training or social sorting. In that context, the line reads as a warning about institutions that trade curiosity for compliance: students accumulate credits, not understanding; they master the rituals of schooling, not the habits of mind.
The subtext is also about shame. “Nakedness” implies exposure and vulnerability, the fear of being found out. The diploma becomes a socially sanctioned cover story, a document that signals competence to employers and peers, regardless of whether the graduate can think clearly, read closely, or argue honestly. Hutchins is needling a culture that confuses certification with cultivation.
It works because it’s economical and physical. You can feel the scratch of the metaphor: education reduced to a garment, knowledge reduced to something you can put on. In one sentence, Hutchins punctures the prestige economy of higher ed and dares graduates to ask the nastier question: if the sheepskin vanished, what would be left of me?
Quote Details
| Topic | Graduation |
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