I’m in Chicago and know the U of C Econ dept’s ethos well. I agree with you. They put the out-of-touch in Elitism. Would certainly prefer other schools’ alums. But, honestly, in a Congress where being uneducated is a competition, I’ll take anybody with any training.

There was a time when good communication skills were a stated requirement for almost any job. A good employer knows they can train rote job skills. It’s the ability to think creatively that is harder to train.