I assure you it felt very strange and unusual to me as well. I was being told all this by someone who had gone to Yale for her PhD (in theology, but still) and

I assure you it felt very strange and unusual to me as well. I was being told all this by someone who had gone to Yale for her PhD (in theology, but still) and who beforehand I was on good terms with, as far as student-administrator relationships go. That's probably when I realized most credentials were bullshit.