Riding a Unicycle Across a Bridge While Juggling: The Musings of an Honors Administrator

Authors

• Bonnie Irwin, Eastern Illinois UniversityFollow

Date of this Version

Fall 2006

Document Type

Article

Comments

Published in Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council 7:2, Fall/Winter 2006. Copyright © 2006 by the National Collegiate Honors Council.

Abstract

My favorite metaphor for the life of an honors administrator remains that of a plate spinner. Those of us of a certain age remember them from the Ed Sullivan Show: frantically running from pole to pole, these acrobats had to keep the plates spinning so that none would fall crashing to the stage. Meanwhile, in the background, some classical, frenetic piece of music, often Khachaturian’s Sabre Dance, would be playing, faster and faster. Indeed, if a university can be likened to a circus—and many are tempted to do just that— honors administrators are the plate spinners.