Honors Colleges Are Fragile Experiments

Honors colleges that depend on presidential goodwill and short‑term administrative backing can be created quickly but are equally vulnerable to rapid defunding or policy reversal. Sustaining them requires structural protections—endowment earmarks, governance autonomy, and donor‑backed covenants—so that a temporary administrative reprioritization cannot destroy an academically successful program. — If true, donors, faculty and policymakers should design institutional safeguards when investing in curricular experiments so valuable liberal‑arts initiatives survive leadership turnover and budget swings.