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Just as a new circus is set to begin on January 20th, we got word this past weekend that another circus is coming to an end.
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus will end its 146 year run this May.
The circus, it turns out, is afflicted with the same cost disease as is higher education.
The circus can only scale so much before the circus tent gets too big, making it impossible to see the clowns.
When discussing why the circus was closing, the billionaire owner and CEO Ringling cited the show’s 12-minute tiger act:
“Try getting a 3- or 4-year-old today to sit for 12 minutes..”
Substitute “19 year old” for “3 year old”, and “lectures” for “tigers”, you can see that our higher ed challenges are not all that different from that of the circus.
How can we in higher ed avoid the fate of ‘The Greatest Show on Earth”?
First, we should definitely avoid using exotic live animals in our teaching or residential activities. The cost of transporting lions, tigers, camels, donkeys, alpacas, kangaroos and llamas between shows proved too expensive for Ringling Brothers. We should learn from their experience.
Second, we should be aware of the threat posed by the Canadians. It is apparently impossible for a regular circus to compete with the spectacle of the Montreal based Cirque du Soleil. I’ve long been suspicious of what those Canadian higher ed people were really up to - as they could not possible be as nice as they seem in real life. We now have some proof - by way of the circus - that my suspicions are well founded.
Finally, we should probably resist our collective urge to create higher ed railcars. The temptation to move our classrooms, dorms, labs, athletic facilities and student centers to trains is strong. We see the disruptive potential of creating adaptive learning environments through the method of railway and railcar technology. In the end, the circus could not afford the high costs of moving from town to town with dedicated railway technology - a cautionary tale for every postsecondary business.
What higher ed lessons do you draw from the demise of the circus?
