You might not think the facilities of The Renée Crown University Honors Program look like a house. If anything our setup in Bowne Hall looks like a suite of offices you might find in a professional building devoted to law or medicine. As the director of Honors at Syracuse I can assure you this is indeed a real house, or as the ancient Greeks would say, “a house hold.” We offer a place for conversation, for nurture–a place for growing your ideas and yes, even a place where you can have a laugh. My seeing-eye dog Nira can tell you a lot about the laugh factor here in the Honors program.

In the world’s most famous travel story, Odysseus struggles to return home after fighting in the Trojan war. In the ancient world home meant something more than a roof overhead or a strong set of walls. In the Homeric worldview home was where you demonstrated you were a good citizen. Home was where you welcomed strangers, listened to their stories, and where you shared your own good fortune with those who might come your way.

I hope you will spend time with us, read books in our lounge, drink our excellent coffee, make use of our computer cluster, and best of all, find time to talk to our students, faculty, and staff. I think you’ll find that the Honors program is a welcoming and affirming place. Oh, and our seeing-eye dog? Come visit her too!