Enjoying strange noises

To “cronk” is to mix the sounds of “croak” and “honk”- to make unpleasant noises. The Cronk of Higher Education does just that, but in a way that makes one want to laugh out loud. Launched last June, The Cronk is a satirical blog “hellbent on generating intelligent dialogue and healthy laughs about the world of college and universities.”

A representative article, Nobel Prize Winner Thanks Bulletin Board Sanction for Changing His Life, pokes fun at the notion that a homemade dorm display might influence students’ decisions. The language is occasionally raw, so individuals with sensitive eyes should consider themselves  forewarned. In rare cases, seriously laugh-deprived academics may not experience enough euphoria reading the blog. Never fear; they can also follow The Cronk on FaceBook and Twitter.

Irma Pelt

Those who follow the blog will enjoy getting to know its cast of characters, starting with the pseudonymous editor, Leah Wescott, an instructor and administrator at a private university in the Northeast. The workload of late has apparently increased at The Cronk, so they have hired an intern named Erica Price, who is now learning the ropes under the tutelage of crabby-looking Irma Pelt.

In spite of The Cronk’s toying with their name, the for-real Chronicle of Higher Education seems to be flattered by imitation; see Higher Education Fuels a Spoof Web Site (Wired Campus). I can’t imagine that they will ever run out of material. They might even make a little money on the venture through Google ads and a “Swag” page that sells books through Amazon.