Deploying Russian philosopher M. M. Bakhtin's notions of utterances or communicative interactions, we explore the life histories of two administrators at State University, a predominantly White institution of higher education in the Midwestern United States. In particular, we explore how working with White students, peers, and supervisors demands that staff members of color find means of answering overt and implied criticisms of their daily work. We name and analyze metaphors each participant uses to define ways she negotiates a campus culture that privileges some and interprets others as oppositional when they call into question long held institutional priorities and practices.