. . . to comment on the new Bradley president, Joanne Glasser (and may there please be a moratorium on referring to her as “a little lady”).
This is an appointment that almost everyone seems to be raving about. I’ve polled many of the BU people in my life, and they all think she is a smart choice.
My biggest hope is that she is as good as she seems. My greatest fear is that she is as good as she seems and won’t be here very long. Well, this isn’t my greatest fear, but she does seem to have been in demand over the past several years.
Three years ago, she took her name out of consideration as one of the finalists for the Illinois State University presidency. Before that in 2001, she withdrew her candidacy from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas after the board of trustees unanimously chose her as the president. Despite this disappointment, here is what one SFA student prophesized according to Towerlight, the student newspaper of Towson University, then Glasser’s current employer:
This is an appointment that almost everyone seems to be raving about. I’ve polled many of the BU people in my life, and they all think she is a smart choice.
My biggest hope is that she is as good as she seems. My greatest fear is that she is as good as she seems and won’t be here very long. Well, this isn’t my greatest fear, but she does seem to have been in demand over the past several years.
Three years ago, she took her name out of consideration as one of the finalists for the Illinois State University presidency. Before that in 2001, she withdrew her candidacy from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas after the board of trustees unanimously chose her as the president. Despite this disappointment, here is what one SFA student prophesized according to Towerlight, the student newspaper of Towson University, then Glasser’s current employer:
“SFA graduate student Jason Gomez, who served as the only student representative on the University’s presidential search committee, said Glasser was well received at SFA, and many admired her choice to explore the campus on her own rather than take a guided tour like the other candidates.
“‘She was very, very charismatic,’ Gomez said. ‘A lot of people commented on her being inspirational. Although she is not president of our University there is a lot in store for Joanne Glasser.’”
Hopefully, Mr. Gomez was unwittingly talking about Bradley.
Since she’s interested in hearing from stakeholders and with two degrees from the Hilltop (for a total of seven in my immediate family), I consider myself one of them, here are my top ten unsolicited suggestions for Madame President on how to improve Bradley University.
1. Do something radical, trend setting, and right: pay adjunct (a fancy work for part-time) faculty the same—or close to the same for teaching a class—as full-time faculty.
2. Watch the tail: yes, basketball is great and from a president’s perspective, wonderful for keeping the alumni financially involved. But we have to make sure we don’t allow Bradley’s recent success to turn the team into an NBA farm club. I think we have the right people in place to prevent this from happening, but cheating is a constant temptation.
3. If you are looking for a three word motto for your term, here’s a suggestion: excellence with diversity. Let this apply to Bradley’s faculty, student body, and board of trustees.
4. Private money might be the lifeblood of Bradley, but academic freedom is its oxygen. Lots of times, there’s tension between money and truth. Large corporations and wealthy individuals don’t always like the messy, rabble rousing process that accompanies the search for the truth.
Let me quote from my own alma mater the University of Wisconsin’s 1894 Board of Regents: “Whatever may be the limitations which trammel inquiry elsewhere, we believe that the Great State University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”
Let the sifting and winnowing continue unabated (i.e. if you have to err, please err on the side of academic freedom).
5. Promote Bradley’s graduate programs. Bradley will likely always be primarily an undergraduate institution, but its graduate schools are excellent and unheralded outside of central Illinois.
6. Do what you can to insure the survival and prospering of Cooper and Rebecca. It’s good to have faculty and staff live near the university, and the beautiful houses on these streets make ideal homes. Don’t knock them down to put up a parking deck. If you somehow find yourself unavoidably having to do this, please be upfront about the University’s intentions so that home owners and residents have fair warning.
7. Strengthen Bradley’s ties with St. Mark’s Grade School and other neighborhood schools. Okay, this is a little shameless of me, as my husband and I are graduate’s of St. Mark’s and our son will likely attend there. But I think a closer relationship would benefit all institutions.
8. Before students graduate, require they pass a test on the life of Lydia Moss Bradley. Knowledge of her life inspires compassion and humility.
9. With a few exceptions, Main Street around the University looks terrible. There is no way a lot of Campustown can be considered progress. I know this is asking a bit much, but anything you can do to help make this area safer and more aesthetically pleasing would be a boon for the area and Bradley.
10. You have used your one chance to publicly utter the phrase “play in Peoria.” I now charge you with coining another, less annoying motto for your new home.
Welcome to Peoria and Bradley Madame President, Joanne Glasser!
5. Promote Bradley’s graduate programs. Bradley will likely always be primarily an undergraduate institution, but its graduate schools are excellent and unheralded outside of central Illinois.
6. Do what you can to insure the survival and prospering of Cooper and Rebecca. It’s good to have faculty and staff live near the university, and the beautiful houses on these streets make ideal homes. Don’t knock them down to put up a parking deck. If you somehow find yourself unavoidably having to do this, please be upfront about the University’s intentions so that home owners and residents have fair warning.
7. Strengthen Bradley’s ties with St. Mark’s Grade School and other neighborhood schools. Okay, this is a little shameless of me, as my husband and I are graduate’s of St. Mark’s and our son will likely attend there. But I think a closer relationship would benefit all institutions.
8. Before students graduate, require they pass a test on the life of Lydia Moss Bradley. Knowledge of her life inspires compassion and humility.
9. With a few exceptions, Main Street around the University looks terrible. There is no way a lot of Campustown can be considered progress. I know this is asking a bit much, but anything you can do to help make this area safer and more aesthetically pleasing would be a boon for the area and Bradley.
10. You have used your one chance to publicly utter the phrase “play in Peoria.” I now charge you with coining another, less annoying motto for your new home.
Welcome to Peoria and Bradley Madame President, Joanne Glasser!
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