Lydia Moss Bradley mourned the passing of her six children and husband and yet successfully doubled her estate, built the Bradley Home for Aged Women and donated more than 100 acres of land for the creation of Laura Bradley Park, all before establishing the Bradley Polytechnic Institute in 1897.
She was a philanthropic, intelligent, independent woman who, even through the tough times, proved that she was much tougher than the hardships she faced.
Her legacy lives on, especially through us, the students of her university. And now that 2015 has ushered us into a new semester, it’s time to take a look at the legacy we are leaving and ask ourselves whether or not our founder would be proud.
Charley Steiner, for whom the sports communication school will be named March 31, took his call to action and ran with it. He used his time at Bradley wisely, he followed his passions, and years later, he’s back to tell all of us the story of his legacy and help us write our own.
Also recent, President Joanne Glasser made the major announcement of her retirement, effective May 31. The first female president since Lydia, Glasser took eight years of leadership and made the most of them. From $128 million in building projects to strengthening academic programming and hosting open office hours for students, Glasser has certainly left her legacy in our Hilltop storybook.
Of course, there’s a few stories that still need some tweaking. The basketball team could use a few (or several) more wins and quite a bit more discipline, as this week introduced an arrest, a citation and a slap on the wrist amidst three players involved in a fake ID situation at a strip club. These situations are, of course, all following the domestic battery charge against another one of their team- mates from August of 2014.
And it wouldn’t hurt to see the greek system align their actions to their standards a bit more tightly so the university, campus police and the greek life office don’t need to continually step in and enforce new rules, specifically when it comes to social gatherings involving alcohol.
All in all, what we’re trying to say is that a legacy is not what people say about someone in their eulogy, because not everyone likes the “movers and the shakers.” And it’s not the dedication of a
building, because after all, it’s just a structure with a name. And it’s not that someone spoke so articulately and profoundly that their words were made into crafted items and sold on Etsy.
A legacy is choosing, individually, to “be the change you wish to see in the world” and then passing that on to others.
Lydia saw the needs of Peoria and the surrounding communities. Steiner saw an opportunity to help others grow and learn. Glasser saw a university that could take itself and its students to the next level.
We’ve got new and important things in store for us here on the Hilltop. And, quite simply, if we don’t seize the opportunity, we’re just wasting time. So, let’s get to it.
