[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 4 (Tuesday, January 11, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E46]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


        HONORING BRADLEY UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT JOANNE K. GLASSER

                                  _____
                                 

                          HON. LORETTA SANCHEZ

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 11, 2011

  Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support to 
honor the groundbreaking accomplishments of Bradley University 
President Joanne K. Glasser.
  A native of Baltimore, Maryland, President Glasser is a graduate of 
George Washington University, the University of Maryland School of Law, 
and the Harvard University Graduate Institute of Education for Higher 
Education Management.
  Joanne grew up in a diverse Baltimore neighborhood and has had 
friends and neighbors of different cultures, different religions and 
different backgrounds. That personal history, and the inclusive example 
set by her mother and father, has inspired President Glasser to strive 
to provide educational opportunities for all students, no matter their 
race, religion or economic circumstance. She believes in promoting 
diversity and advances it by actively recruiting students who, without 
her leadership, would not have the chance to attend a private 
university.
  President Glasser is an inspiration to many for creating history 
where ever she goes. President Glasser became the first woman president 
at Eastern Kentucky University in 2001. She repeated that honor in 2007 
when she was named president of Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, 
an institution founded in 1897 by another trailblazing woman, Lydia 
Moss Bradley. Earlier in her career, Ms. Glasser was the first woman to 
be labor commissioner of Baltimore County.
  Today, we honor the work President Glasser has done in further 
closing the achievement gap among low-socioeconomic and Latino students 
throughout Orange County. She is committed to broadening both regional 
and ethnic diversity at Bradley University. Her staff has worked 
tirelessly to find ways for low-socioeconomic students to afford the 
top-notch education that Bradley University offers.
  Pricilla Merritt-Bravo, a junior at Bradley University and vice 
president of the Bradley Speech Team, explains, ``President Glasser is 
small in stature, but the power that is felt when she comes into a mom 
is great. She is an inspiration not only to women like myself but the 
entire student body. She believes in dreaming big dreams and striving 
to achieve them. For myself, going to college was a dream and 
graduating was a fantasy. President Glasser believed in me and made it 
possible for me to be here and demonstrate that, if given the chance, 
those of us who come from limited means can fly.''
  Once again, I rise in support of the accomplishments of President 
Joanne Glasser and Bradley University for furthering education for all 
people. Joanne's commitment to diversity and the well-being of her 
students is unprecedented.

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