A remarkable letter from the Bradley Physics Department

Just got an interesting letter from the Bradley Physics Department.  Sounds like rather serious financial straits and asking for help.  Clearly the problem is far worse than anything being reported in the press.
Here is the text of the letter from Dr. Douglas Early, who has been a physics professor for 55 years and who I had when I was at Bradley more than 40 years ago.

"...I write this document to bring you up to date about the goings-on in the department.  No, I have not retired yet and I don’t plan to any time soon.  I find that being around the students and the younger faculty keeps me interested in physics things (the Higg’s boson and stuff like that) and life in general.  I am somewhat surprised that the university has not encouraged me to retire.

I received my 55 year pin in October.  I’m the only one at Bradley to have received that honor.  I doubt that anyone else will ever match that.  The president had never met me before she gave me the pin, but she hugged me anyway.  I’m not sure how I feel about that since she has never visited the department.  I know why she hasn’t, but I can’t talk about it.

I should tell you that the administration has told us that Bradley is in dire financial straits.  Programs are being reviewed to see where money saving is possible.  Small departments, like physics, are under a very high-powered microscope.  There has even been talk of deleting the physics major.  Physicists do arithmetic really well and we can’t figure how deleting our major will make up for the 6 or so million dollars that athletics lost last year.  Yes, that’s correct.  However, athletics seems to be untouchable.  If you have strong feeling about this, maybe you should write to someone about your concerns. 

The department is looking forward to holding our fifth annual Physics Day in February, 2015.  We invite local high school physics classes to spend the day with us, tour our teaching and research labs, have lunch with our majors and get a tour of the campus led by Admissions.  Each year we host up to 40 or so students and their teachers.  It has worked very well for us.  In addition, our students put on a demonstration show for the parents and other visitors on Parents Day.

Every spring, when we do the Sigma Pi Sigma induction, we dig out the book many of you signed when you were inducted.  The students being inducted are always intensely interested to know what their predecessors are doing now.  Please keep in touch.

Have a very nice holiday.

Dr. Doug Early

Bradley University

Department of Physics

1501 W. Bradley Avenue

Peoria, IL  61625"

Hmmm...pretty much speaks for itself ....