Spring has arrived slowly this year, allowing us to enjoy each warm breeze and each emerging daffodil. Spring Break, however, marks the true beginning of the season, as the students leave campus for a much-deserved break from studies.

Workers took advantage of their absence to do a little spring cleaning. Some overgrown yew bushes, which stubbornly held their ground, were pulled up to make room for fresh landscaping outside of the dorms. A fence has been put up around the section of Haussler Hall that will be taken down as construction begins on the wonderful new Markin Family Student Recreation Center.

As you can see, I also received some attention, with workers carefully using mild soap to removed winter’s salt and soot accumulation. Yes, Spring is a wonderful time of year!

The campus has been thinning out today in anticipation of spring break next week. The “largest” group of students, however, left right after lunch. Of course I mean the men’s basketball team, who left Robertson Memorial Field House this afternoon to head south for the second round of the NIT.

More students have been wearing their red sweatshirts to class since the Braves beat Providence in an electrifying first-round NIT game in Peoria Wednesday night. Read all about Bradley’s first-round win over Providence on the Braves website.

Fans, faculty, and staff broke out more red and held up signs as they gathered at the Fieldhouse to wish the team good luck as they left for Mississippi. Even though the Braves didn’t make it into the NCAA Tournament this year, we are just as excited to watch them in the NIT. We love our team, and know that, with their heart and determination, anything is possible!

I think many of the students who are heading toward Florida for spring break will stop in Starkville, Mississippi on Saturday to watch the team take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Moving vans have been on campus the past few days.

The Office of Alumni Relations has moved from the Alumni Center to its new temporary location in Comstock Hall (top photo) at Institute and Bradley Avenue.

The Alumni Center, located next to the Chi Omega house on Glenwood Avenue, will be removed to make room for the new student recreation center. The Alumni Center was once the home of Bradley President David Owen; University administrator A. G. “Frenchie” Haussler; and executive director of Housing, Residential Life and Student Judicial System, Emeritus, Ed King. The building also served as a faculty club prior to becoming the Alumni Center.

Although the campus will miss the beautiful old Tudor-style Alumni Center, everyone seems excited about work beginning on the $30-million dollar Markin Family Student Recreation Center. When completed, the 130,000-square-foot facility will include four basketball courts for intramural and recreational games, a championship basketball court, a 1/8-mile running/walking track, climbing wall, indoor pool, weight room, exercise rooms, and more.

Some of you may know that a few years after I founded Bradley, I provided a gift of $75,000 to build our first gymnasium, which also had a pool. That building is now Hartmann Center for the Performing Arts.

Other offices joining Alumni Relations in the newly remodeled Comstock include Alumni Publications (Hilltopics) and University Relations Graphic Design.