PITTSBURG, Kan. The story behind the gift was as great as the gift itself, one supporter of Pittsburg State University noted after a ceremony Tuesday in which an alumnus gave $1 million to the Department of Nursing.

Dr. Fay Bradley, a 1960 PSU graduate who at one point had all but given up his hope of going on to medical school, returned to campus to present the largest gift made to a department.

At the same time, university officials announced that the department had been elevated to the rank of a school, making it one of three schools on campus. It is now the Irene Ransom Bradley School of Nursing, named in honor of Bradleys mother.

In 1919, she began working as a domestic in a private home in Independence, making $3.50 a week, and did not complete high school. Neither did Bradleys father, Henry. Her opportunities for education and employment at that time were limited by the fact that she was black, her son noted.

Four of their children, however, including Fay Bradley, earned college degrees. Fay Bradley also was well-known during his stint at PSU as a champion hurdler on the track team. After graduation, he was drafted by the Army and served at Fort Benning, Ga. He said after the ceremony Tuesday that he wanted to go on to medical school, but doors didnt open the way he hoped.

I didnt have a very good reference, he said. I had to just go out and find my way.

He gave up hope at one point, he said, but after working for a hospital from the mid to late 1960s, he unexpectedly landed a scholarship to law school, completed his course of studies and began working for Freedmens Hospital at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Thats the hospital that served slaves when they sought freedom, Bradley said.

He said that while working there, he was approached by a physician who asked if he could help get him into medical school; the physician was on the schools admissions board.

I had tried for seven years, Bradley said. In 1970, his dream came true.

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Alumnus donates $1 million for nursing program at PSU