Drake University is a private, co-educational university located in the city of
Des Moines, Iowa. The institution offers a number of undergraduate and graduate
programs, as well as professional programs in law and pharmacy.
Today, Drake is one of the twenty-five oldest law schools in the country. Distinguished alumni include Dwight D. Opperman, former CEO of West Publishing Company, after whom Drake's law library was named;
Neal Smith, who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1959
until 1995; and Terry Edward Branstad, a former
four-term Republican Governor of Iowa, who served from 1983 until 1999. The University approved a new Master building plan on June 25,
2005, calling for extensive renovations of existing facilities and the construction of several
large buildings, including a new first year student residence hall, science building, fine
arts building, and multi-purpose learning center.
History
The institution was founded in 1881, when most of the staff of Oskaloosa College left that college to establish what would become Drake University, founded by
Francis Marion Drake, a resident of Centerville, Iowa and Governor of Iowa (1896–1898). The
university's law school, the oldest law school in the country west of the Mississippi River,
was established in 1865 by Chester C. Cole[1], who served on the Iowa Supreme Court
from 1864 to 1876. In 1969 Drake's basketball team went to the Final
Four under coach Maurice John, but were defeated by the UCLA
Bruins by three points. Drake did defeat the North Carolina Tarheels by 20
points in the third place game.
On September 17, 1969 the Drake student newspaper, The
Times-Delphic, published what appears to be the first documented account of the famous Paul is
dead hoax, written by Tim Harper. No articles published prior to this piece about the supposed death of Paul McCartney are known, although fellow Times-Delphic reporter and musician Dartanyan Brown, one
of the sources for the article, recalled hearing about the hoax from other musicians and reading about it in some underground
newspapers.
From its founding in 1881, Drake University maintained a nominal affiliation with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) although no religious affiliation is
officially recognized today.
Colleges
The University is made up of the following colleges:
College of Arts & Sciences
Majors offered: Biology, Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular
Biology (BCMB), Chemistry, Computer Science,
Economics, English, Environmental Policy,
Environmental Science, Ethics, Fine Art, Graphic
Design, History, International Relations, Law, Politics, and Society (LPS),
Mathematics, Mathematics Education (Secondary), Neuroscience, Physics,Politics, Astronomy, Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Philosophy,
Rhetoric, Writing and Religion.
College of Business & Public Administration (CBPA)
Majors offered: Accounting, Actuarial
Science, Economics, Entrepreneurial Management, Finance, General Business, Information Systems, International Business, Marketing, Management, Quantitative Economics
Graduate programs: Master of Accountancy, MBA, MPA
- Distinguished Faculty:
School of Education
Majors offered: Special education, Secondary education, Elementary education
School of Journalism & Mass Communication (SJMC)
Majors offered: Advertising, Electronic
Media, Magazines, News-Internet, Public Relations, [[JMC/Law 3+3]], Broadcast News
The School of Journalism and Mass Communication is also home to 94.1 The Dog, which operates under the call letters KDRA-LP
FM. The station launched in August 2006 after having existed as an internet station, KDCS Bulldog Radio. 94.1 The Dog is
broadcast at 80 watts from a tower atop Meredith Hall, the home of Drake's SJMC. An agreement with the FCC allows Drake to utilize the frequency from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. weekdays and all day
Saturday, while Grand View College controls the frequency the rest of the week under
the call letters KGVC-LP. Drake students schedule 24 hours of programming under "The Dog," broadcasting online and on channel 12
on closed-circuit television on campus even when not broadcasting on the frequency.
School of Law
Drake's law school is one of the twenty-five oldest law schools in the nation, tracing its history to 1865. It is a charter
member of the American Association of Law Schools, has been accredited since 1923 when accreditation first began, and is one of
only seventy-five ABA-approved law schools to have a Chapter of Order of the Coif. Drake University Law School is home to the
American Judicature Society, the archives of the National Bar Association, the nation's oldest and largest national association
of predominately African-American lawyers and judges, and the Drake Constitutional Law Center, which is one of only four
constitutional law programs established by the U.S. Congress and funded by the federal government. The Center's mission is to
foster in-depth study of the United States Constitution. A significant aspect
of the Center's activities is the Dwight D. Opperman Lecture series, an annual event of national importance in constitutional
law.
Several Supreme Court Justices have visited campus to deliver
lectures on American juris prudence. Numerous current and former United States Supreme Court Justices have delivered the Opperman
Lecture, including Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Justice
Stephen Breyer, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor,
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, and late Justices Harry A.
Blackmun, Lewis F. Powell and William H. Rehnquist. The 2007 graduate schools edition of U.S. News ranks the law school as Tier 3.
College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
The 2007 edition of U.S. News best
graduate programs ranks Drake's College of Pharmacy the #46 out of 57 pharmacy schools in the United States. Alumni donations run
deep at this Midwestern private institution. In 2005, Former Walgreen's Chairman and CEO Dan
Jorndt, donated $10 million to his alma mater.
Majors offered: Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD.) and Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences (BSPS)
Housing
The University provides the following on-campus living accommodations for undergraduate students:
- Stalnaker Hall (Freshmen only)
- Carpenter Hall (Freshmen only)
- Herriott Hall (Freshmen only)
- Crawford Hall (Freshmen only)
- Morehouse
- Jewett Hall
- Goodwin-Kirk Hall
- Ross Hall
Drake University and Hubbell Realty leaders announced plans on July 20, 2006 for a
$34-million housing and retail development at 30th Street and Carpenter Avenue.
The development will create 7,000 feet of retail space for street-level neighborhood businesses and upper floors for
state-of-the-art student suites. The buildings will house up to 500 students.
Current design calls for a mix of one-, two- and four-bedroom units, where each student has a private bedroom and shares a
common living and kitchen space. The housing will be targeted primarily at junior and senior undergraduate students and graduate
students in the pharmacy program or the Drake Law School. The housing should be available for students in Fall of
2008.
Student organizations
Drake features over 100 student organizations in which to participate, which include:
Academic
|
Cultural/social
|
Religious
|
Greek life
Social fraternities/sororities
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated
|
Honorary/professional/service fraternities
|
Athletics
NCAA sports
-
Drake student-athletes compete in NCAA Division I in the Missouri Valley
Conference in all sports except football. In football, Drake competes in the
Division I-AA Pioneer Football
League.
Drake Relays
-
Drake University also hosts the Drake Relays during April. This track and field event has been held since 1910, and is the second-largest collegiate track
and field event in the United States. Participants come from all over the world to compete in this three-day event, which also
helps to draw large crowds of spectators to Des Moines. Many Olympic athletes can be found participating in these events, which
commonly break national and world records.
Students kick-off the Relays in the annual tradition of Street Painting, in which student organizations colorfully
decorate areas of Carpenter Avenue near the center of campus under a common theme. Des Moines police officers are often present
to pretend to "strictly enforce the law". The theme in 2007 was "The Legacy Lives On"—referencing the $15 million renovation of
Drake Stadium. Streaking the street painting was an annual occurrence for a period in the
mid-1990s and has occasionally occurred in a few years following.
Rankings
Drake University advanced to seventh in the "Great Schools, Great Prices" rankings and gained sole possession of fourth place
in the overall rankings of 142 Midwest Universities - Master's category published by U.S. News and World Report magazine in the
2007 edition of "America's Best Colleges."
Last year Drake ranked eighth in the "Great Schools, Great Prices" category. The rankings are based on a formula that relates
a school's academic quality, as indicated by its U.S. News ranking, to the net cost of attendance for a student who receives the
average level of need-based financial aid. "The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal,"
according to the magazine.
Drake continues to be ranked No. 2 in reputation for academic quality (peer assessment). It has the highest ranking in its
category of any Iowa college or university. Drake improved in several areas this year, including student/faculty ratio, average
freshmen retention rate and freshmen in the top 25 percent of their high school class.[1]
Notable alumni
- Steve Allen, comedian
- John August, screenwriter
- Terry E. Branstad, former and longest serving Governor of Iowa
- Johnny Bright, member of the College and Canadian Football Hall of
Fame
- Bill Bryson, author
- George A. Cohon, Founder of McDonald's Restaurants
of Canada Limited and McDonald's in Russia.
- Chet Culver, current Governor of Iowa
- Billy Cundiff, NFL placekicker
- Laurie Dann, murderer
- Mark Doty, poet
- Michael Emerson, Emmy winning actor, plays Ben
Linus on the television show Lost.
- Bridget Flanery, actress
- Zach Johnson, PGA
golfer, 2007 Masters champion
- Emma Verona Johnston, oldest living American until May 2004
- Al McCoy, sports broadcaster, voice of the Phoenix Suns
- Sherrill Milnes, baritone
- Clark R. Mollenhoff, Pulitzer Prize
winning journalist
- Dwight D. Opperman, former CEO of West Publishing Company
- Jeremy Piven, actor (Ari from Entourage)
- Robert D. Ray, former Governor of Iowa
- Sara Taylor, former Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Political Affairs
in the George W. Bush administration
- Fred L. Turner, former Chairman of McDonald's
- Sam Wanamaker, actor
- Brian Wansink -- Cornell University Professor and author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think
- Roger Williams, musician and composer
- David L. Wolper, television and film producer
- Felix Wright, former CFL and
NFL safety
References
External links
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