| Drury University | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Established | 1873 |
| Type | Private University |
| Religious affiliation | Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) |
| Endowment | $67.6 million[1] |
| President | Todd Parnell |
| Students | ~5,474 [2] |
| Undergraduates | ~1,560 |
| Postgraduates | ~3,914 |
| Location | Springfield, MO, USA |
| Campus | Urban, 88 acres (35.6 ha) |
| Colors | Scarlet and Grey |
| Mascot | Panther |
| Website | www.drury.edu |
Drury University is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Missouri. The university enrolls about 1,550 undergraduates, over 2,000 adult part-time undergraduates and around 400 graduate students in six master's programs. In total, its enrollment numbers at about 3,550 students.
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Drury was founded as Springfield College in 1873 by Congregationalist church missionaries in the mold of other Congregationalist universities such as Dartmouth College and Yale University. Rev. Nathan Morrison, Samuel Drury, and James and Charles Harwood provided the school's initial endowment and organization; Samuel Drury's gift was the largest of the group and the school was soon renamed in honor of Drury's recently deceased son.
The early curriculum emphasized educational, religious and musical strengths. Students came to the new college from a wide area, including the Indian Territories of Oklahoma. The first graduating class included four women.
When classes began in 1873, they were held in a single building on a campus occupying less than 11⁄2 acres (0.61 ha). Twenty-five years later the 40-acre (16.2 ha) campus included Stone Chapel, the President’s House and three academic buildings. Today, the university occupies a 115-acre (46.5 ha) campus, including the original historic buildings.
Drury College became Drury University on January 1, 2000.[3] In addition to the academic programs of the early years, Drury students today study in the Breech School of Business Administration, the Hammons School of Architecture, and the departments of education, mathematics and sciences, social sciences, exercise and sport science. The list of majors and minors at Drury has also grown and now includes high tech studies in computer science, computer information systems and e-commerce.
The College of Graduate and Continuing Studies serves nearly three thousand students in Springfield and at nine branch campuses.[3]
On April 28, 1960, Drury College was the setting for an episode of NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. Tennessee Ernie Ford sang his trademark "Sixteen Tons" and the hymn "Take My Hand, Precious Lord".[4]
Drury is an independent, church-related university, grounded in the liberal arts tradition, and committed to personalized education in a community of scholars who value the arts of teaching and learning. Education at Drury seeks:
Since its founding, Drury has been affiliated with the Congregationalist church and its successor, the United Church of Christ. It has also been affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) since the founding of the Drury School of Religion in 1909.[6] The religious foundation of the university still manifests itself in a faith community on campus.
The Global Perspectives 21 (GP21) program is an interdisciplinary curriculum "designed to prepare students for the 21st century by providing the breadth of understanding and skills needed in our rapidly changing global society."[7] A practical benefit of the program is that all traditional Drury day students receive a minor in Global Studies for completing their general education requirements.
Drury explains the program in this way: "The GP21 program is rooted in the liberal arts and thus helps develop the knowledge and skills associated with a bachelor’s degree. Students develop their reading, writing, and oral communication skills. They extend their abilities to think critically and creatively and to solve problems. They explore values and ethical issues in many ways and develop a deeper awareness of what divides and unites global cultures. This integrated program of study thus prepares students for meaningful and successful lives as persons and professionals."[7]
Although not directly tied to the GP21 curriculum, Drury's study abroad program is an integral part of the college experience. Almost half of the student body studies overseas at some point in short-term, semester, or year-long programs. Foreign learning is a requirement for most students with majors in the schools of Business and Architecture.
Drury also maintains a satellite campus in Volos, Greece, that is home to several of the university's most distinctive courses. Though the Center is quite popular with architecture students, it is attended by students across disciplines and majors.[8]
The school was a founding member of the Heartland Conference. In the Fall of 2005, the Drury Panthers joined the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Drury sponsors NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletic teams in men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's tennis, men's baseball, women's softball, and women's volleyball.
Baseball, in hiatus since the 1970s, was reorganized for the 2007 season by new Head Coach Mark Stratton. The 2007 team was composed mainly of freshmen, with two seniors (Tony Lewis and Brian York) on the roster. In the pre-season picks, Drury Baseball was picked to finish last in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. However, the Drury Panther Baseball team won a bid into their conference tournament. They took this opportunity, and went undefeated to become the 2007 Great Lakes Valley Conference Champions. This gave them an automatic bid into the NCAA Division-II tournament. While they eventually were defeated by Grand Valley State (ranked 6th in the nation), the Drury Panthers sent home two Great Lakes Intercollegiate Conference teams (Ashland and Saginaw Valley State, which out ranked the last seeded Drury), and finished third in the NCAA Division-II Regional. Tony Lewis was the recipient of the Rawlings Golden Glove Award. Lewis and Joe Rohlfing were named to the All-Tournament team for the NCAA Division-II North Central Regional. Drury ended the season going 33-24.
Drury men's swimming head coach Brian Reynolds was recently inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
In 2005, Drury was one of 16 colleges and universities in the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) project “Shared Futures: General Education for Global Learning,” which focuses on linking the liberal arts to global issues. In the same year John Sellars was appointed president.
On April 23, 2007 Drury's 15th president, John Sellars, resigned effective May 31, 2007. He later was named president of Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa. Alumnus Todd Parnell, a member of Drury's Board of Trustees, assumed the role of interim president.[9]
On January 21, 2008, Todd Parnell was named Drury's 16th president.
Drury currently has four sororities and four fraternities.
Sororities:
Fraternities:
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