Drake University Informations

Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. The institution offers undergraduate and graduate programs including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the twenty-five oldest in the country.

Drake University was founded in 1881 by George T. Carpenter, a teacher and preacher, and Francis Marion Drake, a Union General in the Civil War. Drake was originally affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) although no religious affiliation is officially recognized today. The first classes convened in 1881 with 77 students and one building constructed, Student's Home.

In 1883 the first permanent building, Old Main, was completed. Old Main remains an important building on campus, housing administration offices, Levitt Hall, and Sheslow Auditorium; site of many United States Presidential Debates among other events. The university's law school, the second oldest law school in the country west of the Mississippi River after Saint Louis University School of Law, was established in 1865 by Chester C. Cole, who served on the Iowa Supreme Court from 1864 to 1876. Drake's first international students enrolled for classes in 1886 coming from China, Persia, Armenia, and Japan. The first campus library opened on June 16, 1908. In 1920, due to a housing crisis, the University allowed social fraternities to use Greek letter emblems and affiliate with national offices.

Drake's law school, one of the twenty-five oldest law schools in the nation, traces its history to 1865. It is a charter member of the Association of American Law Schools, has been accredited since 1923 when accreditation began, and is one of only seventy-five ABA-approved law schools with 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, one of only four constitutional law programs established by the U.S. Congress and funded by the federal government.

In 1887, the Iowa College of Pharmacy affiliated with Drake University and operated as one of the colleges of the University until 1906 when it was discontinued. Drake was without a pharmacy school until 1939, when the Des Moines College of Pharmacy Corporation, which separated from Des Moines University in 1927, was dissolved and the college's staff and facilities became part of Drake University.

In 1931, the first on-campus student residence built since the university's founding opened—the women's dormitory. In 1937, ground was broken on commencement day for Cowles Library, which is now the university's primary library. 1939 saw a new men's dorm completed which included a student union dubbed "The Kennel". In 1963, Kirk Residence Hall opened, with Meredith Hall opening in 1965, opening the door for the College of Liberal Arts and the School of Journalism. During the height of nationwide student protests in 1970, a bomb exploded inside Harvey Ingham Hall. No one was injured, but windows were shattered in nearby Meredith, Fitch and Herriott halls. Ingham was decimated, but repaired. The largest building on campus, the Harmon Fine Arts Center, opened in 1972 with the Olmsted Center, Drake's student union building, opening in 1974.

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. 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.

In 1992, the Knapp Center opened as home to the men's and women's basketball teams along with the women's volleyball team. It contains four racquetball courts, five basketball and volleyball courts, a 200-meter track and a weight training center. The facility hosted President Bill Clinton in 1996.

In September 2010, Drake launched the distinctlyDrake Campaign to meet the goals of "attracting and empowering the best and brightest students through $50 million for scholarship endowment, attracting and retaining the finest teachers, mentors and scholars through 26 endowed faculty positions at $26 million to $50 million, improving and enhancing physical facilities, technology and resources on campus through $50 million to $85 million worth of capital upgrades, broadening perspectives through innovative and expanded interdisciplinary centers through $15 million to $18 million investments, and build on collective financial strength through the Drake Fund through $3.5 million to $4 million per year". When the campaign concluded in 2015, $216,014,522 had been raised towards these efforts.

In 2013, Drake University became the home of The Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement.

The University consists of six colleges:

Drake features over 160 student organizations in which to participate, which include several fraternities and sororities.

The School of Journalism and Mass Communication's (SJMC) magazine program has achieved national prominence. The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (ACEJMC) team that visited in 1999 called the SJMC a "real standout" and termed Drake's Magazines program the strongest undergraduate sequence in the country. In 2007, Drake student magazines THiNK and 515 won Pacemaker Awards.

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 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allows Drake to utilize the frequency from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. weekdays and all day Saturday, while Grand View University controls the frequency the rest of the week under the call letters KGVC-LP. Drake students schedule 24 hours of programming, broadcasting online and on channel 12 on closed-circuit television on campus even when not broadcasting over the air.

Drake student-athletes compete in NCAA Division I in the Missouri Valley Conference in all sports except football, Men's Tennis and Women's Rowing. In Football, Drake competes in the FCS NCAA Division I Pioneer Football League. In Women's Rowing, Drake competes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. In Men's Tennis, Drake competes in the Summit League

Drake has an extensive sports history.

In 1885, baseball became the University's first varsity sport, followed by football and track.

In 1904, Drake organized a women's basketball team, but Mary Carpenter, the first Dean of Women, banned the team as "not appropriate" for women.

Also in 1904, the athletic teams received their nickname of Bulldogs from a sportswriter who noticed that John L. Griffith, who coached every sport, was bringing his pet bulldogs to the practice fields. The teams had previously been known as the Ducklings and Ganders.

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