Drury University

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Drury University is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Missouri. The university enrolls about 1,700 undergraduates, 3,000 adult part-time undergraduates and 400 graduate students in five master's programs. In total, its enrollment numbers at about 5,079 students.

[edit] History

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 1½ acres. Twenty-five years later the 40 acre campus included Stone Chapel, the President’s House and three academic buildings. Today, the university occupies a 115-acre (0.47 km²) campus, including the original historic buildings.

Drury College became Drury University on January 1, 2000.^[1] 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.^[2]

[edit] Religious affiliations

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.^[3] The religious foundation of the university still manifests itself in a faith community on campus.

[edit] Global Perspectives 21

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."^[4] 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 unite global cultures. This integrated program of study thus prepares students for meaningful and successful lives as persons and professionals."^[5]

[edit] Study Abroad

Although not directly tied to the GP21, 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.^[6]

[edit] Athletics

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.

After ending the program in the 1970s, Drury's Baseball team was reorganized for the 2007 season by Head Coach Mark Stratton. The 2007 team was composed mainly of freshman, with only two seniors (Tony Lewis and Brian York) on the roster. In the pre-season picks, Drury Baseball was picked to finish dead 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 two Great Lakes Intercollegiate Conference teams (Ashland and Saginaw Valley State, which out ranked the last seeded Drury) home to finish 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.

[edit] Famous alumni

• Bob Barker, former gameshow host and executive producer of The Price Is Right.
• Ernest R. Breech, Chairman of Ford Motor Company and Trans World Airlines.
• Charles H. Brown, member of the United States House of Representatives from 1957-1961.
• Dabbs Greer, actor
• Durward Hall, member of the United States House of Representatives from 1961-1973.
• Michael Mallory, author and journalist.
• Todd Parnell, banker and president of Drury University.
• James Edward Ruffin, member of the United States House of Representatives from 1933-1935.
• David E. Sweet, founding president of Metropolitan State University and later president of Rhode Island College,

[edit] Recent events

In 2005, Drury was one of 16 colleges and universities in the nation selected to participate 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 accepted a position as president of Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa. At that point in time Todd Parnell, member of Drury's Board of Trustees assumed the role of interim president until a new president was chosen.^[7]

On January 21st, 2008, Todd Parnell was named Drury's 16th President.

[edit] Greek Organizations

Drury currently has four sororities and four fraternities.

• Delta Delta Delta
• Kappa Delta
• Pi Beta Phi
• Zeta Tau Alpha
• Kappa Alpha
• Lambda Chi Alpha (Website)
• Sigma Nu
• Sigma Pi

[edit] References

• Drury University. "Drury's Accolades", Drury University, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-05-16. 
• Drury University. "Drury History", Drury University, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-05-16. 

[edit] External links

• Official website