Drury University

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 . 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 as Drury College in honor of Drury's recently deceased son on December 10, 1874. 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 1 + 1 ⁄ 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. [ 7 ] Religious affiliations Drury was founded by Congregationalist missionaries and remains affiliated with 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. [ 8 ]

2024–present: Jeff Frederick [ 3 ] 2023–2024: John Beuerlein [ 9 ] 2016–2023: J. Timothy Cloyd [ 10 ] 2013–2016: David Manuel [ 11 ] 2007–2013: Todd Parnell 2005–2007: John Sellars 1983–2004: John E. Moore Jr. 1981–1983: Norman C. Crawford Jr. 1977–1980: John M. Bartholomy 1971–1976: William Edward Everheart 1968–1970: Alfred O. Canon 1964–1967: Earnest Brandenburg 1940–1963: James F. Findlay 1917–1939: Thomas Nadal 1913–1916: J.J. McMurtry 1907–1913: Joseph Henry George 1905–1907: J. Edward Kirbye 1893–1905: Homer T. Fuller 1888–1892: Francis T. Ingalls 1873–1885: Nathan J. Morrison

Drury is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission . [ 12 ] The university offers 54 undergraduate majors [ 13 ] and several professional degrees through the Hammons School of Architecture, Breech School of Business Administration, and School of Education & Child Development. Drury is a residential university. Full-time students live on campus until they reach the age of 21, unless they meet specific criteria to be exempt from the housing policy. Study abroad Almost half of the student body studies overseas at some point in short-term, semester, or year-long programs. [ 5 ] Foreign learning is a requirement for most students with majors in the schools of Business and Architecture. Drury maintained a satellite campus in Aegina , Greece. The center closed in May 2021. [ 14 ] [ 15 ]

Main article: Drury Panthers Drury's NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletic teams compete in men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's Track and Field, [ 16 ] 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, men's wrestling, women's softball, women's volleyball, men's bowling, and women's bowling, women's triathlon and soon to be men's triathlon. The school was a founding member of the Heartland Conference . In the fall of 2005, the Drury Panthers joined the Great Lakes Valley Conference .