ABOUT DRAKE
History & Traditions
The things we do define us. And with more than 125 years behind us, we've developed a few collective habits that really capture our spirit. Whether formal or impromptu, decades-old or more recent, these traditions exemplify the Drake spirit of excellence, ingenuity, creativity and fun.
Maybe you'll start the next great Drake tradition...
Street Painting
Students kick-off the Relays with the annual tradition of Street Painting, in which student organizations colorfully decorate areas of Carpenter Avenue (and each other). Streaking through the painted crowd became a tradition early on and has been known to still occur occasionally. Recently the tradition of street painting has spread to the downtown area as local business and alums painted sections of the sidewalk along Historic Court Avenue.
Hubbelling
For decades now students have taken advantage of the Iowa winters (or spring mud) and the slick food trays from Hubbell Dining Hall to enjoy impromptu sledding trips on hills by the quads. Though the trays are no longer available, the tradition continues with sleds, pieces of cardboard, garbage bags and anything else that slides.
Drake Relays
Every year since 1910 the greatest track and field athletes in the world have descended on Drake University at the end of April for the Drake Relays — America's Athletic Classic. Thousands of fans flock to the perennially sold-out event each year to enjoy carnivals, reunions and amazing food and drink from area businesses in addition to the great competition. Jesse Owens set records here. Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson are past crowd favorites, and LoLo Jones has been a recent participant among many, many others.
Kissing Rock
Young couples used to meet at night on a large stone beneath the Chancellor's Elm — the towering tree George Carpenter once climbed and proclaimed "Here, we will build our University." Receiving a kiss from your loved one on this rock was a rite of passage for many students until the tree suffered from disease and was cut down in 1969. Though it may seem a quaint tradition to some now, the memories remain. And so does the rock, which still serves as a meeting spot for a surprising number of late night passersby.
Beautiful Bulldog contest
For more than 30 years bulldog owners from around the country have gathered in Des Moines for Drake's annual Beautiful Bulldog contest. Hundreds of bulldogs attempt to get a spot each year of the contest, which is limited to 50 contestants. The dogs are judged by a celebrity panel and the winner earns a key to the city of Des Moines and the honor of serving as the official mascot of the Drake Relays.
History Timeline
1881
The first classes convene in the fall with 77 students and one building, Student's Home.
1883
The first permanent building, Old Main, is completed.
1885
Baseball becomes the University's first varsity sport, followed by football and track.
1886
Drake's first international students enroll for classes and come to Des Moines from China, Persia, Armenia and Japan.
1903
Civil War general and Drake University's namesake Francis Marion Drake dies.
1904
Drake's first football field, Haskins Field, opens on October 11 with a 17-0 loss to Iowa.
1905
Drake women organize a basketball team. Mary Carpenter, the first Dean of Women, later bans the team as "not appropriate for women."
1908
The first campus library opens on June 16.
The athletic teams receive 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.
1910
The first Drake Relays is held in a blizzard with fewer than 100 participants.
1912
Drake's first homecoming takes place with a barbecue and circus.
1920
Thanks to a housing crisis, the University allows social fraternities to use Greek letter emblems and affiliate with national offices.
1922
Daniel W. Morehouse, an astronomer who discovered a comet in 1908, is named acting president and given the full position the following year.
1928
On October 6, Drake defeats Simpson College 41-6 in what is believed to be the first night football game west of the Mississippi.
1931
The women's dorm opens – the first on-campus student residence built since 1881.
1935
Jesse Owens sets an American broad jump record (26-1-3/4) at the Drake Relays.
1937
Ground is broken on commencement day for Cowles Library.
1939
New men's dorm completed which includes a student union dubbed "The Kennel." The new center permits smoking, the first official campus recognition of the "new fad."
1941
Henry Gadd Harmon is named the seventh president of the University and serves 23 years, the longest tenure of any Drake president.
1951
On October 20, Drake All-American running back Johnny Bright is injured in what Pulitzer-Prize winning photographs in The Des Moines Register prove was an intentional attack on the African American student-athlete. Drake withdraws from the Missouri Valley Conference in protest at the lack of disciplinary action taken against those responsible.
1963
Kirk Residence Hall, the largest residence hall on campus, opens.
1965
Meredith Hall opens, providing welcome space for the College of Liberal Arts and the School of Journalism.
1969
For the only time, the Drake Men's basketball team reaches the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. Top-seeded UCLA and its 7-foot megastar Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) barely escape an upset in the national semifinals, 85-82.
1970
During the height of nationwide student protests, a bomb explodes inside Harvey Ingham Hall. No one is injured, but windows are shattered in nearby Meredith, Fitch and Herriott halls. Ingham is decimated, but repaired.
1972
The new Harmon Fine Arts Center, the largest building on campus, gives the University a modern performing arts facility.
1974
Olmsted Center opens.
1974
Nearly 70 years after a women's basketball team was abolished, the University establishes a Department of Women's Intercollegiate Athletics.
1981
Senior Lewis Lloyd, the nation's second-leading scorer in Division I men's basketball, is named a first-team All-American. Drafted by the Houston Rockets, Lloyd goes on to an eight-year NBA career.
1982
In the first year of the NCAA women's basketball tournament, Drake comes one step away from the Final Four, losing to Maryland 89-78 despite 50 points from sophomore Lorri Bauman.
1985
In the final meeting between the two schools, Drake's football team upsets Iowa State 20-17.
1992
The William A. Knapp Center opens as home to the men's and women's basketball teams. It contains four racquetball courts, five basketball and volleyball courts, a 200-meter track and a weight training center.
1994
"Nightline" broadcasts from Shelsow Auditorium on the Drake campus. Ted Koppel and guests discuss the press' handling of the Whitewater investigation of President Bill Clinton.
1996
President Bill Clinton meets with work-study students and addresses a packed crowd at the Knapp Center. It's the first presidential visit since Harry Truman's appearance in 1948.
1998
Former Governor of Iowa Robert D. Ray, a Drake graduate, is appointed the University's 11th president.
1999
Dr. David Maxwell succeeds Ray, becoming the University's 12th president.
2000
Drake senior Jason Lehmkuhle earns All-American honors at the NCAA Indoor Track Championships on March 9.
2001
Billy Cundiff, who set 15 school and Pioneer League kicking records, is drafted by the NFL's Dallas Cowboys. As a rookie, he leads the Cowboys with 61 points including 12 of 19 field goal attempts.
2003
The women's basketball team reaches the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament before bowing out to South Carolina 79-68.
2004
Seeking the names of protestors at an Iowa National Guard base, federal prosecutors subpoena Drake records then withdraw the subpoenas a week later in the face of a worldwide outcry.
The oldest living American, Drake graduate Verona Johnston (class of 1912), celebrates her 114th birthday which is attended by Drake dignitaries.
2007
Drake hosts the Republican and Democratic candidates for president in debates broadcast nationally on ABC.
2008
The men's basketball team earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament with a school best 28-5 record. The team won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles. The team lost in the first round of the tournament in overtime, 101-99, on a 26-foot buzzer beater from Western Kentucky.2009
Lindsay Whorton, a standout basketball player with a perfect academic record, is one of 32 Americans selected as a Rhodes Scholar. She is Drake's first Rhodes Scholar in 82 years.Drake celebrates the 100th running of the Drake Relays and names Michael Johnson and Gwen Torrence Athletes of the Century in a ceremony at Drake Stadium.
