Pictured above second-year student pharmacist Rachel Dietz administers a COVID-19 vaccine at The Harkin Institute. Throughout the pandemic, Drake’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences students have had the unique opportunity to administer the COVID-19 vaccine in partnership with Drake University pharmacy faculty and Hy-Vee.

Drake University is one of the nation’s top schools for undergraduate participation in study abroad among doctorate granting universities, listed at #17 by the “Open Doors” 2021 report released by the Institute of International Education. Whether studying in Spain, interning in Dubai, teaching English in Chile, or shadowing a health professional in India, Drake is preparing students to become catalysts for intercultural understanding and global change.

“We are committed to our city, we are committed to our neighborhood, and we are putting our resources and our competencies to work in a way that is going to lift up the lives of the children of the Drake Neighborhood and their families.” — Drake University President Marty Martin upon the opening of the Gregory & Suzie Glazer Burt Club on Aug. 23, 2019.

Located on the southwest corner of 25th Street and Forest Avenue, the Gregory & Suzie Glazer Burt Club is only the second Boys & Girls Club in the nation located on a private college or university campus. In addition to providing kids and teens in our community with a safe, supportive place to be after school and during the summer, the Club provides numerous educational and service opportunities for Drake students and further integrates the University with the surrounding neighborhood.

The Office of Information Technology Services is committed to providing Drake University with a robust and connected technology environment. The residence hall Wi-Fi network received a major upgrade with a new design and hundreds of wireless access points added to ensure full coverage in every room. Our robust infrastructure also continues to outperform our targets; since the beginning of 2021, critical systems have been available more than 99.7% of all hours and have exceeded performance targets more than 99.9% of the time.

Drake alumnus John Lorentzen, BN ’77, AS ’77, and spouse Penney Fillmer challenged Drake University in late 2017 to increase its commitment to sustainable practices. Responding to the challenge, Drake’s Facilities Planning and Management team identified several projects that would reduce the University’s carbon footprint and save Drake more than $40,000 annually in energy costs. These projects included a new lighting system in the Knapp Center, the installation of LED lights across campus, and solar panels on the Tennis Center, which are scheduled to be installed this summer. Thanks to a generous matching gift from the Lorentzen’s and support from alumni and friends, Drake fully secured the funds needed to make these projects a reality. As a result of this shared vision, Drake is one step closer toward achieving its carbon reduction goal.

With the installation of solar panels on the Tennis Center, free bus passes for campus members, a bicycle library, car-sharing program, compost programs for food and yard waste, and academic programs such as Environmental Science and Policy and the internationally-recognized Agricultural Law Center, it’s no wonder that Drake met its 25% carbon reduction goal two years ahead of schedule. In 2007, Drake signed onto the President’s Climate Commitment, pledging to become carbon neutral by 2050. The University’s first quantitative goal on its path to meeting this pledge was a 25% reduction by 2020, which it met in 2018.

Brent and Diane Slay partnered with Drake to create the Slay Fund for Social Justice, which is directed by Professor Renee Cramer. This is the first formal organization on campus dedicated to social justice issues. The Slay’s generosity has provided numerous students with experiential learning opportunities and connected Drake with Des Moines community non-profit agencies. Through support from the Slay’s, Law Professor Brent Pattison was awarded a grant to support an innovative project called #KnowJustice, in which Drake Law School students teach in-need youth about their civil liberties through art. Volunteers from the Drake Law School Legal Clinic facilitate workshops on school policies, juvenile courts, and immigration, and encourage the children to express themselves and illustrate their understanding of what they learned through art.

One of the things that makes Drake so special is its culture of service. According to the University’s most recent community impact report, about 80 percent of undergraduate students engage in community service by the time they graduate. Next Course Food Recovery Network, a student-led organization on campus, works in partnership with Eat Greater Des Moines’ Move the Food Program to recover and distribute left over food from Hubbell Dinning Hall to local shelters and pantries. Since the group’s conception in 2014, more than 27,000 pounds of food have been donated, which would have otherwise been thrown away.

Drake University’s Annual Economic Impact

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Bulldogs help drive the Des Moines metro area economy. According to a Drake-commissioned study by Impact DataSource, University spending per year totals $413.5 million, student spending totals $55.2 million, visitor spending totals nearly $15 million, and central Iowa alumni spending totals $2 billion.