Drake University

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,[3] 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.