Submitted by Haidian-District t3_zhabrn in springfieldMO
What do locals think of Drury University and its students? Are they part of the cultural fabric of Springfield? If so, for better or for worse? What is do you think of academics at Drury? Do locals support its athletic teams? Etc.
Edit: Apparently I was thinking of Evangel. I evidently know nothing about Drury after living here for most of my adult life
The college athletic scene is pretty weak around here. I remember when I was a kid the Lady Bears women's college basketball team was a decent draw thanks to a local legend, but I haven't heard much about them in probably 10 years. MSU doesn't get much in the way of support outside of student families, and they are the 'large' college of the area
I believe Drury gets a fairly staunch set of supporters thanks to being a religious college (who would have guessed religious followers were fanatical?) which I suppose is good for the athletics, but from an educational standpoint I don't think anyone who holds a degree from Drury is held in super high regard. Especially in any of the sciences considering, again, the religious ties
I would say personally if a middle manager somewhere told me they got their degree from Drury I wouldn't be shocked. But if someone who was an expert in their field told me that I would be quite surprised
Went to Drury. Had a good time. Education quality was ok, I also went to MU and it was about the same there.
Drury is just a really small school. We called it Drury High as a joke because it wasnt much bigger than your average HS.
Community wise, sports wise, you're not going to get a lot. Sure there is school spirit and students faculty cheer on the teams but the broader community, not really.
It's just a big circle jerk, like most universities. I was also Greek so, double circle jerk and toss in a dutch rudder or two. It was great.
Went to Drury. 100% not a religious institution. Are you thinking of Evangel?
Oh yeah I believe you're right. I guess I know nothing about Drury. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing
Would also mention as far as neighborhood fabric, drury is a weird bubble surrounded by a sketch neighborhood. So long as you’re on campus, you’re fine but the farther you go east, west, or north, the more sketch it gets.
Drury is a private, liberal arts university with an undergrad pop. of <2,000. Missouri State, with it's 20K+ students, understandably gets the majority of the local attention.
Drury's men's and women's swimming and diving teams have won multiple Div II national championships since the late 90's. The men's basketball team won the Div II national title in 2013.
Education wise, it's widely regarded as one of the better liberal arts schools in the midwest.
It's small by university standards. Easy to miss it's there.
I thought Drury was a Christian school too.
Edit: their mission statement says church related... https://www.drury.edu/about/
As a local I'd say I'm neutral to positive about Drury. I don't think about it much beyond knowing it's one of the colleges we have in town, but the handful of friends and relatives I know that have gotten or are pursuing a degree there have all been pretty positive about the school.
I'm useless on the academics or athletics metric because I don't follow college sports and have no knowledge about how Drury stands up academically vs similar schools or even state schools like MSU.
The "church-related" descriptor is a left over from decades past. While I was there (early 2010s) Theology was not part of the curriculum like you would see at a religious school like Evangel or SBU.
I believe it was originally founded as a Christian college, but it's not that today.
I’ve lived in Springfield my entire life and just started attending Drury this semester at 26 years old. As far as being a part of the cultural fabric… it definitely doesn’t have the presence that MSU has. It’s kind of hidden away off of Chestnut with a very small student body. I see sports updates on the local news every so often, but that’s about it.
I never really heard anything negative about Drury until I started going there, and those comments were from current students. Drury is private, and growing up I always thought of it as “the rich kid school” (I come from a family with a very modest income). It is more expensive than MSU, and definitely more expensive than OTC, which I got my transfer degree from because of my financial situation.
When I decided to go back to school, and knew I’d have to take out student loans either way, I decided on Drury because of how small it is. The average class size is 13 which, for me, is really really nice.
Academically I think it’s a pretty good school, at least the Psych program (but the only point of reference I have is OTC, so keep that in mind). The behavioral sciences department head works really hard to find out what grad schools are looking for, and implements that into the curriculum and degree requirements. I really like it there, but as far as integration in the cultural fabric of Springfield… it just doesn’t have the community support and awareness that MSU and OTC have.
Would also add that it's Architecture school and Business school are up there with the same programs at the larger midwest schools.
Like you said, Drury has small class sizes, so you have more 1-to-1 interactions with your instructors. Definitely has it's benefits. The downside of Drury's small size is a smaller pool of programs/majors to choose from, and not all of the programs are as good as the two I listed above. As an example STEM programs were on the weaker side during my time there. Not bad, by any means, but you didn't have access to the expensive lab setups you'd get a large, state school.
I’m a Drury graduate, and as someone that has sampled all the universities in the area with the exception of Evangel, it is a great place to get a degree.
I felt that I was receiving the best education the area could provide, with much smaller class sizes than MSU which allowed for a more collaborative relationship with instructors and professors. At MSU, I felt like a number or cattle being herded through. They weren’t prioritizing my success. My advisor was awful.
The MSU campus is beautiful with all the bells and whistles of a modern university, but most of Drury’s money actually goes toward education and the quality of education…. And it shows. When I first began searching for the right college, I overlooked Drury due to MSU’s presence in the area, but I wish I hadn’t because it would’ve saved me a lot of time and money.
Yeah but lots of girls knew got robbed in the parking lots. So watch you back
I went to Drury and I know in some circles it is somewhat prestigious. I’ve been on hiring groups in education and we regularly hire Drury graduates knowing they’ve had a solid education and experience preparing them for the job.
Yes I forgot to mention their Architecture and Business school! Thank you for pointing that out. I agree wholeheartedly about the STEM programs
There is no practical affiliation with religion outside of it historically being religiously affiliated. As someone who went there, any religious aspect is purely historical. Maybe it's a tad more welcoming to religious folk who want a secular education, but while they still acknowledge that background it plays no impact in the curriculum or teaching.
I went to summerscape as a gifted kid, which was Dury's summer camp thing for middle school kids to take college-style mini classes and stay in the dorms.
That was really fun and I was heartbroken that I couldn't go to DLA (the high school equivalent) due to money.
Overall their summer progrms gave me a very positive perception of the school.
I honestly wanted to apply to go there for real, but cost wise it was just too much and the programs were too limited. I ended up with nearly a full ride in scholarships to MSU instead.
I did my masters at Drury and undergrad at MSU. I liked it a lot as a school and wish I had done my undergrad there too in hindsight. My brother did his undergrad there and absolutely loved the program and lived on campus all 4 years and had a good time. My only other thought is that maybe because of its size it does feel like its own world compared to the other colleges. The Drury students partied together and rarely ventured out downtown to the bars from what I ever knew.
I always love this question for a few reasons. I'm not from Springfield, but I moved here for college 13 years ago and have called it home ever since. I love it.
When I moved here, EVERYONE always "this is a college town" and I only thought people ate, slept, and breathed Missouri State. The entire 4 years I was in school, I never heard a word about Evangel or Drury. I worked at Bass Pro for 5 years. Never met anyone from Drury or Evangel there either.
I even went to Drury's Halloween parties twice. Never knew a soul (had a BLAST both times).
Anyway...
9 years post-grad and honestly I don't know a single "local" who k or cares a single thing about any if the colleges around here. I try to be involved with MSU as an alum but even I don't know or care about much of anything pertaining to it.
So, having that perspective on me, I still personally know very little about Drury or its culture aside from the fact that it's private and has a beautiful campus. I've PoGo'd there many times over the years. Aside from that? Yep... I know nothing.
My understanding is that it was originally affiliated with the Disciples of Christ churches.
For anyone looking in the future, almost no one at Drury pays full tution. Nearly every student gets robust scholarships outside or through the school.
Get good grades, save $1000/semester probably more.
Pay your fee, get your B. This is what I was told Drury was in a nutshell. Most of the locals I knew that went there were rich kids who didn’t want to leave town. That being said I have said heard more good things about the school than bad and know that their alumni are very proud and tight knit.
Thanks for this, I'll bring this up with my kiddo.
I went to the summer programs as well! and quite a few I knew from it ended up going to Drury for college, it’s such a small university that campus feels like its own little bubble.
I’m currently attending Drury University. I agree with the general consensus that Drury is a small school that isn’t a massive part of the Springfield.
I personally like the small size of the school both student population and campus. I kinda wish I went somewhere like MSU but Drury is also the only college I’ve ever attended so I’m only comparing Drury to what I think other colleges are like.
Overall Drury is a great college, especially if you play a sport or are in some club.
I emailed the university president prob a couple years ago…there are some great stations on the student level…and their radio station is worth keeping. Radio is all but a dead career but they provide a diff set of music generally. KMNR is legendary from Mo S and T in Rolla. Drury has a genre of music but KMNR gets wild hours of all kinds of stuff. KZ88 in Cabool and KDHX are also good indy stations. KEXP in Seattle is a good one too.
Yeah I think a quarter of the friends I made there (some of which I ended up talking to regularly, including my now-husband lolll) ended up going to Drury.
If nothing else, their youth programs are a fantastic advertisement 😂
They are expensive tuition wise. So…you had better know your funding ahead of time. They are private so there are no state funds subsidizing like at MSU or OTC.
They are on an island where they are but they physically and financially but clearly have a few thousand kids in the community. Most people who have been here will know about them as a name, very few will have sent kids there unless they are well off Southsiders or well off families from KC/STL, etc.
Their sports program, generally do well at the D2 level and you will frequently see on a ratio basis more Drury fans than MSU fans. The womens bb program has been basically top notch…an .833 winning percentage over 20ish years. Mens is not as good but has won a D2 national championship. Soccer is decent.
Good ole podunk Cabool, no hospital, colleges, or ambulance but a radio station.
Thank you. I love finding "new" music.
I don't know about south siders and kc/stl people but I grew up nearby and it was popular with central grads from my era. And now with their kids. Drury and CHS have some ties because of their proximity. Can't speak to their academics personally but my Rolla roommate did his pre engineering there and he was well prepared. They have a great radio station.
Not sure what you mean by on an island but they were always just part of the neighborhood.
TIL about the Dutch rudder
I'm sorry that you've been missing out.
Getting a rental car in Seattle was a peak moment for me to get KEXP straight from the tap
Pay your fees, get your Bs
It’s not a big school, but it has a great community. Everybody that goes to Drury really enjoys their time there. I wish I could go back
No problem. I graduated from there not craxy long ago. If you or your kids have any questions I'd be more than happy to answer what I know; feel free to DM if you like.
I went there for a year, the whole experience felt pretentious and I felt admins were too authoritative (students need to live in campus housing, no night classes for undergrads, to name a couple)
I think it’s great that Springfield is trying to become a college town. But we have a long way to go for it to really be that way.
ErisEpicene t1_izl5ydc wrote
I've only lived here for about a year, but I didn't know Drury was anything but a hotel >_>