Drake University
EN-3: Student Life

Drake Environmental Action League (DEAL) DEAL is a group of students committed to increasing awareness and sustainability on Drake's campus, in the community and beyond. They plan different events that aim to educate and involve students on Drake's campus in relation to environmental issues. They also actively work try to create meaningful changes to Drake's campus by actively working with other student organizations as well as faculty and staff to make Drake more sustainable. Drake Outdoor Leadership Club (DOLC) Drake Outdoor Leadership Clubs fosters environmental stewardship and appreciation for the outdoors through various outdoor recreation activities and service projects. Next Course Food Recovery Network Next Course Food Recovery Network works to donate unserved food from the dining halls to local shelters in the city and educates about food security and access. Community Action Board (CAB) CAB is a student-run organization that seeks to engage students in meaningful service and collaborative initiatives that inspire them to strengthen relationships with the communities of which they are a part of. The organization values streamlined dialogue with round tables that include service chairs from student organizations and members from the community. They also send regular newsletters with volunteering opportunities and community successes. UNITY Roundtable UNITY Roundtable is a group of multicultural organizations working towards inclusion and educational opportunities amongst them and the Drake community through dialogue and programming.

Sprout Garden The Sprout Garden is a community garden for neighborhood residents to grow and harvest food and learn about local food growth.

Earth Week and Earth Jam is hosted every year by Drake Environmental Action League (DEAL) and includes speakers and dialogues revolving around the environment and sustainability.

The Anderson Gallery was established in 1996 as a dedicated space for the exploration of contemporary art and design. Additionally, the gallery hosts curated exhibitions of historically significant work, as well as annual showcases of student work from the Department of Art and Design. The gallery recently presented a cultural exhibition, Our Town: Reclaiming the Narrative curated by Lenore Metrick-Chen, professor of art and cultural history, and students in the professor’s Black Americans and Photography course. “The exhibit centers on the idea of individual agency—our ability to choose our actions or non-actions—and how it can lead to social change,” says Professor Metrick-Chen. “It celebrates the diverse works of people in Des Moines’ black communities whose individual choices and agency have led to civic engagement and social change for all citizens.” Our Town offers a sampling of acts of agency and everyday bravery in Des Moines. The exhibition features short video interviews of local advocates including Dwana Bradley, editor in chief of The Urban Experience magazine, Laural Clinton, community and racial justice activist, and Elain Estes, former head of the Des Moines Public Library. Several Drake students are also featured in the interviews, including Ayinde Ashford, a third-year student at Drake Law School, and Maleigha Williams and Bailey Mosely, senior students at Drake and members of the Coalition of Black Students. In addition, the exhibition will examine the work of Joanne Cheatom and Katherine Bryson, activists from the 1960s. In tandem, with the celebration of the 50-year history of breakfast clubs for children in Des Moines initiated by the Black Panther’s Des Moines chapter and continued by Children and Family Urban Movement, the exhibition will feature a timeline examining the history of breakfast clubs and their impact in the community. The timeline will feature comments by present and former participants in the breakfast club, including Iowa state representative and former lieutenant of the Des Moines chapter of the Black Panther Party, Ako Abdul-Samad.

Drake Outdoor Leadership Club (DOLC) Drake Outdoor Leadership Club hosts a yearly spring break trip that includes conservation volunteerism and engages Leave No Trace principles. They also have several smaller, more local trips throughout the year.

We have a student sustainability intern who works for Facilities Planning and Management. We also have several students who work as Service Learning Ambassadors for the Office of Community Engaged Learning that facilitate operations such as NextCourse and the Sprout Garden.