The OG (Griff I) is turning 10 and Griff II is throwing him a birthday party! Students, faculty, and staff are invited to stop by Black Cat Ice Cream Saturday, May 7, from 1–3 p.m. to help Griff I celebrate.

Both Griff I and Griff II will be there, party hats on. Instead of gifts, please consider bringing non-perishable food and/or personal care items for the Little Free Pantries in the Drake Neighborhood. Let’s honor the OG by helping our neighbors!

— Erin Bell, University Communications and Marketing

Drake students, faculty, and staff are invited to the groundbreaking celebration for the Des Moines Public Schools Community Stadium at Drake University. Please join us at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 20, at the Courtside Club in Shivers.

First proposed in November 2019, this 4,000-seat venue will be used by high school football and soccer programs, additional high school activities ranging from marching band festivals to rugby matches, as well as middle school activities. The stadium will also be the new on-campus home for the Drake Bulldogs men’s and women’s NCAA Division I soccer teams. With construction bids awarded in March 2022, construction will begin this spring, and the stadium is projected to be complete by fall of 2023.

— Ryan Arnold, Community Engagement 

While cases and hospitalizations remain low in Polk County, Drake University continues to assess the impact of COVID-19 on our campus.

Moving forward, the University will make the following changes to its COVID-19 response plan:

Contact tracing: The University will continue to notify contacts of exposure through the spring semester. Based on a low rate of contacts testing positive for COVID-19, contacts will no longer be asked to quarantine.

Free COVID-19 testing: Test kits will continue to be available in the Student Services Center in Olmsted and through local pharmacy retailers such as Walgreens and Hy-Vee. Free at-home antigen COVID-19 tests are also available through the federal government by request at covid.gov/tests.

Campus COVID-19 case numbers will continue to be posted weekly on the University’s COVID website through spring commencement.

Mask policy: If Polk County moves into the CDC high risk designation, or if we experience an outbreak on our campus, the University will reinstate a mask mandate in all campus buildings.

The University will remain vigilant in monitoring changes to the ongoing pandemic and reassess its actions as necessary.

Thank you to everyone who completed the Great Colleges to Work For survey. We achieved our highest response rate in five years with 65% of employees participating! This includes 59% of faculty and 67% of staff. We sincerely appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback and making your voice heard.

Continuous improvement remains a critical part of Drake’s strategic planning and your feedback leads to more informed decisions, better ideas, and accelerated innovation. While it is only one mechanism through which you can share your voice, it is an important one that helps Drake focus on priorities that matter to you.

A summary of the results will be shared with campus early this summer.

— Nate Reagen, Office of the President; Maureen De Armond, Human Resources

Thank you to everyone who has already completed the Great Colleges To Work For survey. Currently, 52% of faculty and staff have completed the survey—only 10 percentage points short of our 62% participation goal. The survey period ends Friday, April 1, so if you have not completed the survey, please consider taking this opportunity to make your voice heard. The higher the response rate, the more accurate and complete the results.

Note: You should have received an email invitation to complete the survey from ModernThink on March 21. If you did not receive the email, please check your junk or spam folder. If you still can’t locate it, please contact Maureen De Armond or Nate Reagen right away. Thank you! 

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources; Nate Reagen, Office of the President

Full-time faculty and staff received an email Monday, March 21, from ModernThink with an invitation to participate in this year’s Great Colleges to Work For survey. Thank you to those who have completed the survey already. If you haven’t, please take time to complete it. It is easy, quick, anonymous, and the primary tool used by the University to gather feedback on our workplace culture.  

Instructions on how to access the survey are included in the email.  The survey period ends Friday, April 2.  

For questions, contact Maureen De Armond or Nate Reagen.  Thank you! 

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources; Nate Reagen, Office of the President

The University Bookstore has changed its name to the Bulldog Shop. The name change is an effort to help the Drake community better connect with the store, which sells much more than just books. The Bulldog Shop sells clothing, gifts, graduation essentials, and more. The new name better reflects all the store has to offer.

New signage is being installed this week at the Bulldog Shop. In addition, the website has been updated with the new name. Visit the Bulldog Shop in the Olmsted Center or online to see the latest offerings, including more than 35 different styles of Drake Relays gear (tees, crewnecks, shorts, hoodies, polos, and more).

— Kyle McVay, Bulldog Shop