Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey, United States. Formed in 1867, the University consists of the College of Liberal Arts, the Caspersen School of Graduate Studies, and the Drew Theological School. The University is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.
History 19th century
In 1866, railroad "robber baron" Daniel Drew approached church leaders during the Methodist Centenary Celebration with an offer to build, equip, and endow a theological seminary near New York City.Drew University. Presidents of Drew University: John McClintock. Retrieved October 13, 2013. Adapted from Joy, James Richard (editor). The Teachers of Drew, 1867–9142, A Commemorative Volume issued on the occasion of the 75th Anniversary of the Founding of Drew Theological Seminary, October 15, 1942 (Madison, New Jersey: Drew University, 1942). Drew asked that his pastor, John McClintock, be appointed the seminary's first president. Instruction began under McClintock's direction as both president and professor of practical theology after the first students were admitted in 1867. Drew is the third-oldest of 13 Methodist seminaries affiliated with the United Methodist Church.General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church. United Methodist Theological Schools. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
Drew offered professional training for candidates to the ministry augmented by "an opportunity for a broad culture through the study of the humanities".Gilman, Daniel Coit; Peck, Harry Thurston; and Colby, Frank Moore. New International Encyclopædia/Drew Theological Seminary "Drew University" in The New International Encyclopædia (1905).
The seminary attracted a faculty that made influential contributions to Methodist theology and biblical scholarship, including James Strong, a professor of exegetical theology, who collaborated with McClintock on the ten-volume Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (1867–1881), and researched, compiled, and published Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890) during his tenure at the seminary.Drew University. "James Strong, A.B., A.M., S.T.D., LL.D., Professor of Exegetical Theology, 1868–1894". Retrieved October 13, 2013. Adapted from Joy, James Richard (editor). The Teachers of Drew, 1867–9142, A Commemorative Volume issued on the occasion of the 75th Anniversary of the Founding of Drew Theological Seminary, October 15, 1942 (Madison, New Jersey: Drew University, 1942). Writings on early church theology and Christian practice were translated into Chinese for use by foreign missions.General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church. Drew University, The Theological School (2013). Retrieved October 13, 2013.
20th century
Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, Drew Theological Seminary educated and trained hundreds of Methodist ministers. It began to expand its role with the addition of a course of study for women in 1920 when it established a "College of Missions".Drew University. A Short History of Drew University, citing Cunningham, John T. University in the Forest: The Story of Drew University 3rd Edition (Florham Park, New Jersey: Afton Publishing, 2002). Retrieved October 23, 2013. This course was renamed the "College of Religious Education and Missions" in 1929 but was short-lived.
In 1928, Drew Theological Seminary accepted a gift of $1.5 million from brothers Arthur J. Baldwin and Leonard D. Baldwin to establish an undergraduate liberal arts college.
The Baldwins were successful attorneys who were raised on a farm in Cortland, New York. Both attended Cornell University.Cunningham, John T. "Baldwin Brothers and Brothers College" originally published in Drew Magazine (Winter 1999). Retrieved October 23, 2013. Cunningham states they studied law at Columbia, but no other source substantiates that.Allen, E.P. (compiler). Cornell Legal Directory. 3rd Edition (March 1903) (Cooperstown, New York: Crist, Scott & Parshall, 1903), 22. lists them both as graduated with an A.B. in 1892. Leonard was admitted to the New York bar in 1892; Arthur in 1894.Knox, Herman W. (editor). Who's Who in New York: A Biographical Dictionary of Prominent Citizens of New York City and State. Seventh Edition, 1917–1918. (New York: Who's Who Publications, Inc., 1918), 44, 46. They established a law firm with former New Jersey governor John Griggs spanning "varied interests in lumbering, manufacturing, transportation, and other enterprises that ranged from owning the Grosvenor Hotel in New York City to Arthur's legal counseling for the rising McGraw-Hill publishing empire." The Baldwins became acquainted with the seminary's president, Ezra Squier Tipple, who "welcomed the brothers to his prominent New York City Methodist Church when they came to Manhattan." Leonard Baldwin became a trustee of the seminary in 1919. The donation originally consisted of $500,000 to build a college building, and $1,000,000 in the form of Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) stock. The Baldwins exchanged the stock for a cash gift in 1928.
In their modesty and in recognition of their sibling affection, the Baldwins asked that it be named "Brothers College." The theological seminary then changed its name to "Drew University" to reflect its expanded role. Brothers College, later renamed the "College of Liberal Arts", opened in 1928 with its first class of 12 students. Brothers College incorporated the women's program and became coeducational in 1942, when school officials recognized that the military draft and war effort would reduce the all-male student body. Drew offered admission to United States Navy personnel through the V-12 Navy College Training Program. It was one of 131 U.S. colleges and universities to take part in the program, which offered students a path to a naval officer's commission.Herge, Henry C. "Appendix D: Navy V-12 and NROTC Units" in Navy V-12. (Nashville, Tennessee: Turner Publishing Company, 1996), 12:48.
In 1912, Drew began offering graduate-level education. It expanded its graduate education programs, focusing on religious studies and establishing the Graduate School, a third of Drew's degree-granting entities, in 1955, under the leadership of the university's seventh president, Fred Holloway. Holloway also delivered on goals set during previous administrations, overseeing the renovation and rebuilding of the campus, including the Baldwin Gymnasium and several dormitories. Four years later, it expanded the curriculum into other areas of the humanities. The Graduate School was renamed the "Caspersen School of Graduate Studies" after a pledge of $5,000,000 in 1999 by financier Finn M. W. Caspersen and his wife (and Drew alumna) Barbara Morris Caspersen.Associated Press Staff. "Financier Finn Caspersen found dead" in Newsday (September 9, 2009). Retrieved October 26, 2013.
With financial assistance from the Mellon Foundation, during the 1970s the college established a freshman seminar program that allows first-year students to participate, with faculty who also serve as their academic advisers, in intensive study of a topic of hopefully mutual interest."Drew Gets $175G Grant From Mellon Foundation", Daily Record, December 31, 1976. Accessed February 20, 2023, via Newspapers.com. "Two Drew University proposals for improving teaching without adding to the faculty have been funded by a grant of $175,000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, New York.... Fifteen different seminars will be given each semester and will give freshmen the opportunity to work closely in a small group with an experienced teacher."
In 1984, psychology professors Philip Jensen and Richard Detweiler led an effort to provide a personal computer and application software to all incoming freshman, a program called the Computer Initiative. Drew was the first liberal arts college to have such a requirement. The Computer Initiative differentiated Drew from other liberal arts colleges, and continued until 2012, by which time most entering students had their own computers or wished to select their own model.
After serving two terms as New Jersey's 48th governor, Thomas Kean was appointed Drew's tenth president in 1990. He served for 15 years before retiring in 2005.
21st century After Kean retired, the trustees selected Robert Weisbuch, former president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, as Drew's 11th president. He served for seven years and stepped down in June 2012. Under Weisbuch's direction, Drew became SAT-optional. From 2006 to 2013, applicants were allowed to submit a graded high school essay instead of SAT or ACT scores.Fuchs, Marek. "No.2 Pencil Optional: Drew Snubs the SAT" in The New York Times (September 25, 2005). Retrieved August 25, 2013.
In 2013, the university reinstated the SAT (or ACT) as an admission requirement, and changed course two years later in 2015, making it optional once again.Drew University. "SAT Policy Reviewed" (June 20, 2013). Retrieved August 25, 2013.
MaryAnn Baenninger became the president of Drew University in July 2014 after serving 10 years as the president of the College of Saint Benedict.Drew University and Patterson, Mary Jo, "Drew Names MaryAnn Baenninger as Next President: Decision follows exhaustive search" (news release), February 24, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2014. She succeeded Vivian A. Bull, a former economics professor and associate dean of the college at Drew and former president of Linfield College, who served as Drew's interim president from 2012 to 2014.
In 2015, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was shared by William Campbell, a research fellow at Drew University, for his work developing a drug that treats parasitic diseases.
In September 2017, Drew announced that it was cutting the list price of its tuition for the 2018–19 school year by 20%, from $48,300 to $36,600, as part of an effort to make the school more appealing to prospective students who had been deterred by the sticker price, which had been one of the state's highest.Heyboer, Kelly. "One of N.J.'s costliest colleges slashes tuition 20 percent", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, September 11, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2017. "As tuition continues to rise faster than inflation at most colleges, one of New Jersey's most expensive private universities is cutting its tuition by 20 percent, campus officials announced Monday.Drew University will cut tuition from $48,336 this year to $38,668 next year, the announcement said. The rollback means the Madison-based school will charge the same tuition it did in 2010."
In May 2020, the university's board of trustees announced that Baenninger would step down at the conclusion of her contract on July 31, 2020. In July, the school's search committee announced the appointment of Thomas J. Schwarz as interim president, beginning on August 1. On February 8, 2023, Drew announced the appointment of its 15th president, Hilary L. Link, former president of Allegheny College.
On January 12, 2026 the university announced the sale of Drew Forest, Zuck Arboretum, and Madison House to the Borough of Madison. Additionally, other lands adjacent to the main thoroughfare running along the campus, Madison Avenue, have been reserved for development by private contractors.
In August of 2026, the university outraged students and alumni with the announcement they would be opening The Drew School, an AI-based 1-8th grade school on campus in partnership with 2 HR Learning, the controversial for-profit company whose software powers the Alpha School chain.
Campus