Drexel University

Drexel University (DU) is a private research university with the main campus located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a noted financier and philanthropist. Drexel offers over 70 full-time undergraduate programs and accelerated degrees. At the graduate level, the university offers over 100 masters, doctoral, and professional programs, many available part-time.

Drexel is best known for the cooperative education program (Co-op). Drexel's Co-op is regularly ranked as one of the best co-op programs in the United States. Participating students have a variety of opportunities to gain up to 18-months of paid full-time working experience before graduation. The university has a large network of more than 1,600 corporate, governmental, and non-profit partners in 28 states and 25 international locations. The employers consist of top ranked multinational law firms, banks, corporations, and many Fortune 500 companies, such as Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, and Procter & Gamble.

Times Higher Education World University Rankings placed Drexel among the top 200 universities in the World. In U.S. News & World Report's annual "America's Best Colleges List", the university has been ranked consistently among the "Best National Universities – Top Schools." The 2012 rankings place Drexel third in their list of “Up and Coming National Universities” for "promising and innovative changes in the areas of academics, faculty, and student life." In addition, the National Science Foundation and the 2009 Lombardi Report also ranked Drexel among the top 50 private comprehensive research universities. Drexel University ranks #45 among "Research Universities by Salary Potential" in the United States.

History


Drexel University was founded in 1891 as the Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry by Philadelphia financier and philanthropist Anthony J. Drexel to provide educational opportunities in the “practical arts and sciences” for women and men of all backgrounds. Drexel became the Drexel Institute of Technology in 1936, and in 1970 Drexel Institute of Technology gained university status, becoming Drexel University. Although there were many changes during its first century, the university's identity has been held constant as privately controlled, non-sectarian, coeducational center of higher learning, distinguished by a commitment to preparing both men and women for future success. Drexel's cornerstone of the career preparation, the cooperative education program, was introduced in 1919.The program became integral to the university's unique educational experience. Participating students alternate periods of classroom based study with periods of full-time practical work experience related to their academic and career interests.

From 1995 to 2009, the president of Drexel University, Dr. Constantine Papadakis, led the institution towards significant change. President Papadakis oversaw Drexel's largest expansion ever, the endowment increased +471% to $540M, and total enrollment increased +102% to 18,466. The institution continued to climb in the rankings, became more selective, and obtained a more academically talented student body. During the expansion, Drexel was officially united with the former MCP Hahnemann University, creating the Drexel University College of Medicine in 2002; and in the fall of 2006, Drexel established its School of Law, which was fully accredited by American Bar Association (ABA) in 2011.

In April 2009, Dr. Constantine Papadakis, died of pneumonia. His successor is Mr. John Anderson Fry, formerly the president of Franklin & Marshall College and the Executive Vice President of University of Pennsylvania.

In July 2011, Drexel acquired The Academy of Natural Sciences. The agreement created an international powerhouse for discovery in the natural and environmental sciences.

Colleges and schools
Drexel today is composed of nine colleges and four schools

The College of Information Science and Technology and the College of Arts and Sciences are two of the oldest colleges within Drexel; and the Drexel University College of Engineering, for which Drexel is perhaps best known. The Goodwin College of Professional Studies offers working professionals and recent high school and college graduates practical educational programs with flexible scheduling, hands-on experiences, and career preparation. Full-time programs include (but are not limited to) Sport Management, Culinary Arts, and Engineering Technology, while part-time programs include Communications & Applied Technology and Computing & Security Technology.

The Bennett S. LeBow College of Business has been ranked as the 38th best private institution in the nation. The Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design houses Design and Merchandising, Graphic Design, Interior Design, Digital Media, Architecture, Fashion Design, Photography, Visual Studies, Performing Arts, Music Industry, Entertainment & Arts Management, Film & Video, Screenwriting & Playwriting, and Dance. The Drexel University College of Medicine is a recent addition to the university. Formerly MCP Hahnemann University, it contributes two additional campuses and a teaching medical hospital, along with the College of Nursing and Health Professions and the School of Public Health. The Pennoni Honors College, named for Drexel alumnus and trustee Dr. C.R. "Chuck" Pennoni '63, '66, Hon. '92, and his wife Annette, recognizes and promotes excellence among Drexel students.

The Drexel University College of Law was originally added to Drexel University as the newest school in 2006. The Earle Mack School of Law was renamed on 1 May 2008 in honor of Drexel alumnus Earle I. Mack. Serving only graduate students, the law school offers Juris Doctor degrees and provides the opportunity for all students to take part in a cooperative education program.

Most popular undergraduate majors
Drexel University is also known for creating the world's first Engineering Degree in Appropriate Technology. Drexel is also one of only 17 U.S. universities to offer a Bachelors in Architectural Engineering, and only one of five private institutions to do so.

The Drexel Engineering Curriculum (tDEC)
The 2006 edition of U.S. News ranks the undergraduate engineering program #57 in the country and the 2007 edition of graduate schools ranks the graduate program #61. The 2008 edition ranks the University Engineering Program at #55 and in the 2009 US News Ranking, the university has moved up to the #52 position.

The engineering curriculum used by the school was originally called E4 (Enhanced Educational Experience for Engineers) which was established in 1986 and funded in part by the Engineering Directorate of the National Science Foundation. In 1988 the program evolved into tDEC (the Drexel Engineering Curriculum) which is composed of two full years of rigorous core engineering courses which encompass the freshman and sophomore years of the engineering student.

Co-op program
Branded as "the Ultimate Internship", Drexel's longstanding cooperative-education or "co-op" program is one of the largest and oldest in the United States. Drexel has a fully internet-based job database, where students can submit résumés and request interviews with any of the thousands of companies that offer positions. Students also have the option of obtaining an internship via independent search. A student graduating from Drexel's 5-year degree program typically has a total of 18 months of internship with up to three different companies. The majority of Co-ops are paid, averaging $15,912 per 6-month period, however this figure changes with major. The working experience highly pays off as one third of Drexel graduates are offered full-time positions by their Co-op employers right after graduation.

Research
Drexel's knowledge community of researchers and scholars are socially, professionally and intellectually diverse. Many of Drexel's faculty and staff are seasoned practitioners with strong academic and private sector experiences. Drexel's intellectual climate is creative, flexible and responsive to change, thereby facilitating the emergence of innovative new lines of inquiry and exploration and seeding new avenues of creative expression. Research Centers and Institutes at Drexel include:


 * Arts and Sciences
 * Center for Interdisciplinary Programs
 * Center for Public Policy
 * Mobilities and Research Policy


 * Education
 * The Center for Labor Markets and Policy
 * The Center for the Prevention of School-Aged Violence
 * The Math Forum


 * Information Science
 * Data Mining & Bioinformatics Lab
 * Geographic Information Systems & Spatial Analysis Lab
 * Institute for Healthcare Informatics


 * Media Arts & Design
 * Kal and Lucille Rudman Institute for Entertainment Industry Studies
 * The RePlay Lab


 * Business and Leadership
 * Baiada Center for Entrepreneurship
 * Center for Corporate Governance
 * Sovereign Institute for Strategic Leadership
 * Center for Corporate Reputation Management


 * Engineering
 * A.J. Drexel Plasma Institute
 * A.J. Drexel Applied Communications and Information Networking (ACIN) Institute
 * A. J. Drexel Institute of Basic and Applied Protein Science
 * A.J. Drexel Nanotechnology Institute (DNI)
 * Ben Franklin Technology Partners' Nanotechnology Institute
 * Center for Electric Power Engineering
 * Center for Telecommunications and Information Networking
 * Centralized Research Facilities (CRF)


 * Public Health
 * Autism Public Health Research Institute
 * Center for Health Equality (CHE)
 * Center for Public Health Readiness and Communication (CPHRC)
 * Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice
 * National Resource Center on Advancing Emergency Preparedness
 * Center for Public Health Practice

Online education
Drexel has offered online degrees since 1996 and in 2002 created its online education program, Drexel University Online. It is run by Drexel eLearning, Inc. (DeL), a wholly owned for-profit subsidiary of Drexel University. Drexel Online maintains the same level of accreditation by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools; other colleges accredited by this body include Cornell, Penn, and NYU.

In September 2010, Drexel University Online received the Sloan-C award for institution-wide excellence in online education indicating that it had exceptional programs of "demonstrably high quality" at the regional and national levels and across disciplines. Drexel University Online has won the 2008 United States Distance Learning Association's Best Practices Awards for Distance Learning Programming. In 2007 the online education program had a revenue of $40 million, and in 2010 had 8,000 students and offered almost 90 total certificates, undergraduate, and graduate degrees.

Rankings
In 2010, Times Higher Education World University Rankings placed Drexel 190th in the World and 76th in North America. The university also was placed among 96-98th best universities in the world according to the Russian based Global University Ranking.

Drexel is currently in a period of the fastest rise in term of rankings. In 2012, U.S. News & World Report has ranked Drexel 83rd among all universities of the United States, and third on the U.S. News & World Report "Best Colleges: Up-and-coming National Universities" 2012 ranking. The 2009 and 2010 rankings placed Drexel 88th among all universities of the United States, 48th among the best 50 private universities in the country, and 4th on the U.S. News & World Report "Up-and-coming National Universities" ranking. The 2008 rankings placed Drexel 108th, whereas 2006 rankings had the school at 109th. Drexel and the University of Pennsylvania are the only Philadelphia colleges in this category.

In 2007, Business Week ranked the undergraduate business program among the top 30 private institutions in the country. The 2011 rankings rate the LeBow business program as the 38th best in the nation. The Princeton Review also named Drexel 6th on their list of "2010 Top Entrepreneurial Programs: Undergraduate." The Department of Materials Science and Engineering was ranked 10th in the US in faculty scholarly productivity in 2006, and was ranked 11th out of 88 programs in the 2011 National Research Council survey rankings. Additionally, Sierra magazine, the publication of the Sierra Club, selected Drexel as one of America's "Cool Schools." Drexel was 82nd out of 135 institutions on the publication's third annual poll of "eco-enlightened" colleges and universities. To compile the list, Sierra sent questionnaires to sustainability experts at schools across the country. The survey featured categories such as efficiency, energy, food, academics, purchasing, transportation, waste management and administration.

The iSchool at Drexel, College of Information Science and Technology has been ranked among the top 10 information schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Its specialties in Library and Information Science (MS), Information systems (MSIS), Medical Librarianship, and Digital Librarianship are ranked 9th, 5th, 5th and 9th respectively.

Drexel frequently ranks among the top 25 schools in the nation for technology use according to The Princeton Review and The Intel Corporation, and was ranked first in 2001 for wireless access by Yahoo!. The Math Forum@Drexel has been selected as one of the most useful websites by PC Magazine and Scientific American. Drexel is the third largest private engineering college in the nation.

The Drexel College of Medicine and College of Nursing & Health Professions also share accolades. The Physician Assistant program is in the nation's top 50 and the Nurse Anesthesia (CRNA) program is in the top 25.

Campuses
Drexel University's campus is divided into three parts: the University City Campus, the Center City Hahnemann Campus including Hahnemann University Hospital, and the Queen Lane College of Medicine Campus.



University City Main Campus
The 77 acre University City Main Campus of Drexel University is located just west of the Schuylkill River in the University City district of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is Drexel's largest and oldest campus and contains its administrative offices and the main academic center for students. The northern residential portion of the main campus is located in the Powelton Village section of West Philadelphia. The two prominent performing stages at Drexel University are the Mandell Theater and the Main Auditorium. The Main Auditorium dates back to the founding of Drexel and construction of its main hall. It features over 1000 seats, and a pipe organ installed in 1928. The organ was purchased by Saturday Evening Post publisher Cyrus H. K. Curtis after he had donated a similar organ, the Curtis Organ, to nearby University of Pennsylvania and it was suggested that he do the same for Drexel. The 424-seat Mandell Theater was built in 1973 and features a more performance-oriented stage, including a full fly system, modern stage lighting facilities, stadium seating, and accommodations for wheelchairs. It is used for the semiannual spring musical, as well as various plays and many events.

Queen Lane Campus
The Queen Lane Medical Campus was purchased in 2003 by Drexel University as part of its acquisition of MCP Hahnemann University. It is located in East Falls in the Northwest part of Philadelphia and is primarily utilized by first- and second-year medical students. A free shuttle is available connecting it to the Center City Hahnemann and University City Main campuses.



Center City Hahnemann Campus
The Center City Hahnemann Campus is in the middle of Philadelphia, straddling the Vine Street Expressway and centered on Hahnemann University Hospital.

The Academy of Natural Sciences
In 2011, The Academy of Natural Sciences entered into an agreement to become a subsidiary of Drexel University. Founded in 1812, the Academy of Natural Sciences is America's oldest natural history museum and is a world leader in biodiversity and environmental research.

Drexel University Sacramento
On 5 January 2009, Drexel University opened the Center for Graduate Studies in Sacramento, California. , the Sacramento Center offers an Ed.D. program in Educational Leadership and Management, and master degree programs in Business Administration, Finance, Higher Education, Human Resource Development, Public Health, and Interdepartmental Medical Science. Drexel awards students at its Sacramento Center fellowships from a $10 million annual budget allocation.

As of January 2011, the Sacramento Center for Graduate Studies has an enrollment of 360 students. In December 2010, it graduated the first cohort of 30 students with Master's Degrees in Business and Higher Education. In June 2011, more than 100 students were eligible to participate in Drexel's first commencement ceremony outside of Philadelphia in its 120-year history.

In November 2012, Drexel University announced that the Center's name would change to Drexel University Sacramento and that they would offer a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration transfer program starting in Fall 2013.

Activities
The university has a large variety of student organizations, including charity, fraternities and sororities, political, and academic groups.

Student Government
The Undergraduate Student Government Association of Drexel University works with administrators to solve student problems and tries to promote communication between the students and the administration.

Graduate Students Association
As stated on their website - "Graduate Student Association advocates the interests and addresses concerns of graduate students at Drexel; strives to enhance graduate student life at the University in all aspects, from academic to campus security; and provides a formal means of communication between graduate students and the University community."

Campus Activities Board
The Campus Activities Board (CAB) is in charge of organizing activities such as movies, trips to special events, and other on-campus entertainment such as the fall comedy show. CAB is funded through a student activities fee collected from each student.

Radio
WKDU is Drexel's student-run FM radio station, with membership open to all undergraduate students. Its status as an 800-watt non-commercial station in a major market city has given it a wider audience and a higher profile than many other college radio stations.

Television
DUTV is Drexel's Philadelphia cable television station. The student operated station is part of the Paul F. Harron Studios at Drexel University. The purpose of DUTV is to provide "the people of Philadelphia with quality educational television, and providing Drexel students the opportunity to gain experience in television management and production." The Programing includes an eclectic variety of shows from a bi-monthly news show, DNews, to old films, talk shows dealing with important current issues and music appreciation shows.

Publications
Drexel has a number of publications to its name by both the student body and the university. The Triangle has been the university's newspaper since 1926. The yearbook was first published in 1911 and named the Lexerd in 1913. Prior to the publishing of a campus wide yearbook in 1911 The Hanseatic and The Eccentric were both published in 1896 as class books. Other publications include MAYA, the undergraduate student literary and artistic magazine; D&M Magazine, Design & Merchandising students crafted magazine; The Smart Set from Drexel University, an online magazine founded in 2005; and The Drexelist a blog-style news source founded in 2010.

The Drexel Publishing Group serves as a medium for literary publishing on campus. The Drexel Publishing Group oversees ASK (The Journal of the College of Arts and Sciences at Drexel University), Painted Bride Quarterly, a 36-year-old national literary magazine housed at Drexel; The 33rd, an annual anthology of student and faculty writing at Drexel; DPG Online Magazine, and Maya, the undergraduate literary and artistic magazine. The Drexel Publishing Group also serves as a pedagogical organization by allowing students to intern and work on its publications.

Housing
Drexel requires all non-commuting first year students to live in one of its ten residence halls, and second year students to live in "university approved housing". Kelly Hall, Myers Hall, Towers Hall, and Calhoun Hall are traditional residence halls (shared bedroom, community bathrooms), while North Hall, Caneris Hall, Race Street Residence Hall, and Van Rensselaer Hall are suite style residence halls (shared bedrooms, private bathrooms, kitchens, and common area within the suite). Millennium Hall, Drexel's newest residence hall, is a modified suite (shared bedrooms, and segmented, private bathrooms in the hallway). Drexel also leases several floors of the University Crossings apartment complex for upper class students.

The Residential Living Office (RLO) at Drexel has developed a Residential Experience Engagement Model which is designed to support residents of all class levels.


 * The First Year Experience: Calhoun, Kelly, Towers Halls
 * Living Learning Communities: Myers Hall
 * Pennoni Honors College: Millennium Hall
 * The Sophomore Year Experience: Race Street Residence Halls
 * For Students By Students (FSBS): North Hall
 * The Upper Class Experience: Caneris Hall & University Crossings
 * The Graduate Student Experience: Drexel Apartments (formerly Van Rensselaer Hall) and Stiles Memorial Hall

Portions of the Race Street Residence Hall formerly was reserved for students of the Pennoni Honors College. However, during the 2007 spring term, the Race Street Dormitory housed Kelly Hall residents, while Kelly Hall underwent renovation. It was recently announced that for 2010-2011 the Honors Living Learning Community will be moved to Millennium Hall and the Sophomore Year Experience moved into the Race Street Residence Hall. Van Rensselaer Hall will also be utilized by the Graduate Student Experience.

All residence halls except Caneris Hall, University Crossings, and Stiles Memorial Hall are located north of Arch Street between 34th Street and 32nd Street in the Powelton Village area.

Greek life
Twelve percent of Drexel's undergraduate population is a member of a social Greek-letter organization. There are currently 12 Interfraternity Council (IFC) chapters, six Panhellenic Council (PHC) chapters and eleven Multi-cultural Greek Council (MGC) chapters.

Three IFC Chapters have been awarded Top Chapters in 2008 by their respective national organizations; Tau Kappa Epsilon, Pi Kappa Alpha, and Alpha Chi Rho.

Each year, all social fraternities and sororities at Drexel compete in Greek Week. Greek Week actually consists of two weeks, the first week consisting of events such as Penny Wars and flag football and the second week consisting of activities such as talent show, chariot races and tug-of-war. Sigma Phi Epsilon and Phi Mu have won Greek Week two years in a row.

The week after Greek Week the Dean's Cup is presented for the previous year. The Dean's Cup is the highest award for Drexel Greeks. The winners of the Dean's Cup are determined by the highest score on the Chapter Achievement Plan (CAP) which is the annual recognition process for Drexel Greeks. The Dean's Cup is reviewed by a selected committee of Student Life faculty. The Dean of Students awards the Dean's Cup, which is awarded to the top chapter in each council in the areas of academics, leadership, brother/sisterhood and service to the community.

IFC Fraternities

 * Alpha Chi Rho, Lambda Chi Phi (est. 1992)
 * Alpha Epsilon Pi, Delta Rho Chapter (est. 1995)
 * Beta Theta Pi, Colony 2013
 * Alpha Pi Lambda, Local Fraternity (est. 1935)
 * Delta Sigma Phi, Gamma Chi Chapter (est. 1956, Recolonized Fall 2011)
 * Lambda Chi Alpha, Epsilon Kappa Zeta Chapter, (est. 1941, Recolonized Fall 2009)
 * Phi Kappa Psi, PA Upsilon Chapter (est. 2002)
 * Pi Kappa Alpha, Lambda Zeta Chapter (est. 2001)
 * Pi Kappa Phi, Alpha Upsilon Chapter (est. 1919, Recolonized 2007)
 * Sigma Alpha Mu, Mu Eta Chapter, (est. 1947, Recolonized 2009)
 * Sigma Phi Epsilon, Pennsylvania Beta Beta Chapter (est. 1999)
 * Tau Kappa Epsilon, Alpha Tau Chapter (est. 1919)
 * Theta Chi, Beta Theta Chapter (est. 1927)

MGC Organizations

 * Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Gamma Epsilon Chapter (est. 1945)
 * Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Psi Chapter (Recolonized at Drexel in fall 2011)
 * Chi Upsilon Sigma Latin Sorority, Omicron Chapter (est. 1997)
 * Delta Epsilon Psi Fraternity, Xi Chapter (est. 2010)
 * Delta Phi Omega Sorority, Gamma Chapter (est. 2000)
 * Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, (Recolonized 2008)
 * Iota Nu Delta Fraternity, Gamma Chapter (est. 1997)
 * Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity,
 * Kappa Phi Gamma, Nu colony (est. 2011)
 * Sigma Beta Rho Fraternity, Drexel Colony, (est. 2002)
 * Sigma Psi Zeta Sorority, Nu Charter (est. 2002)

Sororities

 * Alpha Sigma Alpha, Nu Nu Chapter (est. 1925)
 * Delta Phi Epsilon, Delta Epsilon Chapter (est. 1942, recolonized 2003)
 * Delta Zeta, Epsilon Zeta Chapter (est. 1928)
 * Phi Mu, Beta Tau Chapter (est. 1954)
 * Phi Sigma Sigma, Beta Rho Chapter (est. 1959)
 * Sigma Sigma Sigma, Alpha Delta Chapter (est. 1926, recolonized 2011)

Student Organizations
Drexel University recognizes over 250 student organizations in the following categories:
 * Academic
 * Club Sports
 * Community Service/Social Action
 * Cultural
 * Fraternity & Sorority Life
 * General Interest
 * Honorary
 * Media
 * Performing and Fine Arts
 * Political
 * Spiritual & Religious

Honorary/Professional Organizations
The following groups are recognized as honors or professional organizations under the Office of Campus Activities and are not considered part of social Greek life at Drexel University.


 * Phi Chi Theta - Zeta Delta (est. 2008) - Professional Business Fratnerity
 * Alpha Kappa Psi - Eta Psi Chapter (est. 2008) - Professional Business Fraternity
 * Alpha Phi Omega, Zeta Theta Chapter (est. 1948) - National Service Fraternity
 * Alpha Phi Sigma - National Criminal Justice Honor Society
 * Beta Alpha Psi, Delta Tau Chapter - Honors Fraternity for Accounting, Finance and MIS
 * Beta Gamma Sigma, - International Business Honor Society
 * Chi Epsilon - National Civil Engineering Honors Society
 * Eta Kappa Nu, Beta Alpha Chapter (est. 1935) - Service Fraternity
 * Gamma Sigma Sigma - National Service Sorority
 * Phi Beta Lambda - Community Service Fraternity
 * Phi Eta Sigma - National Honors Society
 * Phi Sigma Pi, Gamma Xi Chapter - Honors Fraternity
 * Pi Nu Epsilon - Music and Performing Arts Fraternity
 * Pi Tau Sigma, Xi Chapter - International Mechanical Engineering Fraternity
 * Psi Chi - International Honors Society - Psychology Fraternity
 * Tau Beta Pi, Pennsylvania Zeta Chapter - Engineering Honor Society
 * Upsilon Pi Epsilon - Computer Science Fraternity

Athletics


Drexel's school mascot is a dragon known as "Mario the Magnificent," named so in honor of Mario V. Mascioli, an alumnus and former member of the Board of Trustees. The Dragon has been the mascot of the school since around the mid-1920s; the first written reference to the Dragons occurred in 1928 when the football team was called The Dragons in The Triangle. Before becoming known as the Dragons the athletic teams had been known by such names as Blue & Gold, the Engineers, and the Drexelites. The school's sports teams, now known as the Drexel Dragons, participate in the NCAA's Division I, the Colonial Athletic Association. They do not currently field a varsity football team.

Drexel is home to 33 active club teams including water polo, squash, triathlon, and cycling. Other club teams include soccer, baseball, rugby, field hockey, and roller hockey. The club teams operate under the direction of the Club Sports Council and the Recreational Sports Office.

Fight song
The fight song for Drexel is the Drexel Fight Song. The lyrics are: Fight on for Drexel, We’ve got the stuff we need to win this game. We’re gonna fight on for Drexel, Take the Dragon on to fame. Fight on for Drexel, The gold and blue is on another spree. We’re gonna fight, fight, fight, fight for Drexel U. On to victory!
 * Chant:

D-D-D-D R-R-R-R E-E-E-E X-EL-X-EL DREX-EL-DREX-EL FIGHT-TEAM-FIGHT (Repeat Song)

Student lore and traditions
Tradition suggests that rubbing the toe of the bronze "Waterboy" statue located in the Main Building atrium can result in receiving good grades in exams. Although the rest of the bronze statue has developed a dark brown patina over the years, the toe has remained highly polished and shines like new.

The Flame of Knowledge, a fountain once located in the main quad (relocated to the area in front of North Hall in early 2007), used to be known as the "Drexel Shaft" in the late 70s and early 80s, however the name outgrew the landmark. The "Drexel Shaft" now refers to the Penn Coach Yard chimney, the large smoke stack structure which was located east of 32nd street. Unresponsive treatment by the administration has been termed the "Drexel Shaft" by students. The smoke stack was demolished on 15 November 2009, a long-anticipated event which the students hope will improve the overall aesthetics of the university.

In popular culture
Drexel has appeared in news and television media several times. In 2006 Drexel served as the location for ABC Family's reality show "Back on Campus." Also in that year the Epsilon Zeta chapter of Delta Zeta won ABC Daytime's Summer of Fun contest. As a result the sorority was featured in national television spots for a week and also hosted an ABC party on campus which was attended by cast members from General Hospital and All My Children.

John Langdon, adjunct professor in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, created the ambigram featured on the cover of Dan Brown's Angels & Demons and a number of other ambigrams were served as the central focus of the book and film. It is believed Prof. Langdon was the inspiration for the name of the lead character played by Tom Hanks in the film.

In 2007 Drexel was the host of the 2008 Democratic Presidential candidate debate in Philadelphia, televised by MSNBC. In 2008 from 10 January to the 13th Drexel hosted the US Table Tennis Olympic Trials. Drexel University hosted the 2011 U.S. Open Squash Championships from 1–6 October 2011 as well as the 2012 U.S. Open Squash Championships from 4–12 October 2012.

Alumni
Since its founding the university has graduated over 100,000 alumni. Certificate-earning alumni such as artist Violet Oakley and illustrator Frank Schoonover reflect the early emphasis on art as part of the university's curriculum. With World War II, the university's technical programs swelled, and as a result Drexel graduated alumni such as Paul Baran, one of the founding fathers of the Internet and one of the inventors of the packet switching network, and Norman Joseph Woodland the inventor of barcode technology. In addition to its emphasis on technology Drexel has graduated several notable athletes such as National Basketball Association (NBA) basketball players Michael Anderson and Malik Rose, and several notable business people such as Raj Gupta, former President and Chief executive officer (CEO) of Rohm and Haas, and Kenneth C. Dahlberg, former CEO of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC).

In 1991, the university's centennial anniversary, Drexel created an association called the Drexel 100, for alumni who have demonstrated excellence work, philanthropy, or public service. After the creation of the association 100 alumni were inducted in 1992 and since then the induction process has been on a biennial basis. In 2006 164 total alumni had been inducted into the association.

Awards
Drexel University created the annual $100,000 Anthony J. Drexel Exceptional Achievement Award to recognize a faculty member from a U.S. institution whose work transforms both research and the society it serves. The first recipient was bioengineer James J. Collins of Boston University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.