All organizations are bound by a mission statement which indicates their reason for being. At Drury, the guiding purpose is to transform lives through personalized education, a commitment to putting students first, finding the people that will fill up your four years on Drury Lane and long after, identifying your purpose or sense of calling, and learning the skills that will carry you through a lifetime of meaning and accomplishment. Drury grads from sea to shining sea have great success stories of the people, moments, and experiences that changed their life. It’s like no place else, then and now.

In some ways, the mission is the “what” we are and “why” we exist. We are a university that believes in the power of relationships to create the adaptability, interdisciplinarity, and problem-solving skills the 21st century demands.

But there is another ethos, One Drury, that tells the story of “who” we are and “how’ we endeavor to function together. One Drury is the belief that our university is an oasis of civility and character, of working together, of seeing the best in each other, of serving students and showing them how to be agreeable even if you don’t agree, and of not pitting one part of campus against the other. One Drury is the way in which we choose to work together as a cohesive community, acknowledging that whatever you do here at Drury comingles together to transform student lives. One Drury means we help each other out when a particular unit on campus is in crunch time, we dare to say hello and learn each other’s name, and we bend down and pick up the stray soda can on the ground and drop it in the nearest recycling bin even if it wasn’t our soft drink. One Drury is the tie that binds graduates from then and now together with a ribbon of small classes, abundant mentors, caring professors, and the chance to make a difference on campus from the very first semester.

The story is told of President John F. Kennedy’s visit to NASA early in his term. The president, seeing a custodian in an adjacent hallway, asked him what he did. The man replied, “I’m helping to put a man on the moon,” and went off down the corridor putting his mop to good work. His response was a restatement of the fundamental mission of NASA at that moment: The entire team existed to get to the moon quickly and safely. It was a unifying herald, harkening every astronaut, engineer, and custodian to the commonality of who they were and how they should work together to achieve the mission. It was a chorus that echoed far and wide — what we have in common is more important than what might keep us apart. And it paid off on Sunday, July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong’s boots hit the surface of the moon.

As an organizational philosophy, One Drury is an example of enterprise thinking, the strategic approach that the success of the entire organization is paramount, not the quest of a few departments or units to out-muscle others to the top. Enterprise thinking means that programs, departments, and divisions with a “we” approach are more connected, less siloed, and align together as part of common goals, not needlessly divided to pursue their own ends. “Us” versus “them” is destructive, creates a penchant for blame, and leads to statements like “that’s not my problem.”

On the other hand, “we” thinking leads to picking up the phone or walking to another office to solve an emerging problem, rather than disregarding it or simply expecting the student to figure it out on their own. When done right, enterprise thinking leads to processes with less manual data entry, more sharing of information across systems of record or systems of engagement, easier identification of future innovation pathways, and more informal conversations that lead to immediate problem-solving. One Drury means we communicate early and often, whether we are talking about weather policy, enrollment, finances, or who went above and beyond the call of duty to help move our new students into their residence halls.

On the human side, when we know more about each other’s work and have greater ownership to enact change that benefits the entire organization, we create empathy and grow on-campus partners, and allies. On the tech side, when we share knowledge about common applications in existing software packages, we get more efficient.

This can be easier said than done. Across higher education, plenty of barriers are historically present. At some campuses, athletics and academics compete for resources more often than collaborating for mutual outcomes. Staff can be suspicious of faculty at some universities and it would not be unusual for some to question the work of administrators or trustees. Even students can be pitted against each other. Yet here, there should be a single common cord that connects us all and it’s simple: We are all Drury.

All across campus, you will see One Drury banners. Now more than ever in these rapidly changing times, unity of purpose is our pathway to keep the positive momentum of the last two years percolating. We have made so much progress to reanimate our role in Springfield, the Ozarks, and beyond. Thank you everyone for continuing to make One Drury a great place to go to school and a great place to work.

Here we go!

Jeff Frederick, Ph.D.