Founded in 1873 as a private liberal arts college, Drury is a new kind of university that honors and effectively links liberal arts and sciences to the study of professional areas. Drury University is an independent university, church-related in the liberal arts tradition, and committed to personalized education in a community of scholars who value the arts of teaching and learning. Education at Drury seeks to cultivate spiritual sensibilities and imaginative faculties as well as ethical insight and critical thought; to foster the integration of theoretical and practical knowledge; and to liberate persons to participate responsibly in and contribute to a global community.