Davenport University is a private university with campuses throughout Michigan and online. It was founded in 1866 by Conrad Swensburg and currently offers associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees; diplomas; and post-grad certification programs in business, technology, health professions, and graduate studies (MBA).
Davenport's W.A. Lettinga Main Campus is in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The main campus includes student organizations, residence halls, and athletic programs.
History
The predecessor to the modern Davenport University was founded in 1866 by Conrad G. Swensburg, a Union Army Veteran who returned to Michigan from the Civil War. The college, located in downtown Grand Rapids, opened with sixteen students as the Grand Rapids Business College on January 25, 1866. The college offered courses in various office skills, such as bookkeeping, penmanship, business law, and arithmetic.
The college operated under various names and in several locations in Grand Rapids throughout its early history. By 1910 the college was on the verge of closing. Michael E. Davenport, a new teacher at the school, reinvigorated the remaining staff and eventually took over the school's leadership in an attempt to revive it.
The school gained accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission—North Central Association of Colleges and Schools in 1976 and grew rapidly during the mid- to late 1900s and expanded with campus locations across Michigan.
Campus
Davenport University's W.A. Lettinga Main Campus is located in Grand Rapids. The campus contains three academic buildings, a field house/student activities center, two suite-style residence halls, and one traditional-style residence hall with a full cafeteria.
The Richard M. DeVos and Jay Van Andel Academic Center is the main academic building on the campus. The building was complete in 2005 at the cost of $23 million. It includes classroom and technology space and was constructed to look like a large office building in concert with Davenport University's focus on business, technology, and health degrees. The facility includes academic advising, career services, and university offices, the campus bookstore and spirit shop, a café and dining location, the Margaret D. Sneden Library.
The Robert W. Sneden Center, completed in 2010, is an $8.5 million academic and arts extension connecting to the existing DeVos and Van Andel Academic Center. The extension features additional classroom and technology space, faculty office space, and a modern 220-seat auditorium.
The Donald W. Maine Business Building is a business building designed to incorporate multi-media technology. The Donald W. Maine College of Business building will be more than 60,000 square feet. A new Entrepreneurial Center will provide individuals seeking to start and grow businesses in West Michigan opportunities to consult with professionals at each stage in the process.
The Student Center opened in 2008 and became the fourth LEED certified building on the main DU campus. The facility houses meeting rooms, student social areas, Student Life Office, Student Center Café, a third on-campus dining area, fitness center with indoor rock climbing wall and suspended running track, and indoor basketball and volleyball court. The Field House is connected to the Student Center and is a 1,500-seat arena that serves as the home for DU Panthers men's & women's basketball and women's volleyball teams.
Beginning with the 2017–18 academic year, Davenport is a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) and NCAA Division II. In addition to national team championships in competitive cheer, hockey, lacrosse, rugby and soccer, plus individual championships in track & field, Davenport's men's and women's teams include baseball, basketball, cross country, dance, football, golf, softball, tennis, volleyball and wrestling.
Residence halls
In recent years DU has undergone a transition from a commuter and online business school to include characteristics of a traditional university. The school has increased its athletic program, athletic facilities, and student life facilities. Davenport currently has three residence halls on the main campus, with an off-campus apartment complex.