The Drake University founders’ dream of a “broad-based and liberally nonsectarian” educational climate, dating back to 1881, has led to various waves of student advocacy and activism across campus. Although efforts in the modern sociopolitical environment may look different from those 145 years ago, the primary goal of representational equality remains the same.
“I’m very impressed by our students and their willingness to get involved,” current Drake President Marty Martin said. “This is the world that [students are] moving into, and it’s the world that [students are] going to have the opportunity to shape.”
Paint It Black
One of the most notable acts of student activism on campus today is Paint It Black, where students paint their names in a black circle located at the start of Painted Street.
The tradition began on Nov. 16, 2018, in response to a series of racist letters slipped under students of color’s residence hall doors. Additionally, it was reported that a 75-second robocall, played across roughly 250 Drake landlines, stated that Black students should be “expelled” to Africa and that they “have low IQs.” These calls were found to be sent out by a white supremacist group called The Road to Power.
“I think it woke up some of our students who don’t necessarily have to live through this reality, this fear of being judged because of your skin tone or judged because of your sexuality,” said Jazlin Coley-Smith, director of Drake’s Crew Scholars Program.
Coley-Smith was a student at Drake during the time the letters were sent.
Eight years ago, students painted the street black for solidarity. Now, the tradition continues as a matter of accountability.
“The reason why it stayed so long is because of [the] commitment that not only the admin does, but also the students themselves [do] … for Drake to work for what we stand for diversity, equity and inclusion,” said Student Body President Ty Walls.
Student efforts are often supported through the community and campus resources.
“Students have power, regardless of if they know it or not … and it’s not their responsibility to handle this alone,” said Coley-Smith.
Programs like the Crew Scholars and the Office of Equity and Inclusion offer focused social and academic support, recognition of individual identities and encouragement of active campus involvement to make campus more inclusive.
In the eyes of Terrance Pendleton, the associate provost of campus equity and inclusion, these departments aim to remind students of the power and impact of their voice, regardless of “waiting for permission.” Most forms of activism are largely student-led initiatives.
“We might give them the match, [but] they’re the ones that strike it,” Pendleton said.
Black Monday
The flame for holding the Drake administration and campus accountable when students feel underrepresented or unacknowledged has been burning for decades.
Students of the Black Student Forum wrote a statement of purpose to the then-president, Paul F. Sharp, designating May 20, 1968, as Black Monday in commemoration of Malcom X’s birthday.
This was done to show pride for the Black community amid the social and political climate on Drake’s campus.
“We feel it necessary to institute our own form of protest against the existing prejudice, social inequalities, and general neglect of the role played by the Black Americans, past and present,” the Forum said in the statement of purpose as preserved by the Drake Archives.
The Black Monday event took place between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to discuss and find a resolution for the problems and inequities felt by Black students on campus.
In a statement believed to be intended for the Drake administration, concerned Black students on campus wrote, “We feel that if Drake is to be a truly great university, it must first recognize and then correct the disparities and injustices suffered.”
Following this event, it was documented that undisclosed damage was caused to Hubbell Dining Hall. The Forum was expected to pay these costs.
However, the Black Student Forum refused to accept responsibility for the damages, arguing that these claims were “based on circumstantial evidence of skin color.”
On May 24, 1968, an ad hoc group of white students on campus announced they would pay for the damages, so long as the University held the students responsible for the damages accountable and presented a cost list from the manufacturer or distributor.
ROTC protests
Movements for social change were not confined to Drake-related issues; instead, campus served as a gateway to address national issues.
“Things don’t stop at 25th Street or 31st Street; they come across the street, whether in person, physically or virtually,” Martin said. “[Drake is a university that] has…the right to freedom of thought [and] freedom of association, and we’re going to defend that space.”
At Kent State University on May 4, 1970, members of the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd protesting President Richard Nixon’s American invasion of Cambodia, killing four students and injuring nine. This event resulted in mass anti-war strikes and walkouts on more than 883 university campuses. Over 100 officially closed classes for at least one day. Drake was one of these campuses.
Students began protests on May 6, 1970, against the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps — a college-based military officer training program — in Helmick Commons, but moved to Old Main two days later.
Additionally, students sent out an undated letter reading, “We want the war — and all violence — to end now!! We feel it can, if we all work toward it. Think about it — think about the above issues, then work with us for PEACE NOW.”
Sharp stated that classes would be dismissed on May 6 and that classes the following Thursday and Friday would be optional, in response to the student demonstrations and to “encourage the University community to re-examine its conscience and its role in a time of crisis.”
On May 14 at 3 a.m., it was reported that roughly 300 students broke into the lower levels of Old Main, bearing pillows and blankets in further protest of the campus ROTC programs. With much resistance from students and Drake’s ROTC program, Sharp canceled the ROTC awards scheduled for late May.
“We are at a loss to understand how you and the administration of as large an institution as Drake University can be intimidated by such a small minority,” said Donald I. Swim, the past Commander of Baldwin-Patterson Post #274 American Legion, in a letter to Sharp.
The Drake University Senate, described as an internal governing body on campus, held a scheduled vote on Friday, May 15, on whether to abolish the ROTC program. The Senate voted to preserve the program. Additionally, it was ruled that students were granted the right to an incomplete in any course taken that semester due to “unusual times.”
Campus activism today
Forms of protest and student activism have largely continued to this day, although in different forms.
According to the Crowd Counting Consortium, a study by Harvard University and the University of Connecticut, there have been a total of 29,138 cumulative protests in the first nine months of Donald Trump’s second term, as compared to the 8,314 in 2017.
One of the key players in this increase was the “No Kings” group, which held its first nationally organized protest in June 2025 and its third on May 28, 2026. Flyers for this event, as well as chalkwork, were posted across Drake’s campus.
“It makes you feel like you have a support system…[and makes you] want to fight that much stronger to go against the power in our country,” said Natasia Johnson, president of Drake’s Coalition of Black Students, in response to seeing the flyers on campus.
However, in the modern age of social media, activism often exists through reposts and shares.
“It’s just not in our face the way that it was when I was a student. I don’t think that takes away from the effort … if anything, it makes it, it makes it a little bit more accessible for students to be a part of,” said Coley-Smith.
The accessibility Coley-Smith refers to allows for a greater range of accommodations and engagement to be easier and safer for students.
In a 2023 Pew Research study regarding activism through media use, it was revealed that 46% of social media users say they have taken part in a group that shares an interest in an issue or cause, encouraged others to take action, looked up info on protests or rallies happening in their area, changed their profile picture to support a cause or used hashtags related to a political or social issues in the past year.
“Advocacy and activism looks different for everybody,” Walls said. “I think at the end of the day, you have to find what you’re comfortable with and … I think that still counts, it’s just in a different space, in a different showing of it.”
