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