Carroll College - Hilltopper Yearbook (Helena, MT)

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Retsvbifwct Seventeen years have passed since the publication of a yearbook at Carroll. It is fitting, therefore, to chronicle here the chief events recorded in THE PROSPECTOR, the Carroll monthly publication, during that interval. ACCREDITATION—Noteworthy was the announcement on March 24, 1932, of the fact that Carroll (then known as Mt. St. Charles), had been elevated to the rank of a senior four-year college by the North Central Association at its annual meeting. The college had been on the junior college listing of the Association since 1922. CHANGE OF NAME--By one of his last official acts, the third Bishop of Helena. George J. Finnigan, changed the name of Mount St. Charles College to Carroll College. The change was made in honor of her illustrious founder, John P. Carroll, second bishop of Helena. The change officially took place on Sunday, May 29, 1932, with the twenty-second commencement exercises. EARTHQUAKES—Earthquakes struck Helena in the fall of 1935, causing city-wide damage. In the two major shocks, which struck on October 18 and 31, Carroll itself suffered approximately $12,000 in damage, mainly to stone gables, cornices, and plaster walls. The disaster necessitated the dismissal of classes until November 11, 1935. By November 4. 1936, earthquake damage to the building had been completely repaired. OBSERVATORY—An astronomical observatory on the south slope of the college campus was built by the students in 1937 to house a telescope designed and constructed by them at the college under the supervision of Dr. Edward Neuman. C.P.T. PROGRAM -Carroll was approved for participation in the Civilian Pilot Training program of the Civil Aeronautics Administration on September 29, 1939. Dr. Edward Neuman was Coordinator of the program. On November 17, 1939, aviation students began training under the program, taking their flight instruction from the Morrison Flying Service at the Helena Airport. ACADEMIC RECOGNITION —Further academic recognition of the College was received on November 14. 1939. Dr. Roy J. Defarrari. secretary general of the Catholic University of America, announced that the academic senate of the University had voted to affiliate Carroll as a senior college with the Catholic University. On April 2, 1940, Dr. Anselm M. Keefe, secretary of the National Catholic Educational Association, advised that Carroll had been accepted by the Association as a member with complete senior college rating. Carroll College was awarded the Gamma chapter of Delta Epsilon Sigma, national Catholic honor so ciety, on April 25, 1940. GROTTO—On May 24. 1942. at impressive ceremonies, the Grotto of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the north side of the campus was formally dedicated. Originally the idea of Bishop Finnigan, the work of construction was begun in 1934 by Rev. Matthias Weber. Work then ceased until 1939 when it was resumed by Rev. John F. Cronin and Coach Ed Simonich. Above right: C.A.A. Aviation Class. 1940. Right: Navy V-5 Cadets, 1943.

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tf-OA w id Seventeen years ago this Spring Carroll published its first annual, The Pioneer. Because there was a popular demand for a more appropriate title, HILLTOPPER, a word rich in Carroll tradition, was chosen for this year's annual. The site selected for Carroll College was originally contemplated as the location of the State Capitol, and had been called Capitol Hill. In fact, the college acquired for a short interval the title of Capitol Hill College. During the years, too, Carroll's athletic teams have frequently been referred to as the Hilltoppers. Besides a change in the name of the yearbook many other changes have occurred on the Hilltop. To pass on to you some of these now loaturos, an well as some of the more traditional ones, has boon the aim of this y« it ii HOltoppor.

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THE WAR YEARS This next section oi the retrospect might well be called Carroll Goes to War. tor that is just what Carroll did. Her history during this period represents activity aimed essentially at the war effort through training of civilian pilots, naval aviation cadets, and naval bluejackets. AIR TRAINING PROGRAM—The first wartime change noted at Carroll College was the conversion of the Civilian Pilot Training program into a military operation under the Civil Aeronautics Administration War Training Service in the summer of 1942. Trainees under this program were army and navy enlisted personnel and they were housed and fed at the college. Originally this program was intended to initiate the training of pilots for glider, service, and ferry duty in the Army and for combat duty in the Navy. The training of army personnel was terminated in January. 1943, but the training of navy pilots under the Navy V-S program continued until August 1944. Under these various programs Carroll trained 127 civilian pilots, 38 army pilots, and 550 navy V-5 pilots. ACCELERATED COURSE- -In accord with wartime training schedules, the Board of Studies on February 26, 1942, adopted an accelerated program. Under the specifications of this schedule, beginning June 7, 1943. Carroll offered annually three sixteen-week semesters. In addition to this, the Board adopted a policy of admitting high school juniors to college status provided they could show a standing in the top third of their high school class. V-12 PROGRAM—The culminating point of Carroll's wartime program was reached on April 30, 1943, when Very Rev. Emmet J. Riley, president of the College, announced that Carroll had been accepted by the Navy Department as a V-12 training school. The program offered was designed to train Naval officer candidates for the Navy Air Corps, Civil Engineer Corps, Construction Corps, Supply Corps, and Chaplain Corps, and to prepare Deck Officers for general Navy duty. On July 1, 1943, Carroll admitted its first group of V-12 trainees. With the departure of the final group of bluejackets on October 24, 1945, and the formal decommissioning of the navy unit on the Hilltop, Carroll finished its war-time task of instructing 704 V-12 trainees. RETURN OF CIVILIANS The end of the war brought the school back to full civilian status on November 3, 1945. A small group of civilian students was registered on July 1, 1945; however. Carroll's first all-civilian post-war student body, consisting largely of former servicemen, was enrolled on November 1, 1945. NEW FEATURES—The fall semester of 1946 witnessed a further innovation in the educational system on the Hilltop when a Department of Nursing Education was inaugurated. Carroll will grant degrees in Nursing Education to its first women graduates. Among the other changes at Carroll attending the war's end was the en- rollment of a large number of married veterans, twenty-five of whom are being housed in Carroll Village. The Village is made up of Federally-constructed housing units and the ''Faculty Club,'’ formerly a faculty residence hall during the Navy stay at Carroll. V-12 Trainees, 1943. V-5 Cadets on Scullon Field.