Cornell University - Cornellian Yearbook (Ithaca, NY)

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HIE UNIVZRSITY AND NIL' Cornellians returning this fall found that the grim necessities of war had changed their c f are ree life. Gone were the convertibles of former years, and lucky was the Carnellifm man who owned a rattle-trap. For once it was safe to cross Thurston Avenue in front of Risley. A few bicycles appeared. Even Louie finally ran out of gas. For the first time there was a compulsory Freshman Week At f , oot- ball games half of the crescent was empty. Houseparties were banned and then furiously debated, Bothj. P. 's and the .Yun refused to function on Mondays. The Straight kept running out of cokes. Lou Boochever was no more. Saturday night busses were crowded to overflowing and many a co-ed got minutes for being late. Naval officers marched from the S. S. Sage to their mess hall while co-eds from neighboring cottages trouped in to the Sage dining room. Men students had to spend one or two afternoons a week boxing or rowing and another scrambling under and over the obstacles on the new commando course. Cutting classes was Verboten. Despite the war, fraternities, committees, the Dutch, and Sebela continued. But in general blue jeans were slowly becoming supplanted by uniforms, and collecting shingles was less important than collecting grades. Every week brought new departures and enlistments, engagements and marriages. Instructors were drafted along with students. The President and some of the Faculty commuted between Ithaca and Washington. The various colleges had to make the best o t e needs of a country at war. By attending summer sessions students were able to step up the speed of college education. Enlistment in the Reserve Corps made it possible for men to continue their studies for a while longer. ln the College of Arts and Sciences wartime pressures placed new emphasis on courses leading to war and post-war work. New opportunities ranged from map making and stenog- raphy to' an intensined course in Russian. On the campus of the Agricultural College work was going on in farm training, rubber research, and camouflage instruction. To meet the country's increasing need for trained dieticians and researchists the College of Home Economics went on a compulsory three-term plan. The Hotel Colle ' ' ' ' ge gave courses in military personnel and war-time food problems. of their depleted faculties and adapt themselves t h

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C'0RlVEZL A7 WAR Cornell University was chartered in 1865, in the last year of the Civil War. In 1868 its first four hundred students rose every morning to reveille and marched to classes in military fashion. Cornellians served in the Spanish- American War in 1898, and in the last World War, Cornell has always had a compulsory Reserve Officers Training Program. To Cornell, war is not new. The University was born in the shadow of one war and gave her sons to two that followed. Now has come a fourth generation of Cornellians and a fourth war. This year has been one of change, of confusion, of loss, and of accomplish- ment. Some of the fun and freedom of college life has been scrapped for the duration. And more will go. Education has become increasingly accelerated and purposeful. Cornell, like other American colleges and universities, must train officers for the armed services and civilian experts for the home front. Physical training has become essential. There are more men marching on the Hill than ever before-men in Army khaki and men in Navy blue. lt was essentially a peacetime way of living that students left behind them at the end of last spring. Then began a period of transition, a year in which Cornell has seen the war brought closer, and closer. At the beginning of the 1942-43 college year the University and the Students, the R.O.T.C., and the Navy at Cornell showed these changes- changes which were to continue to an extent that no one might foresee.

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f aaifdwag. 'ZWWWJ 4 f' 0- W I Veterinarians were enabled by an accelerated program to graduate in two and two-thirds years. Students in Architecture were offered new courses in planning and industrial design. The accelerated plan adopted by the Engineering College Faculty went into effecton June first. By taking three continuous terms a year, four-year students could graduate in three years. Olin Hall, new Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, was dedicated in October. Academic standards became stricter than ever, since the Engineering College was undertaking to train not only undergraduates but also defense workers from cities in New York State, Army Ordnance Inspectors, Naval officers, civilian pilots, and Curtiss-Wright cadettes. Everyone contributed sooner or later to the student-organized Cornell for Victory Committee. Victory Wardens sold war savings stamps and collected scrap. The Cornell Victory Chest, whose largest beneficiary was the USO, went way over its quota. War stamp corsages were the order for dances. Willing victims were stabbed in one arm by a Red Cross Blood Donor Unit and in the other by an Army Influenza Commission. The Faculty permitted houseparties for the gala Victory Week-end at the end of the first term. Proceeds of the Victory Show, written and produced by students, went for war bonds. In 1942-43 Cornellians looked about them at their changing campus and wondered what it would be like next year, if they were there next year.