Fordham University - Maroon Yearbook (New York, NY)

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c L .5554 generation was struck by the lightning Hash of pure power. At first the return to peace seemed almost as unbelievable as the leap into war. But it was easy to forget a global war and think of home. Readjustment became the stock-in-trade of the female Freuds on the Ladies Home Jour- nal, most of us thought it was wonderful. Meantime, at Fordham, the class of '47 wel- comed an ever-increasing number of returning servicemen. By January of 1946, those neat lit- tle graphs swung upward, there were 675 in the college now. Every few weeks new classes seemed to be entering-revived enthusiasm awakened dormant activities. The familiar grid uniforms were re-issued as Ed Danowski made the welcome announcement of spring l practice. Over in Collins, dusty sets were cleared away in anticipation of a cycle of one- act plays and Saint in a Hurry. By April, the baseball season was well under wayg and Father Cox's debaters were facing an ambitious schedule. The Glee Club, moderated by Father Farley, as always staged a concert at Town Hall, featuring members of past classes, re- turned to the Fordham scene for one night.

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life to halls now almost deserted. Only a bare nucleus remembered the old Fordham ways. The war could not wait for gentler things. Through September . . . October . . . No- vember . . . December . . . campus life went slowly on-a mere echo of better days. By jan- uary, 1944, 330 students were enrolled in the college. The Class of '47 was in attendance elsewhere. But in September of 1944, a new group of lively freshmen caught the baton for '47, em- barking on what was to be an uninterrupted stay at Fordham. October witnessed the grad- uation of 28 men of '45, members of that freshman class of unprecedented size which had entered three years before. It was a mark of the times that the gym, once the sacrosanct domain of Pat Kenneally, became a monster barracks for an Army Postal Battalion. A hint of the future was given in january of '45 when Fordham began the pleasant task of rehabilitating the veteran, as a few for- mer members of the armed forces resumed their education on the campus. The hope for things to come was stimulated by the revival of the basketball and baseball teams in the '44-'45 season. Fordham teams have had bet- ter seasons, but not often better spirit. Expectancy was the mood of the spring of 1945-a tense hopefulness was in the air. In the Ardennes, Von Rundstedt had loosed his last desperate bolt-and missed, Patton was fording the Rhine. The riddled fortress of Europe crumbled and the god-state vanished. As the men of '47 in Europe laid down their arms, their classmates in the Pacific tightened the steel ring of ships about the islands of japan. Then, in one explosive moment in the still air above Hiroshima, the future of our

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Meeting with almost universal approval, the accelerated program was continued in order to make as many men as possible eligible for graduation in the summer of '47. The Class of '47 spent the warm months on Rose Hill, nodding and starting through junior philos- ophy. When the summer session ended, there were 975 men in all the classesg September arrived, and enrollment more than doubled as 2100 students swarmed through the halls. The Class of '47 was finally assembled. And by now it was evident that the much-touted conflict be- tween veteran and non-veteran simply did not exist. It seemed to have gotten lost in a sea of good fellowship. Fordham had come back, surpassing even the most hopeful predictions. The cafeteria could scarcely accommodate the eleven o'clock coffee club, and temporary barracks were springing up to house the overflow of resi- dents. Spellman Hall took shape behind Keat- ingg and for the first time, the college held classes for Freshmen in the evenings. New courses were offered, the faculty welcomed new members, the new Department of Com- munication Arts was opened, training under- graduates for careers in theater and radio. And it really seemed as if the long-awaited Golden Age was dawning. Through the Fall of '46, a new vigor char- acterized all the phases of student activity. Home games with St. Mary's and N.Y.U. highlighted a pre-war intersectional grid sched- ule. Although in many respects an unsuccess- ful season, it represented Fordham's first ven- ture on the post-war gridiron. They turned them away at the doors of the gym the night of the Harvester Hop, and the same success rewarded the efforts of the Sophs at their Christmas Dance. Wings Over Europe was an auspicious opening for the most ambitious season the Mimes had ever attempted, and the Ramblings of '46 pointed the way for future musical comedies. The RAM and the Monthly resumed regular publication, the language clubs were organized. Pre-war stars gave the basketball team the lift it had lacked in last year's revival. Popular Bob Geigengack, after revivifying the track team, had left for Yale to be replaced by the