Villanova University - Belle Air Yearbook (Villanova, PA)

Page 23 text:

AND A PDOIl ENROLLMENT Clossroom facilities are crowded as never bofore. and class hours run continuously from eight in the morning until eight in the evening. Students leaving the campus in the early afternoon at the completion of their classes frequently meet a group of commuters com- ing up from the railroad station with books and lunch bag. ready to begin their doy of study. Construction of a temporary building, which will provide an additional sixteen classrooms and six offices for faculty, will help to alleviate the overcrowded condition. The resulting smaller closses will tend to bring bock the smoll-college otmosphere of pre-war Villanova.

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PEACE BRINGS MANY VETS Other chonges were brought obout because of the unprecedentedly high enrollment. Chapel services were held separately for freshmen and upperclassmen, two evenings a week for each. The infirmary, now entirely too small was moved from Mendel Hall to larger quorters in Middleton Hall The book store was moved to a more spacious section in the west wing of Mendel Hall Eighteen professors were added to faculty, among whom were a number of recent Villonovo graduates. A new Pie Shop was planned to meet the increased demands of a doubled day-student enrollment Expansion was also carried into the field of sports. With a football and basketball team, both far stronger thon any others since 1942, Villonovo again climbed to its heights of pre-war years. Since both of these teams were composed mainly of freshmen, the prospects for the future seem, indeed, to be bright. For the first time since early in 1943 formol dances were returned to the campus social life. The Senior dances were held in January, while those of the Junior class took place, os formerly, in early Spring. However, despite the rapid return of the regular college program, reminders of the war days were to be found in the weekly Mosses offered for the sixty-one Villonovo stu- dents who had given their lives for their country. Though Villonovo has experienced many changes in o few years, it still retains that particular beauty and atmosphere which is port of a small college. True to her heritage of more thon one hundred years, she looks for- ward today, os she has during all her existence, to more and more years of continued service in the cause of Catholic education, and in the cause of Christ, whose message she insists on as vital to a still struggling America. Registration soared to new heights os over 1900 students crowded the campus for the opening of the fall term. As a necessary result of this, long lines formed in front of the offices of the Registrar Dean, and Veterans' Administrator, filled the main corridor of Mendel Holl and overflowed to the front drive. A major problem was evaluating credits obtained by applicants from other colleges and service schools. It became necessary to rearrange the schedule for chapel services in order to accommodate the greatly enlarged student body. In contrast to previous years when one service sufficed for the entire school, separate devotions are conducted for freshmen and upper- classmen. Several Masses are held doily ot various hours in the morning so thot all students, including non-residents, will hove an opportunity to attend.

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With the completion of registration ond the commencement of classes, other lines disappeared from the campus scene, but the line entering the resident dining-hall is a constant occurrence. Three times a day the main corridor of Mendel Hall is filled for nearly its entire length with waiting diners. To the veterans, the chow line is an old familiar story. Food shortages and labor difficulties presented a serious handicap in the early port of the year, but these ore now less acute. An additional difficulty is the fact that setting the lunch hour has become o matter of finding the most convenient time on each student's schedule. This is one of the foremost difficulties in ar- ranging for meetings of clubs and other extra-curricular activi- ties, which formerly took advantage of the noon hour, when the entire student body was free. The Veterans' Administration maintains a fully-staffed office in Mendel Hall to take core of the routine involved in handling the affairs of the many veteran students. Above. George A. Horris, campus representative for the Veterans, is consulted by a student concerning an overdue subsistence chock. Seventy-six percent of the total enrollment ore veterans, twenty percent of whom are married. Room registration presented a difficult problem for Father McKee, whose tosk it was to arrange housing for the 969 resident students. Three and four men were assigned to rooms in the various resi- dence halls that had formerly accommodated two. Rooms in Simp- son Hall, once devoted entirely to Seminars, were converted to temporary living quarters. 20