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| students_army_corps [2023/05/09 19:36] – bsternal | students_army_corps [2023/07/12 17:58] (current) – [Background] bant06 |
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| ===== Background ===== | ===== Background ===== |
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| There was a vested interest in instilling military training at Trinity College since its earliest days as [[washington_college|Washington College]]. "[[brownell_thomas_church|Bishop Brownell]] had hoped that military exercises and drill would find an important place in the curriculum," even going so far as to hire a Professor of Mathematics and Engineering trained at West Point "with a view of his employing the students in military exercises, during a portion of their leisure hours; as conducive to their health, and as subservient to their better government." While this did not come to fruition (and neither did his dream of mandatory uniforms) Brownell did organize the [[phalanx|Phalanx (later, Archers)]], the College's first ceremonial drill team. During the Civil War, the [[graham_guard|Graham Guard]] was organized by students with the support of the Connecticut Adjutant General, who supplied rifles and uniforms for [[old_campus|on-campus]] drills. The College briefly considered introducing a Military Science department to the curriculum in 1862, but this was abandoned. | There was a vested interest in instilling military training at Trinity College since its earliest days as [[washington_college|Washington College]]. "[[brownell_thomas_church|Bishop Brownell]] had hoped that military exercises and drill would find an important place in the curriculum," even going so far as to hire a Professor of Mathematics and Engineering trained at West Point "with a view of his employing the students in military exercises, during a portion of their leisure hours; as conducive to their health, and as subservient to their better government." While this did not come to fruition (and neither did his dream of mandatory uniforms) Brownell did organize the [[phalanx|Phalanx (later, Archers)]], the College's first ceremonial drill team. During the [[civil_war|Civil War]], the [[graham_guard|Graham Guard]] was organized by students with the support of the Connecticut Adjutant General, who supplied rifles and uniforms for [[old_campus|on-campus]] drills. The College briefly considered introducing a Military Science department to the curriculum in 1862, but this was abandoned. |
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| ===== The War Spirit ===== | ===== The War Spirit ===== |
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| Trinity Term [Summer 1918] marked the high tide of the "war spirit at Trinity." The Political Science Club, under faculty leadership of Professor Edward F. Humphrey, held regular meetings which featured militaristic programs and speeches. The campus east of the Gymnasium was ploughed up for "war gardens" in which plots were assigned to residents of the neighborhood by the Home Gardens Commission. And at an "Open Air Patriotic Service," which was held on Sunday, June 18, 1918, the day before [[commencement|Commencement]], Ex-President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt delivered [[theodore_roosevelt_speech|an address]] which urged the Trinity community to the greatest heights of patriotic endeavor.//((Weaver, pp. 282-283.)) Roosevelt's speech centered on the need to "win the war, and win it now," and chastised inaction or neutrality in times of war, which would only delay future conflicts. A Bible verse quoted in his speech is memorialized in the [[roosevelt_plaque|Roosevelt plaque]] on the [[long_walk|Long Walk.]] | Trinity Term [Summer 1918] marked the high tide of the "war spirit at Trinity." The Political Science Club, under faculty leadership of Professor Edward F. Humphrey, held regular meetings which featured militaristic programs and speeches. The campus east of the [[alumni_hall|Gymnasium]] was ploughed up for "war gardens" in which plots were assigned to residents of the neighborhood by the Home Gardens Commission. And at an "Open Air Patriotic Service," which was held on Sunday, June 18, 1918, the day before [[commencement|Commencement]], Ex-President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt delivered [[theodore_roosevelt_speech|an address]] which urged the Trinity community to the greatest heights of patriotic endeavor.//((Weaver, pp. 282-283.)) Roosevelt's speech centered on the need to "win the war, and win it now," and chastised inaction or neutrality in times of war, which would only delay future conflicts. A Bible verse quoted in his speech is memorialized in the [[roosevelt_plaque|Roosevelt plaque]] on the [[long_walk|Long Walk.]] |
| ===== Student Army Training Corps ===== | ===== Student Army Training Corps ===== |
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| In 1918, a Congressional Act replaced the R.O.T.C. with the Student Army Training Corps and established a program on the Trinity Campus in October. The program "instead of adapting the training to the special skills of the colleges, literally turned the campuses into army camps" which, due to "indiscriminate admission," brought many young men to the campus who were ill-prepared for even the "diluted" higher education taking place. On October 1, 1918, all Trinity students who were physically fit for military service were inducted into the S.A.T.C., given uniforms and rifles, and made subject to military regulations; at the same time, inductions began with a quota of 175. | In 1918, a Congressional Act replaced the R.O.T.C. with the Student Army Training Corps and established a program on the Trinity Campus in October. The program "instead of adapting the training to the special skills of the colleges, literally turned the campuses into army camps" which, due to "indiscriminate admission," brought many young men to the campus who were ill-prepared for even the "diluted" higher education taking place. On October 1, 1918, all Trinity students who were physically fit for military service were inducted into the S.A.T.C., given uniforms and rifles, and made subject to military regulations; at the same time, inductions began with a quota of 175. |
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| "Cadets," as they were called, spent long hours at drills with little time for academic study and scholastic achievement fell to a "deplorable low." President Luther felt it necessary to reduce academic courses as well as the number of faculty. The War Department stated that "[[fraternities|fraternity]] activities and military discipline are incompatible in the very nature of things," so all "Fraternity activities" were temporarily suspended, as was compulsory [[chapel|Chapel]] attendance. At that time the //[[tripod|Tripod]]// was filled with articles detailing new military regulations and orders, activities around campus which included 24-hour guard duty, required keeping of war diaries "as an accurate account of one side of the history of the war," and instructions on uniform-wearing, such as the fact that "HANDS WILL NOT BE KEPT IN THE POCKETS" of the cadets' wool overcoats. The //Tripod// also detailed promotions, schedules, Trinity alumni on the front, battalion songs, military speakers, and were filled with advertisements for military equipment and uniforms. | "Cadets," as they were called, spent long hours at drills with little time for academic study and scholastic achievement fell to a "deplorable low." President Luther felt it necessary to reduce academic courses as well as the number of faculty. The War Department stated that "[[fraternities|fraternity]] activities and military discipline are incompatible in the very nature of things," so all "fraternity activities" were temporarily suspended, as was compulsory [[chapel|Chapel]] attendance. At that time the //[[tripod|Trinity Tripod]]// was filled with articles detailing new military regulations and orders, activities around campus which included 24-hour guard duty, required keeping of war diaries "as an accurate account of one side of the history of the war," and instructions on uniform-wearing, such as the fact that "HANDS WILL NOT BE KEPT IN THE POCKETS" of the cadets' wool overcoats. The //Tripod// also detailed promotions, schedules, Trinity alumni on the front, battalion songs, military speakers, and were filled with advertisements for military equipment and uniforms. |
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| The S.A.T.C. program was demobilized in December 1918, an "act which transformed the 'college on the hill' to just a plain college, after over two months as an army post." | The S.A.T.C. program was demobilized in December 1918, an "act which transformed the 'college on the hill' to just a plain college, after over two months as an army post." |
| Over the next few months, many of the discharged S.A.T.C. members left the College, leaving the few civilian students to transition to normalcy, but even they were not prepared for College-level academics or had no intellectual background. | Over the next few months, many of the discharged S.A.T.C. members left the College, leaving the few civilian students to transition to normalcy, but even they were not prepared for College-level academics or had no intellectual background. |
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| On December 7, 1918, Luther submitted his resignation, citing poor health, his age (70) and his inability to discharge his duties. It was accepted by the Trustees on January 18, 1919. | On December 7, 1918, Luther submitted his resignation, citing poor health, his age (70) and his inability to discharge his duties. It was accepted by the Trustees on January 18, 1919. |
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