By the 1944-45 academic year, the United States was deeply involved with the Allied forces in the Second World War. At the University of Virginia, as with many universities across the country, the student body was greatly affected. Although at first the general feeling on campus was a desire to remain uninvolved in the war in Europe, as soon as the United States declared war on Germany, the campus fully supported the war effort through fundraising efforts and the recruitment of both civilian and military defense units.
A major part of the university's war support campaign was to raise money for the troops. Perhaps the major effort on campus was the endorsements and encouragement of the purchase of war bonds. President Newcomb himself was the first to buy a bond and personally headed the war bond campaign. Almost every issue of College Topics contained advertisements for war bonds.
Many organizations held balls in an attempt to rally support and funds for the cause. One of the first, the Defense Ball, was held on January 23, 1943. Admission was $1.25 plus one Defense Savings Stamp. Defense Savings Stamps were used to save money for the war effort. By raising money and insisting upon the use of stamps, the dances encouraged support of America's effort both overseas and at home.
The University succeeded not only in raising monetary support, but also in raising civilian support. The University cooperated with the army by "supplying an air raid lookout for the Lewis Mountain Post." Ten UVa. students volunteered to look for and report any aircraft movement; this was part of the nationwide civilian defense movement that supported WWII. Another civilian support effort was the Red Cross Blood Drive. Students from UVa. united with students at nearby Mary Washington University to help the Red Cross' blood drive.
In addition to drawing monetary support and volunteer support from the university, the U.S. government also took recruits. The University's enrollment dropped nearly in half throughout the war. To cooperate with the military and to make it possible for more young men to go overseas, the University began an accelerated program. All departments, except for three, were run on a twelve month basis. Not only were classes now year-round, but the requirements needed for receiving a degree were lowered. A degree in law or medicine could be achieved in three years. Also stressed was physical fitness and training. President Newcomb instituted compulsory physical education courses for all students of the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Education. These mandatory classes, in addition to the required V-tests by which students could measure their fitness, helped make the young men "war ready". V-tests included sit-ups, pull-ups, and a quarter mile run. An additional accelerated program at UVa. was the Navy R.O.T.C. program. These changes allowed more men to be trained in a shorter time period. Several other steps were taken to draw recruits from the University. The University's quota for enrollment of Navy members was cut drastically to allow for the young navy men to serve their country overseas. UVa. also held a mandatory registration for the Selective Service for all males over twenty years of age. In April of 1942 over three hundred young men were registered in the Rotunda. There was another very interesting addition to the university. A war school was established to train high-ranking officers. Though many of the participants were drawn from officers in the army and the reserves, almost sixty UVa. students were accepted into this program.
However, because of the large number of recruits taken from UVa., the university lost a large number of students, faculty, and alumni to WWII. A feeling of depression and grief settled on the campus. Each student death, from the first of 2d. Lt. Harry H. Gaver- US Marines ,who was killed in the bombing of Pearl Harbor, to the last, was reported in the school newspaper. To honor these brave young men, the University of Virginia erected a tablet in memory to the 321 men from the university who died in the war. To this day, the memorial can be found in the North Portico in the Rotunda. The student body also planned a special edition of the Corks and Curls, The Victory Book, to commemorate the war.
However, as supportive as the campus was to the war effort, students desperately wanted an end to the violent war, especially as the newspaper became filled with articles on those students who were killed in WWII. In August of 1945, Japan finally surrendered. Students were thrilled with the news: "the corner was near riot." Soon the university had to adjust to peacetime once again. The accelerated academic programs were ended with the war and the unaccelerated programs were put back into effect. Enrollment increased by 40%. Though not as much as the war itself, the end of World War II also had major impacts on the university.
By: Torrie Copperthwaite