![\"The](\"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/files\/2014\/11\/1892drillteam.jpg\")
<\/a>The Cutler Academy drill team outside Cutler Hall, 1892.<\/p><\/div>\n
A Century of Turmoil<\/h2>\n
In the 20th century\u2019s early decades, Colorado College\u2019s contribution to both global scholarship and global conflict grew. The United States\u2019 entry into the Great War on April 6, 1917, \u201cmarked the beginning of an era of profound change in American society \u2014 a change in values and mores that would also bring turbulence to the college\u201d (Juan J. Reid, \u201cColorado College: The First Century, 1874-1974,\u201d Page 85). On May 8, 1917, a special Commencement ceremony was held for those withdrawing for military service. Fourteen men, bound for the Army Reserve Training Corps at Fort Riley, Kansas., were awarded their diplomas that day. Additionally, the CC faculty lost three members to government service in connection to the new war efforts.<\/p>\n
In January 1918, the college adopted a military training program for all male students and was tasked with the instruction of an Army Signal Corps service school. The first contingent of men, trained as radio operators by the college\u2019s Physics Department, reported on May 15, 1918. Hagerman Hall and Cossitt Gymnasium were converted to military housing for the troops, Washburn Field was used as a drill field, and trenches were dug on the campus near Nevada Avenue to provide training in trench warfare. Straw-filled dummies were set up so that male students could practice bayoneting the enemy. (Robert D. Loevy, \u201cColorado College: A Place of Learning, 1874-1999,\u201d Page 111) <\/i><\/p>\n Bayonet attack training on campus, 1918. Historical photos courtesy of Special Collections<\/p><\/div>\n For the remaining seven months of the war, a total of 512 men received radio and telegraph training at the school. Of those 512, \u201c355 had seen service overseas\u201d (\u201cColorado College: The First Century, 1874-1974,\u201d Page 89).<\/span><\/p>\n Under the assured leadership of CC President Thurston J. Davies,\u00a0 the college experienced drastic growth. New property acquisitions, and renovations to student housing, additional student services, and instructional improvements despite harsh economic times added to a seemingly unstoppable wave of optimism surrounding the college as the 1930s came to a close. With the outbreak of war in Europe in September 1939, Colorado College entered a new phase of military involvement \u2014 one of its most prominent and enduring.<\/p>\n As the Axis forces moved across Europe, the mood on campus began to change. CC students were polled about the possibility of the United States getting involved in the war, and it was shouted down \u2014 290 to 20. Against. By the fall of 1940, however, the situation overseas had drastically changed. Britain was on the verge of collapse, and France had fallen under the rule of the Vichy government \u2014 a puppet government of the Nazis, who had taken control of the country.<\/p>\n The U.S. acted incrementally, first passing the Compulsory Military Training Act. At Colorado College, all male faculty and students between the ages of 21-35 were required to register for the draft. A year later, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, winning the war replaced educational excellence as CC\u2019s primary goal. (\u201cA Place of Learning,\u201d Page 126).\u00a0 Male students began to disappear from campus as they either volunteered for or were drafted into service. In March 1942, President Davies was commissioned as a major in the U.S. Marines and assigned to Marine headquarters in Washington, D.C. His influence on Colorado College did not wane during his absence, as he was placed in charge of the Navy V-12 college training program. This was designed to enlist and train young males for military service while also allowing them to take college-level classes. Colorado College was quickly brought into the program.<\/p>\n Once again, Washburn Field became the focal point of all military drills and training on campus, and victory gardens were set up grow vegetables and raise livestock to help the war effort. While President Davies was in Washington with the Marine Corps, Dean Charlie B. Hershey was appointed as acting president of the college. He made swift changes to implement all the necessary requirements for the college to take part in the V-12 program. The college converted more than half a dozen buildings into Navy housing and erected Quonset huts and barracks on campus.<\/p>\n Quonset huts on campus, used to house enlisted students, families, and, after the war, veterans and returning students.<\/p><\/div>\n V-12 Navy-Marine trainees parade on Washburn Field, 1943.<\/p><\/div>\n All told, 52 CC students lost their lives serving their country in the Second World War.<\/span><\/p>\n Throughout the course of the war, the city of Colorado Springs changed dramatically. Camp Carson, constructed in 1942, \u201cbecame a major Army training base, particularly for tanks and other forms of mechanized warfare\u201d (\u201cA Place of Learning,\u201d Page 129). Peterson Air Field, an Army Air Corps training base, was built to the east of the city, and the \u201cheadquarters of the Army 2nd Air Force was established in the eastern section of the town\u201d (\u201cColorado College: The First Century, 1874-1974,\u201d Page 155). These additions brought thousands of servicemen, workmen, and families to the city. In short, Colorado Springs grew to resemble the town that later Colorado College graduates came to know \u2013 a military town.<\/p>\n After the war ended in the fall of 1945, Colorado College entered a period of prosperity and togetherness. President Davies returned to his post, but health concerns forced him to resign in 1948. Colorado College\u2019s eighth president, William H. Gill, took over for him.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>