You're in the Army Now: the Students' Army Training Corps at Selected Virginia Universities in 1918

W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 2008 You're in the Army now: The Students' Army Training Corps at selected Virginia universities in 1918 Michael J. Faughnan William & Mary - School of Education Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Higher Education Commons, Military History Commons, Other Education Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Faughnan, Michael J., "You're in the Army now: The Students' Army Training Corps at selected Virginia universities in 1918" (2008). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1550154061. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.25774/w4-8wzj-pq02 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. YOU'RE IN THE ARMY NOW: THE STUDENTS' ARMY TRAINING CORPS AT SELECTED VIRGINIA UNIVERSITIES IN 1918 A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the School of Education The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy by Michael J. Faughnan May 2008 YOU'RE IN THE ARMY NOW: THE STUDENTS' ARMY TRAINING CORPS AT SELECTED VIRGINIA UNIVERSITIES IN 1918 By Michael J. Faughnan Approved May 2008 by Chairperson ofDoctoral Committee David W. Leslie, Ed.D. William 0. Odom, Ph.D. To Alynne: my wife and friend of twenty-two years upon whom I depend. To my children, William, Daniel, Abigail, and Rachel: I did the work, but you made the real sacrifices. To my parents: You gave me the vision of possibilities through hard work. I could not have asked for better parents. iii Preface This study began during a discussion in which my committee chair and advisor asked ifl had heard of the Students' Army Training Corps (SATC). As a former Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet, former active duty Army officer, and a current Army civilian working at the Training and Doctrine Command, I am certain that the expected response was, "Of course." Far from it, I had never heard of the SATC nor did I have any idea that the Army had worked so closely with universities during World War I. In fact, I assumed, as many due I suppose, that the current relationship between the federal government and universities evolved in a measured pattern. Had I given it much thought or attempted to express those thoughts, I would probably had drawn something akin to a relatively simple straight line graph depicting increasing contact from an easily defined start point past today and into the future. Peaks and valleys would certainly exist, but the central tendency would be easily discernible. What I found was that the relationship between the federal government and universities had a very murky past during which both sides stumbled in their efforts to determine what the appropriate relationship should be. The SATC evolved from the needs of both sides during the early stages of American participation in World War I. As such, it became one of the earliest examples of federal-academic cooperation. Several works concerning twentieth century higher education have addressed the SATC. None to my knowledge have attempted a detailed examination of how the SATC worked and why it could be determined a success or a failure. From the question of what the SATC was, the focus of this study evolved over time into a case study of the SATC IV experience at two universities: the College of William and Mary and the University of Virginia. Lengthy visits to the archives at the College of William and Mary and the University of Virginia yielded a wealth of information concerning the functioning of the SATC at those two schools. Documents from the National Archives provided depth and filled in many gaps concerning the program, particularly from the perspective of the War Department staff responsible for developing training across the Army. Additional archival visits at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), the Virginia Military Institute, Washington and Lee University, and Hampden-Sydney University provided additional background material supporting the study. Unfortunately, these schools did not maintain a significant amount of material concerning the SATC. The Virginia Military Institute and Virginia Tech both have lengthy files on the SATC. However, these institutions have histories that differ from the other schools in the state. Virginia Military Institute was founded as a military academy with the idea of replicating life at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Virginia Tech is Virginia's Land Grant institution, which required it to provide military training from its inception. As a result, in 1918 both schools had lengthy experience providing military training and dealing with the War Department and the Army. Consequently, the archives at both schools contain files of information important to the school, generally directives from the War Department. The back and forth between the military and civilian authorities is not in the files - most likely because it never existed. One of the best sources of information concerning the College of William and Mary is the student newspaper the Flat Hat. The local newspaper publisher printed the v paper for the college. Unfortunately, the publisher was out of business for the brief period during which the SATC existed. Consequently, what might have been a vibrant record of student life during the time was lost. As I analyzed the thousands of pages of material obtained from the various archives patterns began to emerge. At first nebulous, over time these patterns began to coalesce around the several personalities involved with the program. At both universities, the principal players were the presidents and the senior Army officers. The relationship established at each university emerges as the reader follows the train of communications both internal and external to the university through the duration of the summer and fall of 1918. The SATC emerged as a good idea in the summer of 1918, activated in the fall, and was a memory by winter. As such, the SATC is but a very brief hiccup in the complex history of the relationship between the federal government and universities. It does, however, represent two things in my view. First, it represents an initial foray into the relationship on both sides. Second, it represents an extreme. Never again has the federal government attempted to take over universities and never again have universities come close to allowing it to do so Vl TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements lX List of Tables X List of Figures Xl Abstract Xll Introduction 2 Chapter 1 : The Call to Arms 5 Factors Affecting the University Response 5 Constitutional Provisions Concerning Education 10 The Relationship between American citizens and the Army 13 Colonial Heritage 12 Continued Mistrust 16 Neutrality or war - the election of 1916 19 The Plattsburg Movement -- The Loyal (and Vocal) Opposition 22 From Neutrality to War- Wilson's Mind Changes 24 Universities in American Sciety 29 Higher Education in Virginia 34 The College of William and Mary 35 University of Virginia 37 Universities answer the call to service 39 Chapter 2: Loss of Students and Faculty to the War Effort 48 Enrollment declines 49 The Right Level of Participation 54 Efforts to Influence the Government 59 Accommodations for departing students 62 Accommodations for Departing Faculty 63 Chapter 3: Universities Seek to Become Part ofthe War Effort 71 The Universities Seek a Mission 75 The College of William and Mary Supports the War Effort 81 The University of Virginia Supports the War Effort 83 Student Interest Develops 83 Miscellaneous Requests for Support 89 Chapter 4: Negotiation for a Campus Presence 97 The Negotiation Begins 100 The Negotiation Continues-National Army Training Detachments 104 The Negotiation Continues- the Students' Army Training Corps 111 Implementation- the Students' Army Training Corps Begins 115 Chapter 5: The Reality- the Students' Army Training Corps Activates: Fall1918 125 Equipping the SATC 126 vii Manning the SATC 128 Academic Issues 130 The War Issues Course 133 Relationship with Administration and Faculty 137 Athletics and Leisure Activities 141 The Question of Race 144 Hurry Up and Wait- Delays in the Implementation Process 146 The Spanish Influenza Epidemic 147 The Armistice and Beyond 152 Chapter 6: Development of the SATC at the University of Virginia 162 The Reserve Officer Training Corps 166 Activation of the SATC 170 Equipping the SATC 174 Academic Issues 183 Relationship with Administration and Faculty 191 The Spanish Influenza 195 The Armistice and Beyond 197 Return of the ROTC 201 Chapter 7: Development of the SATC at the College of William and Mary 217 Pre-SATC Efforts and Actions 219 Equipping the SATC 229 Manning the SATC 234 Academic Issues 236 Relationship with Administration and Faculty 246 The Spanish Influenza 251 The Armistice and Beyond 253 Chapter 8: Conclusion 265 Activation of the SATC 268 Equipping the SATC 271 Manning the SATC 272 Academic Issues 273 Relationship with Administration and Faculty 275 The Armistice and Beyond 276 Bibliography 284 Vita 292 viii Acknowledgements I owe a debt of gratitude to the staffs of the archives and/or special collections at the College of William and Mary, the University of Virginia, Virginia Military Institute, Virginia Tech, Washington and Lee University, Hampden-Sydney University and the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. The willingness of the staffs at each of these organizations to support a novice researcher prone to foolish questions and research missteps was truly instrumental to the success of this project. My greatest debt is to Dot Finnegan, my committee chair and advisor.

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