USC and the World Wars

USC and the World Wars. . , The date was December 8, 1941. Board Auditorium overflowed with students and faculty still dumbfounded over the bombing of Pearl Harbor. For nearly an hour, they packed every seat, the aisles and the pavement outside, waiting for President Rufus B. von KleinSmid's scheduled address about the role of the university in the newly declared war., In his speech, Von KleinSmid predicted accurately that the university would quickly be transformed. Only eight months later, USC's enrollment had declined by 15 percent as students left school to join the military, 75 faulty members also departed. The drop in enrollment was offset by military training programs that were instituted on campus. By the end of the war, 75 percent of the male student body belonged to some branch of the service. The government also erected barracks and took over various campus buildings for war related work., "Until you've actually seen the preponderance of tall forms in sailor suits or khaki garb striding purposefully across the hitherto quiet greensward of campus, no amount of verbiage can convey the reality of Troy preparing manpower for war," reported the September 1943 Southern California Alumni Review., Beyond uniforms and parades, defense related civilian actives also became a regular part of university life. Students, faculty, and staff volunteered to serve on such committees as air raid, fire, USO, Red Cross and first aid, morale, foreign student relations, research assistance and information. In a much-publicized competition, USC students bested UC Berkley and UCLA in a six day war bond drive in 1944. Women became the dominant force in campus politics., The war also influenced the academic program. The schedule was accelerated, enabling students to compile a full course of study in less than three years. The University College, USC's extended education program, contracted with the government to provide courses in numerous defense-related fields, and the university ranked among the top ten institutions nationally for number of courses offered. USC also became a center for war-related research., Although World War II rendered USC almost unrecognizable, it was not the first time that the university had mobilized for war. Three decades earlier, during World War I, some 600 students had enlisted in the armed forces, and the War Department assembled an ROTC unit on campus, making USC an official training school for army officers. Approximately, 1,000 students enrolled in the new four year military course, pitching tents on Board Field and living under army regulations while attending classes in uniform. A military committee was formed by the faculty, and the university's chemistry lab began manufacturing the base for a new explosive. Ten students lost their lives in the war, but most returned to complete their degrees after armistice., The two World Wars would not be the last conflicts in which the Trojan Family served with distinction, but they made the most lasting changes. Each brought programs, facilities and experience that strengthened the University's sense of community and shaped its course for many decades to come.