Editor’s note: The Old Gold series provides a look at University of Iowa history and tradition through materials housed in University Archives, Department of Special Collections, University of Iowa Libraries.
A century ago this spring, the United States entered World War I. Almost immediately, the State University of Iowa assumed its role as a training ground for officers and soldiers to serve in this historic global conflict.
Perhaps the most visible sign on the campus’ home front was the creation of the Students’ Army Training Corps, a forerunner of today’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). SATC was established at over 500 colleges and universities across the U.S., including SUI, in response to the war. Under the command of Captain George W. Robertson, Iowa’s SATC unit at its peak consisted of 1,700 enlisted men and 19 officers.
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In a short time, the campus became a training camp. Quadrangle, the residence hall recently demolished to accommodate the new College of Pharmacy building, was originally built as a barracks to house soldiers. Other buildings on campus became centers of instruction and physical training.
The impact of the war on the university’s enrollment was immediate as well. In the College of Law, for example, 60 percent of its students had left for the service by May 1917, only weeks after U.S. entry into the war. The rate of participation continued for the duration of the conflict. In his Founders’ Day address of Feb. 25, 1918, SUI president Walter Jessup spoke of “the challenge that is (now) concrete.”
“Our country is facing its hour of trial—its supreme test. Iowa men everywhere have responded in magnificent fashion. In the call for leaders we were in the front; in the call for technical service, Red Cross, YMCA, Liberty Bonds, we have responded splendidly. All of our impulses are to throw ourselves into the thick of the fight.”
“The men and women of Iowa have not failed in the past nor will they now.”
Ultimately, 83 men associated with SUI died in the conflict as a result of hostilities, disease, or other cause. Their names are listed in the Memorial Honor Roll as part of the Iowa Memorial Union’s dedication to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
More information about the role of SUI in World War I is available in the University Archives’ Records of Military and Wartime Service. A guide to the collection is at www.lib.uiowa.edu/scua/archives/guides/rg28.01.htm.