Roanoke Rapids herald. [volume] (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) 1914-192?, 1919-10-10

ID NIX the activities UG college men
In the war aro beginning 10 be
available. uuil only now can one
form any conception Of The vast
amount Of work which they accom-.
pllShcd.
The colleges have suffered heavily
IN many Ways, but they are proud to
have been of service, At first call
members Of their STATS were placed
In Important administrative positions
Their students left peaceful pursuits
ana became part Of the army. The
following figures show the percentage
of students Who left TO join the armed
forces;
Ten per cent In % colleges 20 per
cent IN ST colleges 30 per cent in "a
colleges 30 per cent In II colleges .
90 per cent In 8 colleges, and over 80
per cent In six colleges.
The total Of these amazing percent.
ages amounted To the number of 49,.
go students who left our American
institutions Of learning 10 become
Identified in one way or another with
0'r war efforts. Of these, so less than
5000 gave their lives, and the figures
are not yet wholly complete. Some
Idea of how this loss Is distributed
VIII be given In this table Of the col.
leges which lost more than 100:
Yale, 1886; Concordia, Ind, 40; Uni.
versIty of Kansas, 1913; Harvard 297
Princeton, l20; Columbia, 1913; Cor.
nell. los.
by comparison, II Is interesting TO
notice the enlistment of the two chief
English universities. oxford had H.
lI6 sons In the war, of whom l.4l2
gave their lives. Cambridge exceeded
this with n total number Of 13,12S
and of these 1905 were destined nev.
cr 10 return from the battlehelds.
From the outset, il was character.
l>tic Of the colleges 10 do nothing with.
out planning IT, The first general
meeting Of colleges IN the war period
was held in Washington May ,. 1911.
and was presided over by President
Hollis Godfrey Of brcXe institute.
The prevailing inquiries were What
can we do Immediately for our coun.
try:' and How can We operate the
colleges aS Il national asset during
the war PERIOD
Following this conference. students
were advised not To forSake their
plans and rush headlong anywhere.
In the face Of plans that were mate.
riallzng technical and medical stu
dents, upon whom the war made an
Unprecedented demand were fairly
compelled 10 remain nj their studies.
and finally government military train
ing was established AT every college.
From that time on more complete
war basis could not be imagined. By
organizing camps within the walls OF
our schools, from which officer mate.
rial could be recruited, the govern.
ment at once recognized the superior
potentialities OF the educated man. and
did for him all that was physically
possible.
Another result of the wholesale col
lege Offer to help was the establish
mcnt in Washington of the lntercol.
leglHte Intelligence bureau, the idea Of
Dean William Mcclellan of the Uni
yersIty Of Pennsylvania, whereby over
four thousand students were placed in
positions for which they had peculiar
fitness.
Likewise there grew up in the war
department a committee on the classl-
fcatlon Of personnel, and this bureau
sought TO classify men according to
their experience, occupation, and edu-
cation; the number of men who were
placed where they could do their hest
work viii probably never be known.
The story of the students army
training corps Is well known. While
not triumph, the effort was charac.
teristic Of the colleges trying to do all
they could in the face of many oh
stacles, and the country is not wanting
in appreciation,
Naval training units were likewise
established. and thuS the power Of that
branch Of the national forces took an
upward swing, College men all know,
too, the story Of their own institutions