WUSTL Archives

Coached by educators who were anxious to prove that colleges and universities were military assets, the War Department in the spring and summer of 1918 laid plans for the organization of the Student's Army Training Corps. Able-bodied men from ages 18-21 with a high-school education could seek admission to any college or university on the War Department's approved list and, if successful, remain for up to a year of training in many areas, including woodworking, airplane repair, blacksmithing, metalworking and auto repair (above). They underwent military instruction and discipline, received the pay of a private and were clothed, housed, fed and educated at the government's expense. At the peak of the program, nearly 1,200 student-soldiers were on campus — nearly the total enrollment of the degree-granting divisions at the University before the war.

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Washington University is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2003-04.

Special programs and announcements will be made throughout the yearlong observance.