After commencement in '41, the first step toward the future military setup at the University was taken, as the Army started a quartermaster ROTC unit at the Business School.
When the College came back in the fall of 1941, it found the ranks of its faculty depleted. William K. Langer '15, Coolidge Professor of History, John K. Fairbank '29, now professor of History, had been called to Washington along with many others. Enrollments, especially in graduate schools, dropped seriously. The Law School suffered a loss of over 400 students, the G.S.A.S. enrollment fell 200, while 70 dropped from the College.
On October 6, President Conant appointed a committee to work with Cambridge authorities on integrating the University's and the city's defense plans, especially against a possible air attack. A course on air-raid precautions was instituted, open to all connected with the University.
Sanders Theatre Meeting
Immediately after Pearl Harbor the University announced that is was delaying all immediate plans for changes, saying that it would await Washington developments. President Conant, in an address to an overflow crowd in Sanders Theatre on December 8, pledged full University co-operation in the war effort, and urged calmness and deliberation in advising all students to "examine the situation carefully and then decide how best they can serve their country."
A mock air raid came off perfectly the next day and P.B.H. expanded its civilian defense facilities greatly, urging all students to volunteer for part-time work.
But measures to meet the war situation were soon forthcoming. On January 7, 1942, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences voted to admit freshmen in February and July as well as in September, thus putting the College on a three-term year basis. The Summer School course was extended to 12 weeks and was put on a par with the fall and spring terms.
Compulsory Exercise
The faculty also voted compulsory exercise including military drill for all students for four hours per week, commencing after the Spring vacation. The administration decided that for the duration of the war, freshmen beginning with the Class of '46, would live in the Houses instead of the Yard.
Late that Spring, the Navy announced it would occupy the vacated Yard dorms. Between 500 and 1,000 sailors, in one of the Navy's three schools of communications, would be housed in the Yard and fed in the Union.
During the summer term of 1942, the largest in the University's history, 8,700 students and close to 1,000 sailors both attended classes in the Yard.
Graduate In Fall
Without benefit of commencement exercises, about 125 College students left in the fall of '42 with their degrees in their pockets. They had rushed through their theses, divisional exams, and finals during the summer in order to receive degrees before being drafted.
Six-hundred and eighty freshmen registered on September 25, 1942, swelling the ranks of the class of '46 to almost 1,400 an all-time high. Total undergraduate enrollment was 3,580, but the Graduate Schools lost a total of 1,055 men to the services and other vital occupations.
The '42 season found the football team sadly lacking in both material and coaches. The varsity combined partially with the freshmen and the season record was two won, six lost and one tied.
On October 7, President Conant urged that all colleges be put on a war-time basis, saying that it would be only a mat- ter of time before the draft age would be lowered to 18.
In December, the government released its master plan for the colleges' part in the war effort. It called for the continuation of some reserve programs and for the full utilization of all college facilities for the war effort.
On January 7, 1943, the Business School announced that it would accept to more candidates for degrees for the duration of the war. The Busy School thus became the first part of the University to move onto a full wartime basis.
Harvard's enlisted reserve corps was called to active duty in January of 1943. Men continued to leave the University throughout the Spring of 1943. Most student activities, such as the CRIMSON, gradually stopped for the duration. By that time, the military was fully established at Harvard and civilian enrollment was little more than 1,000.
Not until late 1945 was the trend to reverse itself and Harvard once more start on the path towards regaining its peacetime atmosphere