Davidson: “A Modified West Point”?

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With Veterans’ Day coming up Friday, Around the D reflects back on Davidson during the First World World War this week. Veterans’ Day, as you know, is the outgrowth of Armistice Day, celebrated on the anniversary of the end of the First World War (November 11, 1918), so it is a particularly fitting time to consider the impact of the First World War on Davidson.

After the United States entered the Great War in April 1917, the United States required far more soldiers than its existing standing military, and so young men from across the country were recruited to go abroad and fight in service for the country. The young men of Davidson were no exception, many went off to become officers in the Great War. An outgrowth of Davidson’s existing R.O.T.C. in 1917, 33 students and 4 professors enlisted and left Davidson for the the Plattsburg Officers’ Training Camp in Plattsburg, New York, heeding the call of the United States War Department. These students and faculty  received specialized training to aid and expand the Military Science department at Davidson.

In July 1918, President William J. Martin wrote a letter to the student body explaining the important role Davidson would play in continuing to grow the United States military. In his letter Martin declared that “Davidson will during the war be somewhat the nature of a modified West Point to help in winning the war by providing a constant stream of young officers.”

To aid in this training not only was the Military Science program expanded, but the courses in French, History, Mathematics, were “changed so as to be useful for the purpose of training officers.” William continued by noting these changes would not disrupt the liberal arts education at Davidson, but that as a result “all courses will be better taught and more thorough than ever.”

A few months later at year’s end, on December 31, 1918,  Martin once again wrote to the student body, reflecting on the impact of the Great War on Davidson College. Martin asserted that “We have all profited by the experience of the Fall. The greatest good has come, of course, from the willing if temporary sacrifice of our time and service at the call of our Country and humanity. But we have learned, I hope, the value of prompt, unquestioning obedience, gracefully and willingly rendered, in order to accomplish a worthy object.” In time of worldwide reconstruction, even as the United States President and former Davidsonian Woodrow Wilson led the nation in rebuilding and reevaluating democracy, Martin pleaded that “his spirit of unselfish and willing service kindle in us individually and collectively the spirit and willingness to make the Campus truly democratic and the College a mighty force for training a new leadership for the new times.”

The military experience of many Davidsonians had a tremendous impact of shaping the college in the days which we now commemorate on Veterans’ Day. How have your own military experiences, or those of your friends/family shaped your life? Reflect on this, and remember the true importance of Armistice/Veterans’ Day.