THE NAVY PROGRAM BROUGHT the largest classes in the University's history. Above is a scene in Upper Strong Auditorium, where 600 V-12 and civilian students are shown attending a lecture class on American history and the background of the World War. Below, civilian and Navy students are photographed working together in an engineering laboratory.
EVERY FOUR MONTHS a large group of trainees completes the college phase of their work as prospective officers and receive their certificates from the University in graduation exercises in Strong Auditorium. The seamen who attain satisfactory marks are sent on to Midshipman School, from which they graduate as ensigns, and the Marines go to officer candidate schools at Parris Island and elsewhere. The men who fail to make the grade in their studies at the University are "separated from the unit," as the Navy phrases it, and sent to boot camps. In the first year of the V-12 program, more than 400 of the trainees have been graduated. Many of them have already won their commissions. At the left, academic robes of the faculty and administration mingle with the uniforms of Navy and Marine officers in graduation ceremonies.
PICTURE AT THE RIGHT shows members of one of the graduating classes standing preparatory to marching up to the platform to receive their certificates. The University also gives each V-12 graduate a picture of his class, like the one shown below of the June, 1944 class, which numbered 178 men and was the largest to leave the University in the first year of the Navy program. At each graduation, the Rochester Branch, U. S. Marine Corps League, gives rings to the outstanding Marine and sailor in the class.
WHEN THE RED CROSS mobile blood donor unit visited the River Campus, members of the V-12 unit turned out 100 per cent to contribute to the plasma bank. Civilian students and University staff members also co-operated extensively in donating their blood both to the Red Cross and to the Blood Bank at Strong Memorial Hospital for civilian emergency use. The trainees also enrolled to a man in the payroll deduction plan for War Bond purchase. The University as a whole has set a high mark in the buying of War Bonds, establishing new records in successive drives.
JOSE ITURBI, FAMED PIANIST of the concert stage, radio and screen, was among the celebrities who entertained the Navy students under the University's morale activities. Iturbi, who donated his services, gave an hour-long concert and when the trainees clustered around him on the platform afterward, regaled them with some less formal music, including a little jive.
MEN FROM THE FLEET are among the replacements sent to Rochester to keep the V-12 unit quota filled. They have seen action with the Pacific and Atlantic Fleets in battle zones, and have been picked by their commanding officers for the college training program on the basis of their abilities as potential officers. The five men shown swapping yarns of their war experiences include one who served on a submarine; a Marine sergeant who took part in the battle of Guadalcanal; a boatswain's mate who saw action in both the Pacific and Mediterranean theaters; and two sailors who were aboard ships in the North Atlantic during the Navy's campaign against U-boats preying on Allied convoys.
PARTIES AND DANCES at both the Prince Street Campus and the River Campus are among the favorite social diversions of the Navy students, and the women see to it that there are no dull leisure moments for the sailors and Marines. During the "flu" epidemic last winter, the V-12 men were restricted to the campus for the week-end, and the Princesses put on an entertainment program for them. Here, at left, Patricia Eintracht, '45, a sailor, and a Marine are joining in a strictly informal but stimulating musical program.
V-12 Men at River Campus Join in Prayer as Allied Armies Invade France
ON D-DAY, JUNE 6, when the Allied armies stormed the enemy barricades along the Normandy beaches, men of the V-12 unit assembled in the noon sunlight before Todd Union and prayed for the safety and victory of their comrades overseas. Here the Rev. Harold E. Nicely, pastor of Brick Presbyterian Church, leads them in prayer; President Alan Valentine stands at the left.
It was a brief and simple ceremony, and the routine of work, study and drill were not long interrupted. For these men, the invasion was a reminder that there are other enemy waters to be entered and other beachheads to be taken, and that they themselves may soon be called upon to share in these encounters. Indeed, for some of them—men assigned to the unit from the Fleet—it was a reminder of days of battle that they themselves had experienced at previous successful invasions, at Casablanca, Sicily, Italy, at Guadalcanal and New Guinea.
Unit Turns Out for Review…
…Alumni Give New Standards
ON MEMORIAL DAY, 1944, the sailors and Marines staged a review that was notable in several particulars. Ever since the V-12 program began, the unit had wanted flags for its reviews, and the Associated Alumni chose this occasion to present it with two handsome parade standards. Another event of the Memorial Day show was the first full-scale appearance of the new bugle and drum corps. With their proud new acquisitions and drilled to perfection, the men presented their best review ever, and Commander Neill was so proud of them he almost burst. A good-sized crowd of faculty, administration and Rochester citizens turned out on the brilliant May afternoon to watch the flag presentation ceremonies and to see the men go through their smartly-executed maneuvers. After the review, the companies and the Navy staff headed by Commander Neill posed in battalion formation for the first official picture of the entire unit, shown above. It was taken from the hillside next to the baseball field on the River Campus back of the football field. At the right in the picture are the apprentice seamen; in the center foreground are Commander Neill and the reviewing staff, with the color guard just in back holding the new standards. Next are the Marine members of the unit, with the bugle and drum corps at the far left. The number of Marines seen in the picture is considerably smaller than when the unit first arrived. At the start of the program, there were 370 of them, but as the Marine Corps' need for officers declined, the number was reduced. There were 170 Marines when this picture was taken, and the number was expected to go still lower with succeeding classes. There were originally five Navy companies and three Marine. On behalf of the Associated Alumni, Matthew D. Lawless, '09, vice president, formerly presented the new standards to the unit, as shown at the left. They consist of a silk American flag, and a specially-designed unit flag. The latter has a fouled anchor on a blue background, with the inscription "U. S. Navy V-12 Unit" at the top, and "University of Rochester" at the bottom in white letters. The standards are a source of immense pride to the unit, and, with the newly-formed bugle and drum corps, give added color to the reviews staged at frequent intervals.
WOMEN'S COLLEGE GROWS STEADILY AND LOOKS AHEAD
Enrollment at the College for Women has increased during the war, brought the need for added dormitory and other facilities. A long-felt need is a swimming pool at the Prince Street campus. Confident in the college's bright future and undaunted by possible obstacles, the Alumnae Association at its Commencement supper on May 14 sprang a surprise by announcing that it would sponsor a drive to raise $140,000 starting next Fall, to build a swimming pool. Mrs. Wilma Lord Perkins, '18, is chairman of the campaign, which will be a long range project. Plans all for construction of the pool immediately after the war, provided the funds are obtained. It will be built in the rear of Catharine Strong Hall as a nucleus for a new physical education and recreation building. Mrs. Perkins is pictured with a drawing of the plan for the pool. With approval of the Board of Trustees, the Alumnae Association, through its board of directors, voted to sponsor the project as one of its major activities, The effort to raise the funds will not be limited to alumnae, but will be extended to friends of the University as well throughout the community. The College for Women has lacked a swimming pool since the old Alumni Gymnasium on the Prince Street campus was torn down to make room for Cutler Union soon after the Mens and Womens Colleges were separated in 1930.
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