World War II Impacts Campus Life

Dorothy F. Nagle (Class of 1946) reports in an interview that the departure of male students during World War II had an immense impact on the campus community. After they left, there were no football or basketball games and only a few "intramural attempts." Many of the female students who had boyfriends in the service waited to receive mail, and female students kept track of friends and followed war campaigns. According to Nagle, "every gal had a couple of fellows, one or a couple she might be writing to...." Nagle recalls that she had her "particular fellow." When the war ended in 1945, men began to return to campus. Nagle explains that their return also corresponded to an increase in fraternity dances.