MOE TNEtill
ROTC Has 94-Year History
Aloof With its 100th birth
day this year, the University
will also mark the 94th year
tradition of military
training or "Rotacy" as it is
railed by the students.
When the Reserve Officers'
Trainini Corps was first started
/4 incanded only basic training for
r ol,
ye army officers. Since
en it l al been expanded to in
side Navy and Air Force units.
In keeping with an agreement
with the federal government, two
years of basic training in one of
the
branches is required of all
students who qualify.
in 1861
ROTC had its beginnings in
1861, during the Civil War. At
that time Evan Pugh, president
of the institution, put all men
through a military training course.
The training was voluntary un
til 1865 when a compulsory pro
gram was set up. The course in
cluded classroom lectures, but was
mostly drill. Drill periods were
substituted for the three hours
of manual labor per week for
merly required of students.
At first there were so few
regttlar army men assigned to be
college instructors that faculty
menibers were delegated to the
posts.
• First Army Man
Not until late in 1877 Was the
first regular army man brought
to campus. He was Ist Lt. Walter
Howe of the Fourth Artillery.
General military training con
tinued until World War I. It con
sistW mostly of drill under one
officer with an occasional lecture
on Some military subject.
Even this general program paid
off. Of the 2155 Penn State men
called for service in 1917, 411 per
cent emerged as commissioned
officers. This gave rise to the pres
ent network of ROTC units em
bracing nearly 400 schools, col
leges and universities throughout
the coUntry.
National Dehnse A ct _ _
In 1918, the National Defense
Act set up the ROTC Program we
know today. An infantry branch
was established at the University
in the same year. An engineering
branch was added in 1925 and a
signal branch in 1942.
Navy ROTC grew out of the
wartime V-12 program started at
the University in 1943. In July
1946, it was converted into a
ROTC unit. Under the V-12 pro
gram, members were on active
:with the Navy during their
instruction period.
Air Force Program
The Air Force ROTC unit was
the result of an act of Congress
which separated the Air corps
Pennsylvania State University
Your contribution to Scientific, Technical,
and Cultural advancement has made the
entire world a better place in which to live,
enjoy modern conveniences,
finer futures for coming generations.
Sl...try
.
students before the turn of the century. The cadet corps included
all men students, and at one time the school was nearly run on
military basis with inspections and guard duty. These students
were the day's version of 1955's Reserve Officer Training Corps.
from the Army. The Air Force '
unit was started in 1948 and has
since grown to. be the largest on
campus.
Today's ROTC cadets wear the
uniform of their respective branch
of service. But it wasn't always
this way.
The first uniform was a style
required by the University. It be
gan as a fatigue suit of blue cloth
with blue buttons and no military
trimming and a "black felt hat
with a rim 2 1 / 2 inches wide." The
men made their own wooden
rifles for drill.
Uniform Required
In 1870 the uniform was made
the required dress for chapel and
other special occasions. In fact,
no other clothes were required ex
cept "a warm overcoat, two or
more coarse suits for working
purposes, two pairs of strong
boots and a full supply of under
garments."
In 1877, the uniform was
changed to cadet gray With a
black hat. The regulations re
quired that students under five
feet not wear the dress uniform,
but another of gray sack coat,
vest, pantaloons and blue forage
cape.
Not only the uniform but the
entire military program became
very formal at this time. By 1873,
the University was virtually an
Congratulations
The Oldest Gift Shop in State College
11WIS GALORE AT THt
TREASU R
HOUSE
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN, STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA
armed camp. There were guard
mounts daily, sentinels on duty in
their halls until 10 p.m. each
night, dress parades^ weekly, and
quarters inspection daily.
ROTC students of today are
far different than their predeces
sors With their modern uniforms,
instruction, and up-to-date equip
ment. While drill is still a major
part of their training, they also
study subjects ranging from elec
tronics fire control devices on
modern warships to jet engines
and psychological warfare.
Two years of basic ROTC are
required of all male students at
the University. At the end of the
two years, those who qualify are
selected for advanced training
leading to a second lieutenant's
commission in the Army and Air
Force. Most Navy ROTC students
are enrolled for four years.
$5 Fine for Holiday Cuts
Students who wished to begin
their 1930 Easter vacation a little
early were subject to the usual $5
pre-holiday cutting fine unless ex
cused by the dean of men, the
dean of women, or the College
physician.
Former Governor James A.
Beaver served 41 years as a trus
tee of the University.
and
insure
Daily Chapel Attendance
At 5:45 a.m. Compulsory
For lst Sixty-Eight Years
Arising before daylight, students at the University almost
a century ago crowded into the chapel in the main building
at 5:45 a.m. for scripture reading and prayer before beginning
their day's activities.
Though the school was entirely nonsectarian, religious
training was from the first recognized as an essential to living
and compulsory chapel was in
stituted
Compulsory chapel continued
for almost three-quarters of the
University's first century. Atten
dance at weekday chapel was re
quired until 1927 and at Sunday
chapel until 1930.
But though compulsory chapel
has been abandoned, the Univer
sity has not completely given over
the work of religious instruction
to churches and affiliated grotips.
It still employs a "preacher to the
University," a practice begun in
1896, and Sunday services open
to students of all faiths are con
ducted in Schwab Auditorium.
Rules Enforced
Rigid rules to require atten
dance at religious. services were
enforced over the years. No stu
dent could graduate who did not
take part.
In the early days demerits or
"censure marks" were given for
tardiness n or failure to attend
chapel. When the number of cen
sure marks reached a prescribed
total, the student was expelled.
After the University abandoned
the practice of suspending stu
dents who collected a certain total
of demerits for infractions of the
rules, they could still be,expelled
for lapses in attendance at chapel.
Lateness Punished
In the 1890's students were giv
en six marks for absence and two
marks for tardiness, and the stu
dent who collected 50 marks was
subject to suspension. Tardiness
was defined as arriving after the
close of the first hymn.
A slight relaxing of the rule
for compulsory chapel attendance
was granted seniors in 1896.
they did not have to attend dur
ing the last month of the semester.
By the 1920's the student body
had grown so large that the audi
torium would not hold all students
at one time. In 1920 the chapel
Congratulations
Penn Staters . . .
You showed your good Judgment
when you chose Pennltate. When you
graduate, you'll have a degree that's
respected wherever you, go.
And in your travels in Pennsylvania
or Maryland, let your good judgment
lead you to your local Glick shoe store.
State College
Lewistown, Pa. Carlisle, Pa.
Chambersburg, Pa. Harrisburg, Pa.
Waynesboro, Pa. Williamsport, Pa.
Hazleton, Pa. Bloomsburg, Pa.
Frederick, Pa. Hagerstown, Md.
• f
SHOES
TUESDAY. RI MINI', a ?9
exercises were split, with fresh
men required to attend on Mon
day, Wednesday and 'Friday at
8 a.m. and on Sunday at 10 a.m.,
and with the upper classes attend
ing on Tuesday and Thursday and
on Sunday at 11 a.M.
Still CoMpulkoty
The rule still required atten
dance at three-fotirths of the exer
cises, and overcuts meant that the
remiss student cotild not re-enter
the University at the beginning
of the next year.
In 1924 the rule was changed
so that nine absences from morn
ing chapel and' four from Sunday
chapel automatically resulted in a
failing mark. A student was dis
missed on receiving two failures.
First Pseacher
Until 1898 the University relied
on faculty member* for the week
day chapel exercises and on Vl!it
ing ministers for the. Sunday exer
cises. That year President George
W. Atherton annininead the , an
pointment of the first "Preacher
to the University," the Rev, Law
rence M. Col:felt,
Since then, With the exception
of a period from 1915-1923, the
University has had a chaplain,
who usually served also as a fac
ulty member or as secretary a
the student Christian emaciation.
Daily Military,lnspections
Carried Work. Penalties
At the turn of the century there
was a daily military inspection
of both dress and rooms.
If the room were untidy or thilt
shoes needed polishing, the of
fenders got a notice on the bul
letin board, each such report
carrying a penalty to be worked
off on the following Saturday.
There are 21 national sotrwity
chapters at the University.