THE CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION IN WAR TIME

Graduate Secretary of the Dartmouth Christian Association

The establishment of the Students' Army Training Corps on October 1 brought many changes at Dartmouth, as in all colleges where it was instituted. One of the organizations most vitally affected was the Dartmouth Christian Association. Instead of being suspended for the period of the S. A. T. C., as was the case with practically all other undergraduate activities, both athletic and non-athletic, the Christian Association found its work very greatly increased.

As soon as the order establishing the Training Corps in the colleges had gone out from Washington, the National War Work Council of the Y. M. C. A. considered the question of its responsibility to the men who would enroll in the training units in the colleges. It was generally recognized that inasmuch as the Y. M. C. A. was already established in most of the colleges, this was the natural organization to be responsible for the new work. After a conference with the leaders of the student association work, it was decided that their organization and secretaries should be utilized, wherever possible, but that the final responsibility for the work in the S. A. T. C.'s should be laid upon the War Work Council, as a part of its work with the men of the army and navy.

Following this decision, the Graduate Secretary of the Christian Association was asked to continue as a regular army Y. M. C. A. secretary in charge of the red triangle work in the Training Corps at Dartmouth. At a meeting of the Alumni Committee held early in October, the arrangement with the War Work Council was ratified, and it was voted to continue a portion of the salary of the secretary under the new relationship. A contract was signed with a representative of the Council under which full financial responsibility for the expenses incident to the change was assumed.

By arrangement with the College and military authorities, the use of the old quarters in College Hall was continued for the new work. In view of the fact that the regimental mess hall is located in the Commons dining room in the same building, these quarters are very centrally located, and have proved ideal in every way.

It has been stated above that the Christian Association was perhaps the only undergraduate organization which found its work very much increased under the new conditions. The reason for this is apparent. By order of the Commandant, following the procedure in most colleges, all the fraternity houses were closed as soon as the training corps was established. This meant that the Living Room of College Hall was practically the only comfortable place available for a lounging place for both fraternity and non-fraternity men. Besides the men of the four College classes, the men of the vocational section to the number of about 200. depend wholly upon the Y. M. C. A. rooms for their recreation periods.

Another factor was the assignment of the men to barracks. Soon after the training corps was started, the regular dormitory rooms were vacated, and the men were assigned to rooms in Massachusetts row, Hitchcock, and Hubbard. As only forty-five square feet of floor space is allowed for each man, this meant three and four men in a room where there had formerly been one or two. No desks are permitted and only one straight-back chair (no other furniture) so that most of the letter writing of the unit was automatically transferred to the writing room of the Y. M. C. A. This is the old newspaper room, and it has been equipped with tables to accommodate sixty men. It is usually crowded before and after dinner and suPPer.

Under the able secretaryship of Wallace M. Ross '09, the Christian Association had been brought to a prominent place, in the life of the College, which steadily increased up to 1917. It is doubtful, however, if more than twenty-five per cent of the men in the College were actually served by the Christian Association, or joined in its activities in any year of its previous history. At the present time, it is estimated that ninety-five per cent of the men in the Training Corps use some of the privileges of the Y. M. C. A. on the average of once each day.

In view of the fact that over ninety-five per cent of the thousand men in Hanover are in the Training Corps, as either enrolled or enlisted members, it is to be expected that the larger part of the activities of the "Y" are planned with the needs of these men in view. It is plainly stated, however, in the leaflet of information that has been issued, that all of the privileges offered are for the use of the civilian students as well as members of the Corps. Because of physical disability or other reasons, there are perhaps fifty men not in the S. A. T. C.. and as far as possible these men are made to feel that they are not left out in the plans of the Y. M. C. A.

"Service" is the watchword of the red triangle work at Dartmouth, as it has been in most of the camps at home and abroad. We have tried to be ready to supply every reasonable need that a man can have. Writing paper (five hundred letters have been written during a single Sunday), pens, ink, blotters, string, paste, wrapping paper, etc., are supplied free of charge. Innumerable inquiries are made every day, ranging from what time the first train leaves Boston for Peacedale, Rhode Island, to the best way to do up a Christmas package for a friend "across," and we try to be ready to answer them all, or if we don't know, to find out.

An entertainment is provided each Saturday evening, and football returns have been furnished from the out-of-town games. A communion service is held on the first Sunday of each month, and an old-home "Sing" each Sunday evening after supper. Through the kindness of the American Library Association, a first-class selection of fiction has been placed in the Y. M. C. A. office, and has received liberal patronage.

Through these and other means, the Christian Association is "carrying on" at Dartmouth. Without preaching or affectation, it is standing for the best things in the College. No finer opportunity to serve ever came its way in the hundred odd years of its history, and at no time has the attitude of the undergraduates been more cordial. If it does not make good, it will not be because conditions were not favorable.