In the Trenches

by Art Kaiser

The University had been very small; they called it a "street car University" because it was at the end of a trolley line on Main Street. After the war Dr. Capen announced that the University would take any veteran from the Western New York area if they had the appropriate credentials. So, the University went from being very small to being very large very quickly. Literally hundreds, thousands of veterans came back from the war and, under the GI bill, went to school. Schools all over the area were crowded with veterans.

In the mid-40s I was teaching introductory courses in American history and European history in a huge classroom with about 150 students. It was a lecture situation. One student had a tendency to fall asleep in class, so without changing my voice I said, "I'm going to wake him up today." I took a book in my hand and brought it down on the back of my desk and he jumped up and got under his desk. He apparently thought he was back in the trenches. I never tried that again.

Some of the veterans were as old as I was at the time; it was just a great time to teach.