United States Navy V-5 and V-12 Program records

As World War II went into full swing, the Navy and Marine Corps. needed tens of thousands of officers to man the ships, fly the planes, and command the troops. To ensure a constant supply of well-trained officers, the Navy initiated a training program at colleges and universities across the nation.

The V-5 program began at DePauw in January 1943 and was headquartered in Asbury Hall - rechristened the "Good Ship Asbury." The units were under the command of Naval officers but the military classes were taught largely by DePauw professors. By the end of the program in August 1944, 2,463 men had undergone the three-months requisite training on the DePauw campus.

Under the careful guidance of Lieutenant Commander Arthur Stanton Adams, the Navy V-12 program was a model of military-civilian cooperation. In a time of radical decline in college enrollment because of military enlistment and the draft, the program kept a number of small colleges afloat and provided a college education for many young men who otherwise could not have afforded it. (1)

The Navy V-12 program came to DePauw in July 1943 and remained until October 1945. The resident faculty were responsible for most of the curriculum which consisted mainly of academic courses studied in regular college classes. These students lived in Rector and Lucy Rowland Halls.