The S.A.T.C.

Academic and campus life-oriented programming greatly changed as the war continued. The most significant change was that Knox became a participant in the Student Army Training Corps (S.A.T.C.) program. The S.A.T.C. was designed as a way to provide military training to college-age men without forcing them to leave school entirely. Education was recognized as an integral component of the fight, so educators hoped to avoid drawing too many men away from campus.

The Student Army Training Corps at Knox became a campus fixture during the war. Headed by Captain Philip M. Brown, Knox students toiled and drilled as part of the S.A.T.C. in between attending classes and studying. 

Many young men enlisted in the S.A.T.C. during their education here at Knox. Below is a photograph of enlistees lining up outside Knox's newly constructed barracks, designed to house Knox's S.A.T.C. recruits. 

The S.A.T.C. was, as is clear from the following photographs and documents, an influential organization on campus. Many students took to the requisite work with a will. The following photographs provide an idea of how many students participated in the program. 

Taking part in military drills became part of S.A.T.C. members' regular routines. In the newspaper article featured below entitled "Knox Infantry Unit Reviewed," the author comments that "Drillmaster Wohlford was well pleased with the showing made by his men. While the companies are considerably disorganized at the present time due to the large number of men leaving for the farm and entering the service, the captains expect to have everything straightened by the first of next week."

The S.A.T.C. warranted a great deal of attention in Knox's yearbook, The Gale.

From The Gale, readers may receive a more humorous take on how the S.A.T.C. was viewed by students on campus. Included in the "Famous Sayings" sections of the 1919 edition of The Gale are the words of perhaps a rather unenthusiastic S.A.T.C. member: "...Now listen, Captain Spake, I don't feel good and I think you ought to excuse me from drill." Perhaps not everyone was delighted to participate in the S.A.T.C., but the organization was very influential and visible on campus. The following excerpts from The Gale illustrate how the S.A.T.C. affected life on campus. 

Some Knox students, such as James Watson, were enthusiastic participants in the S.A.T.C. - Watson came to Knox expressly to join and train! Edmund Stofft is noted as "One of the few color sergeants who gave his best to Uncle Sam" in Knox's yearbook. 

Work in the S.A.T.C.'s color guard entailed attention to precision and detail. The following two pictures are virtually identical, but the second photograph was rejected because the three soldiers' leggings don't match perfectly. 

Quickly, the "Knox Cadets" were influential enough in Galesburg to warrant being the target of advertising, like in this advertisement for the Hiles Lunch Room. This ad was published in 1917 and featured in Knox's yearbook.