Pandemic Parallels: 1918 & 2020: Life Before the Virus

A World at War

In 1918 the United States was engaged in fighting overseas in World War I, and updates on the conflict dominated the news. CTC offered its facilities to the U.S. War Department and became one of 500 campuses to host a contingent of the Student Army Training Corps (SATC). Established as program to prepare officers, the SATC was the WWI counterpart to today’s Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC).

Trainees lived in temporary barracks on campus and took courses from faculty like conversational French and German and modern European History. They also took part in campus activities and athletics, which included basketball and football.

The war was very much on the minds of CTC students, and many were actively involved in donating or serving with the American Red Cross. They knitted and sewed supplies, joined as nurses or volunteered in other capacities, organized fundraising events like snack sales, and donated their club dues to the organization. In the summer of 1917, students raised $1,100 for the Red Cross, approximately $21,000 by today’s rates.

Life Continues

Even as the war effort was part of everyday life, the students continued to enjoy their usual collegiate activities, namely, socializing, studying, and more socializing. Being a teaching college, there were four different education focused clubs to join, including the very popular Primary Club. There were clubs for different departments, including the brand-new Commercial Club, which toured regional industries for their outings.

Students could also take part in a lively arts community on campus, which included student recitals, glee club performances, and the Dramatic Club’s performances. A college orchestra was organized for the 1918-1919 school year, made up of students and faculty, and which managed to form despite being “greatly handicapped for want of material and a good place in which to practice.”[i] CTC was a college with big dreams, dreams that sometimes did not fit within their existing buildings.

Rowing Not Drifting

In the early spring of 2020 news outlets were already caught up in the momentum of the 2020 presidential election race. The Democratic Party was narrowing down from an astounding 27 candidates to one nominee to face off against the incumbent Republican president in the election, at that point still six months away. Other headlines included the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, Great Britain and the European Union locked in trade negotiations after Brexit, and the growing concern over the epidemic in China.

On UNC’s campus, the biggest news was the University’s controversial decision to move to an Administrative Service Centers model, part of a plan to address UNC’s financial issues through reorganization and streamlining of some services. The transition necessitated laying off 65 employees, engaged the campus community in open forums and conversations over the future.

Life Continues

Despite an uncertain future, campus life continued to thrive that spring. The men’s and women’s basketball teams were headed to the Big Sky Tournament, while the women’s swimming and diving team competed for the 2020 WAC Championship. The popular Outdoor Pursuits program had organized a ski/snowboard trip for students at Keystone, and the theater department’s production of The House of Bernarda Alba had just finished its run. The History Department was recruiting students and faculty volunteers to assist with its annual History Day competition for local high school and middle school students, and the staff and graduate students of UNC’s Cancer Rehab Institute was enjoying well earned recognition of their work by the Greeley Tribune.