E.B. Lemon Oral History Interview (3 of 4)

The third installment from E.B. Lemon’s interview series gives us insight of the landscape of Oregon State University during World War I. The first noticeable change to him was that enrollment numbers were down because many male students were deployed into the armed forces. According to Lemon, many of the military men never saw much action, rather it was more military training. Many were housed in the dormitories and came to OSU to train in a special program known as Student Army Training Corps (SATC). After the war ended, many of these men remained at OSU and were accepted into campus life.

The conversation shifts at one point to the affects that the State System of Education brought to institutions. In Lemon’s point of view, it was difficult for Oregon because while changes were tearing apart the previous status quo, it also brought a time of building up curricula, among other things. Then president and later chancellor, Dr. William Jasper Kerr, managed to keep Oregon State University together and from Lemon’s account, was aptly suited to the task.