On a Balmy Day in September
1 media/On a Balmy Dar in Sepember, 1947, 102_thumb.png 2021-07-13T17:31:24+00:00 Brooke Carbaugh 278ce982fd45dd6db533b61aadc327bf82a35c58 1 1 "On a Balmy Day in September," 1947, Hope College Milestone (Holland, MI: Hope College, 1947), 102. plain 2021-07-13T17:31:24+00:00 Brooke Carbaugh 278ce982fd45dd6db533b61aadc327bf82a35c58This page is referenced by:
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Post World War II Boom
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Hope's enrollment and facilities expand after World War II as veterans return to campus
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The men began to return from the war in May of 1945 and more returned in August 1945 after victory in Japan [1]. The G.I. Bill permitted veterans to return to college with stipends covering tuition and living expenses, thus Hope College entered the post World-War Boom in enrollment. Irwin Lubbers became president in fall 1945 and Hope College enrollment increased. In the Spring of 1946, administrators asked faculty to add another course to their workload. The 1945-1946 school year witnessed a 75% increase in enrollment. Yet enrollment continued to increase during the 1946-1947 school year indicating just how much Hope College needed to expand to accommodate for the increase in enrollment [2].
John Hollenbach, a former dean of students, wrote about the 1946 Registration Debacle in a piece on the post war boom at Hope. He described veteran’s frustration when they returned from the military and were placed on waitlists for their necessary classes. Similarly, freshmen were placed in courses irrelevant to their prospective field of study and forced to take courses out of order. A shortage of housing and faculty became apparent during registration [3]. Changes included adding staff members to teach additional courses. One man went in for a meeting with an administrator and came out with a job offer from Lubbers to teach. The majority of the incoming faculty were Hope graduates. Instructors or professors were in high demand, thus Hope converted its own graduates to instructors of coursework. Housing and academic buildings were also an issue. This school year required renovations to Van Raalte and other education facilities, saw the creation of the Kletz by the members of Alcor, and Hope College began buying property around the college to house students. Hope College continued to expand and bounce back after World War II [4].
References:
[1] Eileen Nordstrom and George Zuidema, Hope at the Crossroads: The War Years (Holland, Michigan: Hope College, 2008), 118.
[2] Nordstrom and Zuidema, Hope at the Crossroads, 132.
[3] Nordstrom and Zuidema, Hope at the Crossroads, 133.
[4] Nordstrom and Zuidema, Hope at the Crossroads, 150-152.
