What would you do if you were president of a university with an enrollment of some 4,500 students, and 10,300-plus students turned up the following September?
Although that particular sudden increase was not unexpected at Indiana University following World War II, it presented some enormous challenges.
The G.I. Bill, which would have a profound effect on the United States, was
passed by Congress in 1944. Much has already been written about the
"we'll do whatever has to be done" attitude of then-President Herman B
Wells and other IU administrators. 
There are the classic photos of male
students temporarily quartered in the trustees' board room in Bryan Hall
(Wells greets students at the board room in photo above right. Photo at right shows "bunkroom" in the board room) and the arrival of a trailer
city in Woodlawn Field (photo top left) on the Bloomington campus.
Meanwhile, both temporary and permanent housing solutions were undertaken at IUB. Fenwick T. Reed, an assistant to Wells, told local service clubs that 70 buildings were under construction, pushing the Bloomington campus' eastern boundary outward by half a mile.
In 1946, the beginning of the fall semester on the campus had to be advanced one month, because the concrete block dorms under construction along Union Street were not finished. Temporary buildings were being moved to the campus from military facilities in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. Three hundred trailers came from military bases in Nebraska.
The demands of a doubling enrollment did not go unnoticed. IU historian Thomas Clark noted that an IU alumnus in St. Paul, Minn., admonished University of Minnesota officials to go to Bloomington and find solutions to burgeoning enrollment problems.
Howard Kahn wrote in the St. Paul, Minn., Pioneer Press: "IU has shocked a lot of public officials by building its trailer village and temporary dormitories on the loveliest sections of its fine campus...Most schools and cities have sacrificed the rights of former G.I.s on the altar of aesthetics...The policy at Indiana has been revolutionary. It can be stated in these words: 'provide a place for veterans to live. Even if the housing consists of unbeautiful trailers, dormitories and barracks, put them in attractive surroundings and beautify them as much as possible.'"
Reed told the Indiana Daily Student that the housing problem amounted to "four crises a day."
According to Clark, Wells "made a regular morning tour of construction
sites." One of those crises was a threatened $10 rent increase by the
Federal Public Housing Administration, which had retained ownership of
the temporary military housing on campus. The students were paying
$42.50 a month for apartments (including gas, lights, heat and water) and
$25 to $32.50 for trailers on a G.I. Bill stipend of $90 a month. 
During the
dispute, the students described the furnishings included with their
housing -- a dinette table, four folding chairs, studio couch, two double
deck bunks, gas stove, icebox, two mirrors and window shades and
screens. The Federal Public Housing Administration backed down
(a family studies in Spartan quarters, photo right).
Housing was not the only challenge. "The returning veteran offered a major academic challenge to every area of study at the university. Some were college students whose academic careers had been disrupted. Others were high school graduates who now took advantage of the benefits of the G.I. Bill of Rights, and who had not originally planned to enter collegeŠThere was a staggering problem of adjustment for both veteran and university. In August 1945, a refresher course was added to the curriculum. Instruction was offered in three areas: English grammar, mathematics, and reading and study methods," wrote Clark.
Enrollment at IU's regional centers spiked from 284 students in 1945 to 1,714 in 1946. IU bought the Seiberling Mansion in 1946 to establish a campus in Kokomo  Related Link: http://www.iuinfo.indiana.edu/homepages/ 1003/text/impact.htm#iuk |
"I will never forget that time because it was one of the most satisfying in my teaching career," recalled Remak. "The veterans were so eager to get back to their education. Even the 4:30 afternoon classes were full."
And the classes were not entirely made up of men. Remak said that he remembers instances where female students holding babies were standing outside the classroom. The husbands would take the babies so their wives could go to their classes, too.
The G.I.s come to IU...
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"Think of all of those students who enrolled in college after serving in Europe, for example. The returning G.I. had seen the world. How many undergraduate students had been to Europe in 1934? Not many," said Madison.
He explained that the G.I. Bill had a profound effect on America, since most of the veteran students would never have gone to college had there not been a war. They could not have afforded it, but with the G.I. Bill, American higher education became a more democratic institution.
For more on the G.I. Bill, visit:
http://inet.ed.gov/PressReleases/06-1994/gi.html
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