Student Training

In 1918, the Army created a branch of the Students’ Army Training Corps, SATC, at  the Columbia campus to prepare students to serve in France. According to Columbia at War, published1918. “2,500 men took the oath of allegiance to the flag amid stirring scenes on the Mall in front of the [Low] Library.”

Columbia was one of twelve universities designated by the War Department to create a naval section of SATC. More than three hundred students passed through the program and were deployed as naval officers.

Temporary barracks for SATC members, c. 1918. SATC barracks were in Hartley and Livingston Halls.
Temporary barracks for SATC members, c. 1918. SATC barracks were in Hartley and Livingston Halls. Courtesy of Columbia University Archives.