University of Virginia Library

III. ADVICE TO STUDENTS.

The Federal War Department has detailed Lt. Col.
James A. Cole of the U. S. Army to have charge of the military
instruction and training in the University. More than three-fourths
of the student body have already enrolled as members
of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. Students under
twenty-one years of age are not eligible for commissions in any
branch of the Federal Military or Naval service. In the
light of these facts, the University officially advises
students under twenty, (except for those who are members
of the organized militia or other branches of service, who,
therefore, are subject to immediate call) to continue their

studies at the University, and all those physically fit to
prepare themselves for the service of the Country by means
of the military training here offered. The call of duty to
the country is the primary obligation at this time in our
national life. We do not wish, however, to make the mistake
made in England at the outset of the great war and deplete
the Universities of their immature youth for immediate
field service. Looking at the problem in the large, the
wisest possible thing that parents can do for their sons,
between the ages of seventeen and twenty, is to see that
they get to the colleges and universities for such instruction
— scientific and military — as will fit them for
positions of necessary leadership in the service of the
Country. There is no more vital post of duty for high
school graduates than college training looking towards
larger usefulness to the nation. The military instruction
under Col. Cole is optional for every student, but those
students who return next session, having once elected the
course will be required to complete it, provided they stay
at the University.