From the Archives

by Caleb Fort

Daily Lobo

1930-1970

World War II had upsides and downsides, said Ellen Ryan, a UNM student from 1941 to 1944.

For example, classes were offered year round, so military personnel could graduate faster and serve in the war, she said.

"We had semester classes all through the calendar year. We just kept right on going," she said. "And who wouldn't with all those men on campus?"

Most male students were involved with the military, either as returning veterans or as members of training programs, such as ROTC or the Navy V-12 program, according to Miracle on the Mesa, a history of UNM written by former University president William Davis.

"This time was not without its trauma and its sad side," Ryan said. "So many of the men we knew had to leave for the war, and we did have casualties. We were so happy when people came back."

The personal lives of students reflected the wartime stress, she said.

"It was a romantic time. People were living on the edge of disaster. You didn't know if your boyfriend would be coming back, or your husband, or your father or your uncle," she said. "On the day when all the men in ROTC received their commissions, I went to four weddings. Everybody had to get married before the men went off and did something and got shot."

However, students tried to go about business as usual, she said.

"We tried to make our campus life as normal as it had been before the war," she said. "We had dances and student government ran the same way, just with different people."

The war was responsible for much growth at UNM, according to Miracle.

Kirtland Air Force Base and Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories boosted New Mexico's economy, and government-funded research placed an emphasis on scientific programs, according to the book.

UNM's enrollment went from 924 in 1946 to 3,649 in 1947, mostly because of returning soldiers registering for college, according to the book.

Many people lived in World War II barracks that were moved to campus, according to the book.

Mike Prokopiak, a student at UNM in the 1950s, said he spent his free time going to movies, playing pingpong and lighting bonfires in fields behind the dorms.

He said the campus, which had an enrollment of about 5,000 at the time, was small and friendly.

"It seemed like everyone got along good," he said. "Anyone you saw on campus, you'd probably know who they were."

Ryan said she liked the campus atmosphere.

"I especially liked the fact that it was a small school, and you knew everybody," she said. "It was very friendly. Security wasn't a concern at all."

Prokopiak lived with his wife in an adobe house on Silver Avenue and Harvard Drive, he said.

"At that time, Albuquerque was really small," he said. "After you got past Nob Hill, the pavement was gone. The corners were there, but the streets were dirt."

There may have been a lack of roads, but there wasn't a lack of modesty, he said.

"Seeing these kids today compared to when we went to school - all the girls had long skirts down to their shins," he said. "I don't think there's too much of that anymore."

Most students didn't own cars, so Prokopiak and his friends walked from campus to Downtown to watch movies, he said.

Prokopiak, who played on the football team, took care of a living Lobo mascot, he said.

"One of the sororities, I can't remember which one, got a German shepherd. They couldn't keep him on campus, and my 3-year-old son had taken a liking to him, so we kept him at our house," he said. "We'd bring it to the games, and our little boy was kind of his handler. My wife made a costume that hung off him and said 'UNM' on the sides."

The mascot was an example of the enthusiasm students had for UNM, he said.

"The school spirit was really good at that time, and everyone was doing what they could," he said. "It was pretty nice. I enjoyed it a lot."

The football players also used barracks for a locker room, Prokopiak said.

During the 1960s, UNM became a Latin America training center for the Peace Corps, said Terry Gugliotta, University archivist. About 1,800 volunteers were trained for service in Latin America, with courses in Spanish and world affairs and field exercises in construction, according to Miracle.