In May of 1950, Yalies exhibited deep apprehension. A recent defeat in lacrosse to Princeton dashed chances for a national championship, and the Yale oarsmen finished a shocking sixth at the EARC Regatta. Even worse, the football team was set to graduate thirty-three lettermen. The grave circumstances even led Yale coach Herman Hickman to declare: “This could be Yale's darkest football hour.”1 These matters surrounding Yale athletics preoccupied the student body entering the summer. However, many students would soon realize, that such concerns were trivial. For when Yalies returned to campus three months later, they found themselves with a new Yale President, its nation at war, and the deaths of fellow classmates from combat.
This paper consequently explores how a war in Korea changed one of the world's leading universities. The Korean War commenced on June 25, 1950 and concluded with an armistice in 1953.2 Its effects, however,...
