The U.S. Navy Arrives at Tufts College, 1941-1945 is the first of several exhibits scheduled for display over the next three years at Tisch Library. Each will cover a different aspect of the Navy and its relationship with Tufts. This first exhibit concerns the early period of the long association between Tufts and the U.S. Navy.

Tufts and the U.S. Navy had a close and productive relationship from 1941-1972. It began when President Leonard Carmichael fought for the establishment of a Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) program at Tufts. The first 100 enrollees were from the entering class of 1945, which doubled with the entrance of the class of 1946. The standards were high, both mental and physical, paralleling those required for entrance to the United States Naval Academy. NROTC students were placed in class V-1, USNR on inactive duty and took one course each semester in Naval Science and Tactics.

The NROTC was a vital program to Tufts prior to the war. With the start of World War II, life on the Tufts campus changed dramatically. Large numbers of male students left for military service, while some finished their remaining semesters before being commissioned for active duty.

In the spring of 1943, the Navy Department announced a new nationwide officer-training program. Tufts College was once again among the institutions selected. The School for War Service was established and facilitated the Navy College Training Program. The Tufts USNR class V-1, including the NROTC, was put on active duty and incorporated into the V-12 program on July 1, 1943. V-12 students sent to Tufts from other universities and enlisted sailors from the Atlantic and Pacific fleets were also placed on active duty in the United States Navy on the Tufts campus.

Initially, the U.S. Naval V-12 regiment consisted of over 1,000 men. When the active duty program ended in June 1946, over 2,000 officer candidates had been trained at Tufts. NROTC students were commissioned as ensigns in the USNR or 2^nd Lieutenants in the USMCR (Marines). V-12 students were commissioned after Midshipman's School or Flight Training and were then sent to active duty throughout the world.