(This photo of Otto Graham shows him in the middle row, at far left, with other members of his platoon in the February 1944 class of the Naval Flight Preparatory School.)
Pinched between his athletic success at Northwestern University and a prolific 10-year career with the Cleveland Browns of the NFL, Otto Graham made a stop at Colgate University, attending one of several military training programs held on the Hamilton campus during World War II.
The Hall of Fame quarterback died Dec. 17 at the age of 82, prompting scores of tributes from former and current players who marveled at his career.
As a young man, though, Graham was just one of many others who came to Colgate for the training programs that readied them for military service and that helped Colgate survive the lean war years, when civilian enrollment plummeted as call-ups to the armed services climbed.
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Big win for Colgate Otto Graham’s basketball skills were clearly evident during the short time he played for Colgate in 1944. He would arrive on campus Feb. 17, just two days before playing for the Red Raiders in a huge game against the New York University Violets. He made quite an impression on The New York Times reporter who covered the game, which was one of two played that night in Buffalo. The other game pitted St. John’s against Canisius. The Times said Graham, a center, put on a ‘masterful performance’ against NYU, scoring 19 points to lead all scorers and setting up six other baskets with some deft passing. ‘Possessor of an amazing no-arch, one-handed shot, which he fired from either side and at all angles, Graham was the big difference between the teams,’ according to The Times. Colgate went on to a 53-49 victory, and the team would later finish the season with an 11-5 record. The National Basketball Coaches and Writers Association would name Graham the second best college player in the 1943-44 season. The top player’ George Mikan, who played at DePaul and would go on to a Hall of Fame career in the pros. |
The campus was transformed by the war and introduction of the military programs. In the fall of 1942, there were 873 civilians enrolled at Colgate; two years later, there would be 77, according to A History of Colgate University, by former university archivist Howard D. Williams.
For Graham, word of his departure from Northwestern and his arrival at Colgate in February 1944 was big news. He was an All-American in football in 1943, and an All-American in basketball in ’43 and ’44.
The official award for 1944 has both Northwestern and Colgate listed after Graham’s name, despite his having played just four games for the Red Raiders basketball team.
Graham came to Colgate to participate in the Naval Flight Preparatory School, which was established Jan. 7, 1943.
Colgate was one of 20 colleges permitted to host such a school, and its arrival on campus was a victory for Everett Needham Case, the university’s ninth president who was inaugurated just months earlier.
Case lobbied hard in Washington, D.C., for the school, realizing it would help the university cover its basic operating costs. The cadets in the NFPS studied aircraft and underwent intensive physical training for three months before heading off to flight school.
The Colgate faculty was forced to significantly retool the curriculum to accommodate the cadets, having to teach subjects such as navigation for the first time. Despite that, cadets at Colgate consistently ranked at or near the top in scores on uniform tests administered at all the preparatory schools.
By the time the school was disbanded in September 1944, more than 2,800 young men had participated.
The NFPS complemented the War Training Service program for Navy cadets, developed in July 1942. That program had evolved from the Civilian Pilot Training program, which had been in operation on campus since October 1940.
There would be more to come.
The solid relationship forged between Colgate and the Navy would lead to development of a third program on campus: A V-12 unit comprising Navy and Marine enlisted men who were officer candidates.
The first contingent of the V (for victory) unit arrived on a greatly changed campus in July 1943.
The trainees were housed in fraternity houses, which had been converted to barracks, according to an article published in the 1947 Salmagundi yearbook.
Fraternity life was greatly restricted due to the loss of the houses and the limited number of civilian students on campus. Some sports teams struggled to compete because of call-ups affecting their rosters.
The Student Union served as headquarters for the various military programs and the dining hall was filled by men in uniform. Several dances were held at the Student Union, with young USO women brought in from Utica and Rome.
The Colgate Maroon newspaper changed its focus, with items about maintaining school spirit replaced with articles about the proper way to salute and with lists of petty officers for the week.
The village of Hamilton also was a different place. The streets were jammed each weekend with cadets who weren’t allowed to venture much farther because of restrictive liberty policies. Schine’s State Theater billed itself as the ‘headquarters for relaxation,’ and Crowe’s Drug Store sold ‘commando writing kits.’
With support from the local residents and university faculty, a USO house was established in November 1943 at a large 1850s mansion at the corner of Broad and Payne streets. The house, known as the Smith House and which today houses village offices, served as the only USO center at any college participating in the training programs, according to A History of Colgate University.
By the time the V-12 unit disbanded in June 1946, 1,137 men had been enrolled.
In July 1944, another Navy program ‘ the V-7 would be assigned to Colgate, replacing the War Service Training program. The V-7 served as an academic refresher course for men coming directly from the fleet. After the six-to 18-week course, they would head off to midshipman’s school.
Total enrollment in that program was 848 before it was disbanded just over a year later.
The war period would come to a close at Colgate in the spring of 1946. In June of that year, officers in charge of the respective training programs turned over their service flags to the university at a ceremony in the Memorial Chapel.
The training programs on campus prepared more than 5,000 men for military service. Graham was among those who would go on to serve his country, having completed his training at Colgate, earning his commission, and receiving his wings as a naval aviator.
He would begin his professional athletic career in 1946, winning a pro football championship with the Browns and a pro basketball championship with the Rochester Royals of the National Basketball League, a forerunner of the NBA.
He would quit basketball the following year, and focus on his football career, which is now the stuff of legend.
Tim O’Keeffe
Communications Department
315.228.6634