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As America entered World War I the U.S. War Department inaugurated the
Students’ Army Training Corps, a program designed to use existing
colleges and universities as training facilities for new military
personnel. Instructors were to be hired under a temporary contract,
with the universities and colleges subsequently reimbursed by the
government for the added expense of providing facilities and staff for
the Corps. Witter Bynner was one of the first instructors hired by the
Dept. of English at Cal. Though a poet is a odd choice for a military
instructor, the War Department was very specific about its expectations
concerning Berkeley’s S.A.T.C. cadets: “Instructors are urged to require
that members of the S.A.T.C., when reciting in the class-room, shall
stand at attention and shall speak with clearness and decision.
Instructors should require that enunciation be distinct and the
pronunciation of words correct. The possession of these qualities of
speech is regarded as of military importance.”
Upon his arrival at Berkeley, Bynner was interviewed by the Daily Cal
about the challenges of his new teaching position. “One of the few good
things lacking in American people and especially those of the West,” he
explained “is clear enunciation.” The student reporter felt compelled
to mute this slur against lazy-tongued Californians by adding,
“[Professor Bynner] offset this statement by acknowledging this campus
to be beyond comparison with any campus in eastern universities.”
Read More About It
- Records of the University of California Students Army Training Corps,
1918-19, The University Archives, University of California,
Berkeley, CU-390
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