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The Post-War
G.I. Period
With the end of
the war, the campus changed yet again. In addition to former
students returning to the university after serving in the
war, other GIs flooded into Northwestern, raising its pre-war
Evanston enrollment of 6,000 to 9,600 in 1948. Of this total
3,640 were veterans, and they were a breed apart form prewar
students. Older, more mature and in many cases from less economically
privileged backgrounds, these young people, who without the
G.I. Bill would not even have thought of attending college,
were determined to make the most of their opportunity. And
they did. Many lived in Quonset huts ("Silver Castles")
spread about the campus, and they registered for four, not
the usual three, quarters each year.
For many of the
1,500 Catholics among them, Sheil was the only campus organization
they joined, and they served the club well, through their
experience, maturity, leadership and enthusiasm.
Starting in 1948,
a coordinating student group called the Student Religious
Council was formed at Northwestern. Composed of two representatives
from each campus religious organization, including Sheil and
Jewish Hillel, it was a welcome sign of the heterogeneous
times. The council set up annual programs, including a campus
conference on Religion, and distributed a booklet, Religion
at Northwestern, to new students. Its official adviser was
usually the campus chaplain, but in 1953-54 Father McGillicuddy
was elected adviser.
As enrollment in
the university grew notably, so did the percentage of Catholic
students. A greater number of Catholics were now resident
rather than commuting students, and with more of their lives
centered on campus, it soon became obvious to all that Sheil
needed a facility of its own. In 1947 Bishop Sheil encouraged
the club to look for a building on or close to campus. In
1948, with the help of Judge James M. Corcoran, an alumnus,
a suitable place was located: a red brick residence just across
from Deering Meadow at 1922 Sheridan Road, owned by the Riddell
family (of football helmet fame).
Mr. Riddell had
died, and his widow was putting the house of for sale. Bishop
Sheil was notified, and before the day was over, he had the
money to meet the selling price of $42,500. Asked by Father
Mac where he obtained the funds, the bishop said he simply
told a Jewish friend about the situation and the friend asked,
"How much?" and then sent a messenger with amount.
The purchase was
made in May 1948 and two students, Bob Bersell and Bob Pasek,
moved into the building as caretakers. In June, Father Mac
was transferred to a South Side Chicago parish, but he continued
as Sheil chaplain, commuting to the campus for the club's
meetings. Remodeling the building to accommodate a chapel,
meeting rooms, offices and living quarters took up most of
the 1949-50 school year. On Friday, May 26, 1950, Bishop Sheil
offered the Dedication Mass in the new chapel, the first Catholic
Mass ever to be celebrated at Northwestern University.
Visitors at the
open house that afternoon included university president J.
Roscoe Miller and Samuel cardinal Stritch, who had succeeded
Cardinal Mundelein as archbishop of Chicago.
To purchase, remodel,
and furnish 1922 Sheridan Road cost more than $110,000. Bishop
Sheil got the money to pay for it all. But others -- alumni,
parents of students and alumni, and friends -- also helped
furnish and maintain the new facility. The altar in the new
chapel, for example, was gift of the parents of Bob Wiltgen,
the Sheil Club President of 1942 who was killed in action
in Okinawa in World War II. And the altar linens and vestments,
together with many domestic furnishings, were gifts of the
Sheil Club Mothers Association.
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