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Campus Quiz

November 26, 2001

In the 1940s, Dr. Philander P. Claxton, president of Austin Peay, contracted with the Navy to offer on-campus academic training to young men enlisted in the Naval Cadet Training program. The contract created a housing dilemma-and put Austin Peay at the forefront of a national movement. What was the dilemma and what happened as a result of it?

Answer: The Naval Cadets had to be housed. They were quartered in one wing of Harned Hall, with a partition separating it from the girls' quarters. The decision made Austin Peay one of the first universities in the nation to have a co-ed dormitory.