Daily: Extra! Compulsory Drill
From 1932-1934, The Minnesota Daily pursued an active campaign against compulsory military drill at the University by publishing editorials critical of the requirement. They were joined in the effort by vocal members of the faculty and student groups dedicated to the peace movement.
In May 1934, students held an anti-compulsory drill demonstration on the same day of the annual military review to draw attention to their cause.
At the June 18, 1934 meeting of the Board of Regents, a resolution was adopted by a 6-5 vote that changed the military drill requirement to optional. After word of the vote was circulated around campus, Daily editors Arnold (Eric) Sevareid and Al Kosek rushed to complete the second ever EXTRA! edition of the Daily to announce that “Compulsory drill at the University of Minnesota is dead.”
Access a digitized version of The Minnesota Daily: Extra Edition, “Compulsory Drill Killed by Regents,” June 18, 1934 in the University Digital Conservancy (UDC).
