The administration quickly geared the college toward the war effort. Courses to prepare individuals for defense work were added to the curriculum. By March 1942, the first of thousands of military servicemen and servicewomen were on campus for training.

Coeds were moved off campus to fraternity houses that had been vacated by the men who had answered their country's call. For the first time since its early days, women outnumbered the men enrolled.

OAMC trained twice as many soldiers as all other schools combined and had more service personnel on its campus than any other college in the nation. One of twelve different programs on campus was the Women Appointed for Voluntary Service or WAVES, pictured here as they marched through the streets of campus.