UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Saisie, 2: August 29, 1942,

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Dear Paul:

The academic year of 1942-'43 takes on a more serious and a
more sinister meaning for us all. We are now fast realizing that we
are ina death struggle with three international gangsters - the square-
heads, the slit-eyes, and the spaghetti-benders - who are bent upon our
utter dostruction, ‘lo destroy them is our purpose at present. :

College days heretofore meant friendships and fellowships,
success in the professions or business, marriage and desires for a
happy home life with children. Ali of this has been changed and now
the word SERVICE confronts all of us, of all ages, The reason that
you are being aeferred temporarily, to allow you to obtain an education
that will permit yoa to serve in a greater capacity as an officer, is
because of the experience that Uncle Sam has had in training officer
material, He has found that when he took volunteer enlistments for the
training camps for officer material about 43% failed, due to deficioncies
not here mentioned. But when Uncle Sam permitted these boys to go to
college and obtain a degree then only about 5% of them failed,

Therefore, vou are in the upper strata and your Uncle feels
that it is a good investment to permit you to return to college and
complete your education so that you will be a better officer to handle
the men under yous You will be more capable and you will save more
lives, and you will win the war in a shorter time than had you immed-
jately gone into the service without this extra traininge

This interlude of a few years was not given you to return to
the campus and carry on in the ways of previous college days. It will
be & more serious group this year, and while athletics will have their
place in the great scheme of things, the real purpose will be to develop
e finer fighting morale and a more splendid esprit de corps for the men
of Mount Oread.

Frankly, I am not interested in athletics for their own sake
at this time, but rather I am hoping that we can be the means of develop-
ing a finer sense of obligation to duty, whether it be on the basketball
court or in the other walks of life here on Mount Oread,

I have spent the summer getting into better physical condition
and I am hoping to train with you so that we can all make better
progress. Of course, we hope to have a fighting basketball team, but
all the adjectives that heretofore have been used to describe athletic
teams will now be used to describe the fighting heart of our boys in
the thousands of battle areas where our K.U. boys will be found.