History of the UF Division of Student Affairs | Page 20

20 Readjustment Act of 1944, better known as the G.I. Bill. Enrollment jumped to 6,334 by 1946 and 8,778 by 1947. The UF campus and the Gainesville community were not prepared for UF enrollment to double from a pre-war enrollment of 3,300. In addition to the increase in students, the post-WWII UF campus community expanded to include the spouses and children of veterans. To address the rapid enrollment growth, the initial plan was to erect temporary facilities on campus or to rent and manage existing facilities in Gainesville for five to ten years until permanent facilities could be built or until the enrollment growth stabilized. In many cases, the temporary facilities were former military buildings and served as classrooms, offices, and student housing. There are examples of many of these “temporary” facilities that were still in use in the mid-1970s — nearly thirty years later! One of the most famous temporary facilities was Flavet III, temporary housing for veterans that was constructed from abandoned WWII military buildings in 1947. Flavet is a contraction for Florida Veteran. This facility was in use as veteran housing and/or graduate and family housing through 1973 when Tanglewood Village was purchased. Changes in student demographics required changes in student services and in the way classes were taught. Returning veterans were in a hurry to complete their degrees and move forward with their lives. They approached higher education more pragmatically and more maturely than typical eighteen-year-old freshmen. They had “lost” three to five years of their lives to war. Many had seen combat and traveled outside of the southeast United States to other countries. Many were married. Many had children. These students brought new and different needs to address that often involved emotional, mental, financial, and physical challenges. Plus, there were shortages of faculty, housing, classrooms, cafeterias, and recreational facilities. U F B e c o m e s C o e d , S o r o r i t y a n d F r at e r n i t y R o w s A r e C r e at e d , a n d t h e “ Stu d e n t P e r s o n n e l” P o i n t o f View Is Embr aced The GI Bill further opened opportunities for higher education to the general population — including women veterans interested in being admitted to UF. Female spouses of UF students were also interested in being admitted to UF. Add these numbers to the women who took classes at UF in the summers before 1925 and women “of a mature age” taking classes not offered at FSU during the H i st o ry o f t h e U F D S A