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MOCs & WOCs
The end of the Great Depression and World War II, along with funding from the GI Bill, brought more students to Northwestern than its campus -- or residence halls -- could handle. Although temporary housing, including metal Quonset huts, was set up, many students lived off campus. Often these were returning veterans who were a bit older or students from working-class backgrounds. Melvin Long (EB50) was one of those vets. "I had always been intrigued by university campus life -- fraternities and sororities, football games, parties and socializing," Long says. "Since the Greek system was out of the question financially and I had to hold down a part-time weekend job, I knew there had to be an organization for commuters -- especially for returning vets." He was right. To help integrate off-campus students into University life, two groups formed: Women Off Campus in 1943 and Men Off Campus in 1947. "We participated in practically everything," says WOC member Rosalie Vernon Strom (SESP51). Without the group, her college experience would have been quite different. "I would just have had whatever friends I might have picked up in class," Strom says. Through WOC, she made friends she still keeps in touch with some 50 years later. Even better, she married a MOC. Phil Podulka (EB50) was MOC's first president. He lived in Chicago, commuted an hour and a half each way and had concluded he'd never have a social life at school until he saw an ad in the Daily Northwestern about a meeting for male commuters. "None of us knew each other," the veteran recalls. "If you joined a fraternity or lived in an independent [residence] hall, it was a lot easier to get to know people." To Podulka, MOC's impact on off-campus students remains crystal clear. "It gave us an avenue for a social life," he says. "It was important to develop friendships that have stuck to this day." While many veterans belonged to MOC, many MOC members weren't veterans. "Most came from meager circumstances," Podulka says. "They were eager to get an education, even with limited resources." Both commuter groups had space in Scott Hall -- then the student center -- and they used it as a home away from home. "I belonged to a fraternity, but Scott Hall was where the action was," says MOC member Keith Kline (EB49). "[MOC] gave students a feeling of belonging to the school. It was very much a worthwhile organization that did a lot of good for a whole lot of people." Although both groups disbanded sometime in the early 1970s after a period of declining membership, many alumni still can't imagine college without them. "We were indeed an active and viable organization on campus for about 25 years," Long says. "I am so grateful to this day for the friendships made during my college days -- particularly through the MOC and WOC organizations." -- S.A.M.
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