Wartime often thrust Macalester into difficult situations— political, financial, and educational. However, these challenges also offered opportunities for Macalester to redefine its identity and values in a changing world. The eruption of the two world wars in the first half of the 20th century had a profound impact on Macalester’s identity and physical campus. With America at war, the nation’s colleges and universities were expected to do their part for the war effort, and Macalester was no exception, reworking its curriculum, offering up its campus for military use, and bidding farewell to the students sent away to fight. World War I challenged the college to maintain stability through a period of uncertainty and laid the foundation for its internationalist identity, while World War II disrupted the college’s status quo and prompted a rush of new veteran students and a period of rapid growth. Finally, the Vietnam War in the 1960s pushed students to protest, and reflected a period when students were more willing to take issues into their own hands to change their campus.