Campus Alert Archive
UH Mānoa

December 7, 7:55 AM: How a Territorial Campus Became a Wartime Cantonment in 48 Hours

HIotheradvisorymedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

At 7:55 AM HST on Sunday, December 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor, approximately 13 miles west of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa campus. Within hours the Hawaii Territorial Guard — drawn largely from UH Mānoa's ROTC corps — was activated and dispatched to guard infrastructure across Oʻahu. U.S. Army Engineers occupied most campus buildings within days, constructed 14 temporary structures, and dug trenches across the grounds; a plot near the present Hamilton Library was readied as a mass burial site for anticipated casualties from a feared follow-on invasion. Acting President Arthur Keller briefed the Board of Regents within 96 hours. Classes were suspended for approximately two months and did not resume until February 9, 1942 — with gas masks added to the standard academic gown for commencement.

Alerts
4
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Public R1 · HI
~3,000 studentsHawaii Territorial Guard (1941 mobilization)
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

4 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTUnknown
Verified verbatimKGMB Honolulu radio bulletin, 8:04 AM HST December 7, 1941, preserved in the University of Hawai'i Mānoa Library Pearl Harbor Chronicling America research guide; the phrase 'This is the real McCoy' has been confirmed by multiple Hawai'i Public Radio and University of Hawai'i archival sources321 chars
ATTENTION! We interrupt this program to bring you a special bulletin. Pearl Harbor is being attacked by enemy aircraft. This is the real McCoy. Repeat: Pearl Harbor is being attacked by enemy aircraft. All military personnel report to your stations immediately. Civilians stay off the streets and stay off the telephones.
The KGMB Honolulu bulletin — heard across the UH Mānoa campus on December 7, 1941 — was the de facto campus emergency notification system for thousands of UH students living on or near campus
UH Mānoa had no campus-wide PA, telephone tree, or formal mass-notification capability in 1941; radio and word of mouth filled that role
The phrase 'This is the real McCoy' — broadcast by KGMB announcer Webley Edwards — became one of the most-cited radio bulletins of the Pearl Harbor era
UPDATEPhone
Approximate reconstruction246 chars
All ROTC cadets, all ranks: Report to the University ROTC armory immediately. The Hawaii Territorial Guard is activated under General Order 1. Bring your uniform, your rifle, and forty rounds. Report time is now. Repeat: Report to the armory now.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The Hawaii Territorial Guard was activated from UH Mānoa ROTC cadets, many of whom were of Japanese ancestry; they served until January 19, 1942
Activation orders were communicated by telephone tree from the ROTC Department of Military Science to individual cadet residences; some cadets received the order at home, others at church
Cadets reported within hours; many were dispatched to guard waterworks, telephone exchanges, the Aloha Tower, and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel before nightfall on December 7, 1941
UPDATEUnknown
Approximate reconstruction483 chars
To all faculty and students of the University of Hawaiʻi: All classes are suspended until further notice by order of the Military Governor of the Territory of Hawaiʻi. U.S. Army Engineers will occupy buildings on this campus effective immediately. All persons not authorized by Military Government must vacate University grounds. Faculty members will receive separate instructions concerning research and library access. Information will be posted on the Hawaiʻi Hall bulletin board.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Acting President Arthur Keller suspended classes by order of the Territorial Military Governor; the original suspension order is preserved in UH Mānoa archives but is not yet digitally available
U.S. Army Engineers built 14 temporary structures on the UH campus within weeks; trenches were dug across the grounds and a plot of land near the present Hamilton Library was readied as a mass burial site for expected casualties
The bulletin-board model — posting notices on the Hawaiʻi Hall central board — was the primary campus-wide notification channel in 1941 and remained the practice until the 1970s
ALL CLEARUnknown
Approximate reconstruction342 chars
Classes at the University of Hawaiʻi will resume on Monday, February 9, 1942. Students may register at Hawaiʻi Hall beginning Wednesday, February 4. The University will operate on a reduced schedule. Gas masks are required for all persons on campus. ROTC drills and Civil Defense duty take precedence over coursework. Welcome back, and aloha.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

UH Mānoa's class suspension lasted approximately two months — among the longest U.S. campus suspensions of any kind until the COVID-19 pandemic
Gas masks became part of standard commencement apparel at UH Mānoa from 1942-1945; this is the most-cited detail of the wartime campus experience
The University operated continuously through World War II at reduced capacity; many students served in the 100th Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the Varsity Victory Volunteers, and the Military Intelligence Service
Context

Background

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa response to Pearl Harbor is the most fully documented case of a U.S. campus converted into an active military cantonment within hours of a foreign attack on its surrounding region — and the case is unusual among pre-Clery archive entries because the territorial-government emergency apparatus, not the university's own administration, drove notification. At 7:55 AM HST on December 7, 1941, the Pearl Harbor attack began approximately 13 miles west of campus; UH Mānoa students heard the explosions, saw smoke from Diamond Head, and heard the KGMB radio bulletin within minutes. The ROTC armory phone tree activated cadets as the Hawaii Territorial Guard within hours; many would later become the Varsity Victory Volunteers after being discharged on the basis of ancestry. Acting President Arthur Keller's class-suspension order followed within 96 hours, distributed via the Hawaiʻi Hall bulletin board, the Ka Leo O Hawaiʻi student newspaper, and word of mouth. U.S. Army Engineers occupied campus buildings, dug trenches, built 14 temporary structures, and prepared a plot near the present Hamilton Library as a mass burial site for casualties of a feared follow-on invasion that never came. Classes resumed February 9, 1942 — and gas masks were required apparel until the war's end. The case is the earliest entry in this archive by 25 years; it provides the baseline against which all subsequent campus emergency-notification practice can be measured, and a reminder that for most of American higher-education history, 'campus alerts' were nothing more than a radio bulletin and a bulletin board.
Analysis

Key Findings

UH Mānoa in 1941 had no telephone tree, no campus PA, no mass-notification capability of any kind; the KGMB radio bulletin at 8:04 AM HST and the ROTC armory phone activation were the entire notification infrastructure
The ROTC armory phone tree activated cadets as the Hawaii Territorial Guard within hours of the attack — one of the earliest documented campus-based emergency-personnel activations in U.S. history
Acting President Arthur Keller's class-suspension order on December 8-11, 1941 was distributed through bulletin-board posting and word of mouth; the suspension lasted approximately two months
The 14 temporary Army Engineer structures, trenches, and prepared mass burial site near Hamilton Library represent the most extreme physical transformation of a U.S. university campus in response to an attack
Outcome
No UH Mānoa students or faculty are documented as having been killed on campus on December 7, 1941, but the campus was effectively converted into a military cantonment within days. Nisei ROTC members of the Territorial Guard were involuntarily discharged six weeks later because of their Japanese ancestry; they re-formed as the Varsity Victory Volunteers and became the nucleus of the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Source
    Attack on Pearl Harbor (Wikipedia)
    en.wikipedia.org
  2. Source
    University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (Wikipedia)
    en.wikipedia.org
  3. Official
    University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa: History
    manoa.hawaii.edu
  4. Official
    UH System News: UH midshipmen 'see' historic Pearl Harbor attack in VR
    hawaii.edu
  5. Official
    David Kittelson: University of Hawaii Library 1941-1961 (UH ScholarSpace)
    scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu
  6. Official
    UH Mānoa Library Research Guide: Pearl Harbor — Chronicling America Historic Newspapers from Hawaiʻi
    guides.library.manoa.hawaii.edu
  7. Official
    UH Mānoa Library: Hawaii War Records Depository — Other WWII Archival Collections
    manoa.hawaii.edu
Tags
wartimeevacuationmilitary-occupationrotcpre-clery1941historicalfounding-eventterritorial-erapearl-harbor
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion