Between 1884 and 1923, St. John’s College was a military school that prepared graduates to attend service academies or to apply directly to the Armed Forces. During this period, the Army assigned an officer to the Faculty to be the Military Instructor at SJC. Two notable holders of that position, in the second half of the Military program, were Major William Alexis Thompson who was at SJC from 1899-1907, and Lieutenant Edmund Berkeley Iglehart - for whom the college's gym is named, who was a Student, Alum, Volunteer Football Coach, and from 1907-1910, the college's Commandant of Cadets. Visit the Summer-Fall 2026 Greenfield Library exhibit to find out more about Thompson and Iglehart's experiences at SJC, and about the history of the College before the New Program.