Besides these educational advantages, the A. E. F. arranged for scholarships for some of its men at various French and English universities. Practically every university in France, including the Sorbonne, admitted designated A. E. F. soldiers to its classes during that winter and spring, as did also Oxford and other famous educational institutions in England. Brigadier General Robert I. Rees was in charge of all educational activities of the A. E. F. Yet it was not all study and work and no play for the men of the A. E. F. during the waiting time after the armistice. Athletics were organized on a tremendous scale. Near Paris the expedition established a great athletic field, called the Pershing Stadium. There, in the spring of 1919, were held the military athletic championship contests, to which the British, French, and other armies of the Allies sent their competing teams. Military drilling after the armistice became competitive in spirit, and out of such competition came the crack drill regiment of the Third Army Corps, known as “Pershing’s Own Regiment,” which paraded with the First Division in New York and Washington in September, 1919. The drill regiment was organized and trained by Colonel Conrad S. Babcock. Nearly every division in France conducted a horse show after the armistice. The expedition numbered among its members men of high talent in almost all callings, including that of the stage. At Tours the A. E. F. organized an expert theatrical producing company, the performances of which equaled in merit the productions seen on the American stage. This central troupe also conducted a training school for amateur actors of the expedition. The various areas in which the American soldiers were concentrated sent their local Thespians to Tours for training, after which they returned to their stations to organize and produce plays. It was a small community indeed which did not have its theatrical performances at regular intervals. The taste of producers and audiences alike ran strongly to musical comedies. [Illustration: _Photo by Signal Corps_ COLONEL IRA L. REEVES, PRESIDENT OF BEAUNE UNIVERSITY] [Illustration: _Photo by Signal Corps_ STUDENTS AT BEAUNE UNIVERSITY] There was nothing which contributed more to the welfare of the men of the American Expeditionary Forces, or to their spirit and morale, than the _Stars and Stripes_, the service newspaper of the A. E. F. This unique adjunct to a modern army originated in the ranks, was written, edited, and published by men from the ranks, and to the end of its famous existence was primarily and always the organ of the enlisted man, with the enlisted man’s point of view. No other army in Europe possessed an expeditionary newspaper, but it is unlikely that any great American army of the future will ever be without one. The value of the _Stars and Stripes_ was beyond dispute. [Illustration: _Photo by Signal Corps_ ART STUDENTS IN A. E. F. TRAINING CENTER, PARIS] [Illustration: