Citadel, The, is a public military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Its full name is The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina. The Citadel traces its beginnings to 1822, when the South Carolina Legislature passed an act to establish a municipal guard for Charleston and the surrounding area. Governor John P. Richardson thought that guard duties and education should be combined. In 1842, the Legislature established the South Carolina Military Academy. The college adopted its present name in 1910.
The Citadel has a long military tradition. Its students, called cadets, were involved in one of the first military conflicts leading up to the American Civil War when they fired on the Star of the West, a United States ship carrying supplies to Fort Sumter in January 1861. The academy closed after Union troops occupied its grounds in February 1865. It reopened in 1882. Citadel cadets must take part in either Air Force, Army, or Naval Reserve Officers Training programs.
The Citadel admitted only men until 1995, when a woman named Shannon Faulkner was admitted under a judge’s order. Faulkner resigned after five days. In 1996, the Corp of Cadets revised its all-male enrollment policy and admitted women. The Supreme Court of the United States had ruled that the all-male policy at Virginia Military Institute, another state-supported military college, was unconstitutional. In 1999, Nancy Mace became the first female cadet to graduate from the Citadel.
Well-known graduates of the Citadel include author Pat Conroy, Senator Ernest F. Hollings of South Carolina, and professional football player Paul Maguire. The college’s athletic teams are called the Bulldogs.
The school’s website at http://www.citadel.edu offers additional information.
