It has a football team, an open campus, and a diverse
student body—but nobody thinks of the Citadel as your everyday college. Over 150
years of military tradition have given the Citadel a reputation as one of the
most rigorous educational institutions in the country. That reputation is
probably not too far off.
Just like any other college, the students who attend the
Citadel spend a great deal of their time focusing on their studies (the
school offers departments in engineering, education, humanities, and math and
science). However, they also have to make time for military drills,
detailed inspections, and physical training. They have to enter in as lowly
freshmen—known as “Knobs”—and wait until they become upperclassmen before they
earn respect (the freshmen must refer to the upperclassmen as “Mr.” or “Miss”).
Why put up with all of this? Attending the Citadel may have
its mental and physical challenges, but it also provides some of the finest
military training in the country. Many of the undergrads go on to successful
careers in all branches of the military.
The rigorous traditions of the Citadel weren’t put together
haphazardly. In the 1820s, the South Carolina legislature voted to construct a
guard post protecting Charleston and surrounding areas. The state’s residents
had grown protective of the great city after they had been forced to watch the
British Army capture and occupy it during the American Revolution. Of course,
they had no way of knowing that a brutal Civil War was just around the corner.
The completion of the “Citadel” came in 1829. A similar
structure, known as the “Arsenal,” was built in Columbia. For the next decade,
state troops occupied the two forts, although no major attacks ever came. In
fact, the early 1800s proved to be a prosperous time for South Carolina as
cotton plantations thrived across the state.
In 1842, Governor John Peter Richardson decided that there
might be a better use for the military buildings. He convinced the legislature
to turn the forts into the South Carolina Military Academy. This institution was designed to both educate young men and provide them with military
training.
The South Carolina Military Academy originally consisted of
both the Citadel (in Charleston) and the Arsenal (in Columbia). The Arsenal served as the freshman campus, and the students went to the
Citadel to complete the remaining three years. The Academy quickly gained a
reputation as a school that was tough in academics, and rigorous in military
discipline (it still holds that same reputation today).
The first class of the South Carolina Military Academy only contained thirty-four students. About 300 students were enrolled by the end of
the Civil War, when the Union forces took possession of the college. The
Citadel managed to survive the Union occupation, and was reopened in 1882. The
Arsenal wasn’t so lucky. General Sherman marched his troops through Columbia and burned down the Arsenal—it never reopened.
Because the Citadel was originally constructed solely for
the protection of South Carolina, and not as a military institution, it has no
ties to any military branch. Therefore, the Citadel graduates have the option
of becoming officers in any branch of the military—Army, Navy, Marines, or Air Force. They can also choose to move immediately into civilian life upon graduation.