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.