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Third coed class enters The Citadel
August 23, 1997
Web posted at: 10:39 a.m. EDT (1439 GMT)CHARLESTON, South Carolina (CNN) -- Eighteen women began training as cadets at The Citadel Saturday as the formerly all-male military college opened its doors to its third coeducational class, and the newcomers may be finding a more tolerant atmosphere in the wake of several headline-making scandals involving male cadets.
The Citadel was placed under different leadership following the alleged hazing of two female freshmen earlier this year. Since then, attitudes have changed, according to the new commandant, Gen. Emory Mace.
"We have a policy of zero tolerance on hazing, and I will be absolutely ruthless with any cadet caught hazing," he said.
New policies emphasize academic achievement over harsh yelling, which is meant to instill a sense of discipline. However, upperclassmen still will correct the freshmen, said Nancy Mace, one of the first two women to complete the rigorous freshman year. It just will be done in a more professional way, she added.
One of the new female freshmen observed that she was not asking for special favors; she simply wanted to be treated the same as male cadets.
Mace agrees with that attitude.
"I'm not going to feel any sympathy. We're not going to coddle them (the women)," Mace said. "We're not going to be any tougher or any less. We're going to be equal."
'Don't come here for publicity reasons'
Mace also had some advice for the new female cadets.
"Don't' come here for publicity reasons. Don't come here for your family. Do it for yourself," she said. "Do it because you want to do it, and you'll be fine."
Mace and classmate Petra Lovetinska were among four women who entered The Citadel last fall, after the tradition-bound school lost a long court fight against admitting women. Lovetinska also completed her freshman year.
However, the other two female cadets, Kim Messer and Jeanie Mentavlos, did not return for the spring semester, after alleging they had been hazed and harassed by male upperclassmen.
They said their clothes were set on fire, they were forced to stand in a closet while being shoved and kicked, and were made to drink tea until they became ill.
The Citadel dismissed one male cadet and punished nine others in connection with the scandal, which came on the heels of the headline-making dropout of The Citadel's first female cadet, Shannon Faulkner.
In 1995, Faulkner became the first woman to enter the military institute after The Citadel was forced to abandon its single-sex program. Faulkner dropped out after one week, citing stress and her isolation as the only woman in a hostile male corps.
In response, The Citadel implemented measures to revamp its image and attract more women. It put more adult supervisors in the barracks, hired a woman as assistant commandant and developed a bill of rights for cadets.
Correspondent Brian Cabell contributed to this report.
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Related stories:
- Women enroll at VMI - August 18, 1997
- 10 Citadel cadets punished in harassment case - March 10, 1997
- Two female cadets withdraw from Citadel - January 12, 1997
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