Citadel to Supervise Barracks After Allegations of Hazing

The Citadel will post adult supervisors overnight in all barracks starting next month in the wake of allegations that two female cadets were hazed this fall, a school official said.

“It’s important we restore some order and discipline in the system we have,” James Jones, the state military college’s board chairman, said in Friday’s issue of the State, a Columbia newspaper.

The board ordered the new policy, along with a review of the cadet command structure.

“The whole system is not broken,” Jones said. “My personal belief is that there are just a few people who maybe have problems and shouldn’t be where they are. And we’re prepared to deal with it.”

Lawyers for the two female cadets say they had nail polish remover poured on them and their clothing set on fire, were shoved with rifles and forced to drink alcohol.

The cadets are among the first four women admitted after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in a Virginia case, against an all-male admissions policy. Citadel officials suggest that the women were targeted not because of that controversy but because they were excused for medical reasons from rigorous physical training.

Lawyers for the two women say they endured weeks of hazing because they feared that telling adults on the college staff might only make it worse for them with their fellow cadets.

Kim Messer of Clover and Jeanie Mentavlos of Charlotte, N.C., complained to cadet officers but no action was taken, lawyers said.

Interim college President R. Clifton Poole said The Citadel is investigating and will discipline adult officers if warranted. The FBI and the State Law Enforcement Division are also looking into the allegations.