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Chapter 29 The Citadel On my visit to the Citadel in January 1931, I asked the chairman of the Board of Visitors1 if my decisions on matters of discipline would be final, and he assured me that they would be. I would not have gone otherwise. When I accepted the appointment as president, I requested the War Department to change the orders of an officer designated as professor of military science and tactics and to detail an officer who had been my public relations officer in the War Department , who was eminently qualified for the position, and who was also qualified to be commandant of cadets.2 I had noted that the buildings were in bad condition. There were no paved roads on the campus. The furniture in the cadets’ rooms was obsolete, and the beds had no springs. The two boilers of the central heating plant were inadequate and were hand fired. There were only six apartments on the campus for officers, the remainder of the faculty and staff being housed in the Old Citadel, which was in bad repair. Alumni Hall was used for indoor games, dances, and chapel services, with the cadets sitting on bleachers. The finances were insolvent, and old bills could not be paid. The kitchen was in bad condition. Bread, pastries, etc. were purchased. The enrollment had been falling off greatly. Only a few of the faculty had degrees above that of bachelor, and no effort had been made by members to improve their degrees. There was no system of promotion of of- ficers, and rank was established in the lower grades. The discipline of the cadets was poor. There was much drinking in barracks, and women were introduced during weekends for immoral purposes. The budget had been prepared for the next fiscal year without providing for a large deficit. The library, cramped in a barrack, consisted largely of old books and reports, most of which were of little use. The laundry had worn-out wooden washers and an aged mangle, and all pressing was done by hand. The only transportation was a very lame mule, which died in a few months, and a wobbly cart that fell to pieces. The grass on the campus was cut only in the fall of the The Citadel 219 year for hay, and this was done by a man who took half for himself. There was no storehouse and, of course, little to store. Trunks, arms, property, the cadet store, the canteen, the post office, the commandant ’s office, and several classrooms were in barracks. The new commandant of cadets at once began to improve discipline , but progress was slow. I took measures to reduce expenditures by requiring that no money could be spent without a requisition approved by me. The publicity of my appointment had increased the enrollment by probably a hundred over what it would have been. Very soon, I appeared before the committee of the general assembly to defend the budget. In the senate finance committee, I stated that a considerable deficit existed and that money was needed to eliminate it. A member immediately took me to task very harshly for a deficit for which I was in no way responsible. I told him that I had found it and that, unless something could be done to meet the obligations, the college might close. I then told him that I was a general in the army and was entitled to respect, that I could not submit to such treatment as he had shown me, and that I would resign immediately . I then left the room. On returning to Charleston, I submitted my resignation to be effective at once. The incident was carried by the papers all over the country and in some of the foreign press. I had many letters commending me. A few papers and letters criticized me. One letter, not signed, must have come from one of my father’s old enemies in Florida. Immediately, the Corps of Cadets signed a petition for me to stay. The Board of Visitors met and requested me to withdraw the resignation. I told them that I would do so because of the petition of the cadets. After that, I was always treated with respect by the committees in the general assembly. The appropriation was not increased to pay the deficit. I, therefore, reduced all salaries and wages, discharged linenearly all laborers, and made...

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