© 2003, Rotary Club of Charleston

P.O. Box 21029
Charleston, SC 29413-1029

Club secretary:
Carroll Schweers
chasrot@comcast.net

The Citadel Experience: honor, integrity, truth
Cadets say leadership lessons will pay off in future

APRIL 8 - Honor. Integrity. Ethics. They're more than words at the Citadel, cadets told members. They're the standards that today's cadets live by.

"The standard is the ideal and to break that ideal is the biggest sin you can commit," said Cadet Capt. Rob Sturdy during a talk by four cadets about "The Citadel Experience."

Col. Tony Lackey, assistant commandant at the college, outlined how students are expected to develop academically, grow athletically, instill discipline in their lives and mature spiritually to become leaders of principle and ethics.

"Just being a cadet here, you can learn to be a leader," said Sgt. Major Erica Wood, a junior from New Jersey. "I am amazed by the people here, the people the Citadel produces, and the honor and integrity that are here."

Senior Cadet Capt. Clay Middleton, a Charleston native who attended Burke High School, said he has been energized by The Citadel.
"I had been taught [at home] that you must reach for the sky," he said. "At the Citadel, I was taught you must grab the star.

Cadet Capt. Kevin Olecki, the center for the college's football team, said he learned self-discipline.

"I've learned a lot of things I don't think I could have learned anywhere else."

Added Sturdy, "Leadership is so much more than not lying, cheating and stealing. Honor and integrity are (about) doing the right thing, even though you know you're going to get burned for it."

-- Andy Brack

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