Citadel military school to put locks on cadets' rooms

CNN.com ^ | April 23, 2007 | AP

[Jake The Goose]

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (AP) -- The Citadel will break with tradition and install locks on all cadet rooms amid concerns about safety in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings.

Male cadets at the state military college have no locks on their barracks doors. Female cadets can lock their doors from the inside. The tradition had evolved in keeping with the spareness of military life and with the school's honor code, which mandates that cadets do not steal.

Now, all cadets will get keys to lock their doors from the outside by next semester. Installing the locks will cost about $125,000.

[Jake The Goose]

Ok - I grant you - I am old school - I graduated from The Citadel in 1981. My freshman year 1978 - hazing was still "cool" - blanket parties, etc.

Man oh man - LOCKS ON DOORS?

Are you kidding me?

Inconceivable.

Even The Citadel is going soft.

And I hated that place - but I hate to see this.

[Vicomte13]

At Annapolis we had locks on the doors.
But we were never allowed to use them and nobody did. I suppose they were there to be able to secure space when it was not being used.

[river rat]

"Now, all cadets will get keys to lock their doors from the outside by next semester."

From the OUTSIDE?
This doesn't sound like a safety measure - but a property security measure..

Sounds like they're protecting property from thieves, not allowing the Cadets to lock themselves into their rooms....

Wouldn't it be SMARTER to arm ALL the cadets and make it KNOWN they were all armed?

Semper Fi

[Egon]

Yeah, locks. That’ll stop those pesky bullets!

[CORedneck]

Interesting concept !

When I started my undergrad degree back in the Fall of 1985, that year, was the first year they instituted a lock hall policy. If you weren't a resident, you didn't get in but then there is tailgating. I think it is worse now. At the time, I lived on the first floor and the door going into the hallway and a screwed up latch. If you were strong enough, you just pull hard enough it it will open. I use to get in trouble with the RA who would scream that I must use a key.

It is kind of sad to see what unknown direction the universities will take to lock down their campuses after the VA Tech shootings. I have been to one U. California campus - Berkeley and their library is closed to outsiders but I been to other UC libraries and they are open.

[U S Army EOD]

I fail to see any problems in locking Citadel Cadets in their rooms, about time.

North Georgia College-Class of 66.

[Jake The Goose]

Want to hear a little Citadel history?

1.) the Honor Code (duh!) no one steals

2.) The open door policy...

- For Freshman (Knobs) it meant any upperclassman can grab (rack) your as_ (butt)

- For the rest - direct access to walk in for whatever reason,,,

- We had manners - we knocked and stepped back until access was granted...

Locks?

Give me a break.

[Admin Moderator]

1). This isn’t Breaking News.
2). Use the published headline. Not your manufactured one.

Thanks,
AM

[Jake The Goose]

My Dad was class of 52’

I tip my hat to you sir.

[Jake The Goose]

Ok - now that’s funny.

And correct

[Jake The Goose]

My sincere apologies - I meant no harm.

Ok?

[U S Army EOD]

Especially with each other.

[Jack Hammer]

Say what you like, but IMO the whole world’s in the sh*tter and this is just one more proof of it.

Sorry.

Just venting.

[Jake The Goose]

Ok - quit - I’m rolling on the floor..

[Admin Moderator]

No biggie..

Thanks,
AM

[U S Army EOD]

I don’t think you understand what goes on at places like the Citadel and North Georgia College.

[Jake The Goose]

No harm ‘Jack Hammer’

I am with you brother.

[American Quilter]

Wouldn't it be SMARTER to arm ALL the cadets and make it KNOWN they were all armed?

Yes.

[Jake The Goose]

Oh man - let me expand - first, let me qualify myself.

- I was a senior Private

- Busted as a sophomore with a STILL (180 Tours - I pounded the Quad)

The stories I could (but wont) tell you.

The Citadel was a magnificent, evil, wonderful, hateful, racist - place.

It had it all - and I hated it then - and I love it now.

What a conflict I have to live with.

[Vicomte13]

“Wouldn’t it be SMARTER to arm ALL the cadets and make it KNOWN they were all armed?”

NO!
No no no no no no no.
THAT would be a VERY BAD idea in that particular environment.
Plebe year is designed to drive men (and I guess women now too) to their limits, past their limits, break them down, and build them back up as something new.
Some men, when they break down, go wild.
It’s easy enough for a couple of other athletic men to restrain a classmate or an underclassman hellbent on mayhem, but if every cadet had a pistol, just sitting there in that drawer ticking away, it would end badly.

Remember that part of the Lord’s Prayer: “And lead us not into temptation...?” giving plebes handguns would be leading them into temptation.

On the drill field, fine. But not sitting there in their desk drawers. They’re being molded into military men, but they’re not there yet. Some won’t ever make it there. And if they were armed, in that pressure cooker, some upperclassmen wouldn’t make it either, year after year.

No, the Citadel or Annapolis or West Point would NOT be good places to have every cadet packing heat. The pressures and nastiness are just too high. The places are DESIGNED to break people. Some men break quietly. Some break in private tears. Some break and quit. But some break ugly, and ugly you control by numbers. But not if he’s got a gun you don’t.

“And lead us not into temptation...”