Posted on 04/28/2016 8:52:08 AM PDT by Mr. Mojo
A cadet at The Citadel said he is being punished with 33 hours of marching after he revealed in a Facebook post that the school was considering allowing an incoming cadet to wear a hijab in uniform.
The cadet, senior political science student Nick Pinelli, said officials at the public military college originally sought to charge him with behavior “unbecoming to a cadet,” a Class I offense that can lead to dismissal under the school’s disciplinary code. Instead, he said the school reduced the charge to “gross poor judgment” and handed him the maximum punishment: 40 “tours,” each consisting of 50 minutes of silent marching with a rifle in a barracks quadrangle. Pinelli, who has also been working as an intern for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, must complete the tours before graduating on May 7.
Pinelli’s April 13 Facebook post led to national media coverage and sparked heated debate among Citadel cadets and alumni about the issue of the hijab, a head covering worn by some Muslim women. The Citadel is considering accepting a Muslim freshman who has asked to be able to wear the head scarf — an exception to the school’s military dress code. No final decision has been made on the issue.
“If I valued liberal ideology, I would go to UC Berkeley,” Pinelli wrote in the post.
Col. Brett Ashworth, a spokesman for The Citadel, declined to comment on whether Pinelli is being punished. “Due to FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act), I can’t discuss individual disciplinary action,” Ashworth wrote in an email.
Too bad The Save the Males campaign failed. There was a group of Citadel and VMI who hoped to start an all male private military academy but last I read they have not been successful.
When were you there? My brother was N Co, Class of ‘84.
I graduated in 64 - we actually took part in a “celebration” and re-enactment of the first shots fired in the Civil War during my first year (1961). Now they will not even allow Dixie!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.