Washington student earns academic honors at The Citadel

Published 6:28 pm Tuesday, July 28, 2015

THE CITADEL IN LINE: A group of cadets march in an awards parade where students receive       recognition for academic honors, such as Dean’s List and gold stars.

THE CITADEL
IN LINE: A group of cadets marches in an awards parade where students receive recognition for academic honors, such as Dean’s List and gold stars.

A college student from Washington is making his family and his hometown proud.

Richard Bennett was given Dean’s List recognition for the spring semester at The Citadel, a military college in Charleston, S.C.

Kimberly Keelor, director of media relations at The Citadel, said cadets have to be taking at least 12 credit hours and have a grade point average of 3.2 or more.

“The Dean’s List is absolutely a challenge to achieve. First of all, many of our cadets take more than 12 hours,” she said.

Most of the cadets take 18 credit hours, and some may earn the academic honor multiple times or just once, Keelor said.

The students are recognized each semester at one of the college’s dress parades, which take place almost every Friday during the school year.

During the parade, which includes a rifle and sword manual with a pass-in-review of 16 rifle companies as well as the pipe band and regimental band, Dean’s List recipients are given blue bars, which can be worn on the cadet’s uniform.

“It’s a tradition that dates back to the very beginning of the college in (1842),” Keelor said.

THE CITADEL BADGE OF HONOR: Cadets with a grade point average of 3.2 or more receive Dean’s List recognition and a blue bar. Cadets with a GPA of 3.7 or more receive gold star awards. Both the blue bars and the gold stars can be worn on uniforms.

THE CITADEL
BADGE OF HONOR: Cadets with a grade point average of 3.2 or more receive Dean’s List recognition and a blue bar. Cadets with a GPA of 3.7 or more receive gold star awards. Both the blue bars and the gold stars can be worn on uniforms.

The only award higher than Dean’s List is the gold star award, given to cadets with a GPA of 3.7 or more, she said. Recipients of the gold star awards are also recognized during a dress parade and receive gold stars for their uniforms.

“It’s recognized very formally,” Keelor said. “There are generally more Dean’s List cadets than there are gold star cadets.”

The Citadel has a mostly male undergraduate student population of about 2,300 called the Corps of Cadets, which consists of five battalions with 21 companies. After graduation, cadets have earned a college degree and are able to join their chosen branch of the military.

The Citadel also offers a graduate program with classes meeting in the evening.

Bennett is studying political science as part of the Corps of Cadets undergraduate program, and he also earned Dean’s List recognition for the fall 2014 semester.

He could not be reached for an interview.