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Citadel campus to reopen for fall semester

Staff Report //May 13, 2020//

Citadel campus to reopen for fall semester

Staff Report //May 13, 2020//

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The Citadel will reopen its campus to cadets and students in August to begin the fall semester, the first Lowcountry college to solidify plans for the upcoming academic year.

Matriculation Day for freshmen is currently set for Aug. 17, and other students are scheduled to return Aug. 25. Classes would tentatively begin Aug. 26 for graduate students and Aug. 28 for cadets.

“The heart of The Citadel brand is our Corps of Cadets and the residential, military model used in achieving our mission to produce principled leaders,” said retired Marine Gen. Glenn Walters, president of The Citadel, in a message to the campus community. “With that in mind, developing plans for the return of the Corps is a primary focus.”

All Summer I courses, which take place May 11 to June 23, will remain online only. A small number of Summer II courses, which will take place between June 29 and Aug. 11, will be offered face-to-face, particularly classes with lab elements.

The Citadel is still determining how cadets will be housed on campus and how on-campus cases of COVID-19 will be handled. The college is working with state, commercial and community partners to handle testing for everyone who will be on campus.

“Our priority throughout this crisis was, and will remain, the health and safety of everyone,” Walters said. “Our staff continues studying best practices, and we are learning a lot this summer from the Marines as they stage recruits on campus for observation before shipping to Parris Island for boot camp.”

Walters said The Citadel may change its plans as the situation warrants.

“We must be ready, willing and able to refine how we operate on campus to maximize everyone’s safety,” he said. “Barracks, classrooms, the mess hall and other centers of concentration could see changes to operations, as will campus generally.”

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