Winter furlough begins today for cadets at The Citadel. A time to celebrate to be sure.
Some will be thrilled with the grades their cadet achieved this semester. Others will not have fared that well and you’ll most likely have questions. The notes and links below should answer most of your questions. The links below will also bring you to the pages to find contact information for the appropriate person or department to address your questions. While this advice is manly for first year families, parents of cadets in all years may find the links helpful
- If your cadet needs academic support they should see the Academic Support Center the beginning of second semester. If the grades were really not up to standard, your cadet will need to communicate with their academic adviser and possibly the Dean. This page for Academic Advising FAQs may help answer a few questions.
- If you or your cadet will need to contact someone on campus, be aware the offices are closed from Dec. 22 – Jan. 2. See this press release for Winter Furlough Hours of Operation
- Throughout the year if you have a question about something on campus and you aren’t sure who to talk to on campus, you can ask a few people.
- Contact the parent liaison in the Provost office. The email and phone number are listed at the bottom of this page for Parents.
- Contact an Ombudsperson
- Contact the Citadel Family Association volunteer for your cadet’s company and/or battalion
- The cadets should already know where to check for their report times back to campus on the training schedule. They should also be aware of all the information, including emergency contact numbers, listed in the Winter Furlough memo from the Commandant and Regimental Memos page. A list for parents of furlough dates and procedures can be found in the memo from the Commandant’s office. The link is on the Matriculation Information page on the Office of the Commandant page.
If you’ve read this blog for a while you’ll already know this next bit of information. As I mentioned in this post from 2012, the beginning of second semester is tough for all cadets, knobs to seniors. They’ve just spent close to a month at home visiting with family and friends. Coming back to cadet life, getting up early, PT in the cold dark days of winter, is a tough reality.
For parents of knobs, if your son or daughter hasn’t questions their decision to attend The Citadel before, January and February are the months you may field that call. If you do get “the call” remind them that they are stronger than they think they are, encourage them to talk to their classmates. Once they talk to their classmates and other friends in the Corps they will realize they are not alone. It’s still tough but they will get through it. Remind them that Recognition Day is not too far off, March 17, this year.
This experience is so common the cadets have a name for it, the PG version is F’d up February. It is also tough when their friends decide for a variety of reasons not to return.
If you are a family with a student who has decided to leave The Citadel, I wish you and your student the best in their next endeavors.
My best wishes to all The Citadel cadets and families this holiday season.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah-Chanukah, Happy New Year!!
