Honor • Duty • Respect - The Citadel

Fro m the P resident’The Citadel 2011With the start of a new academic year and a new class of cadets arriving, Icontinue to be impressed by the young people who come here for more thanan education—they have accepted a challenge to become part of somethinglarger, something that they will take with them wherever they go for the rest oftheir lives. The challenge—an education in principled leadership—is mentallyand physically demanding, but it is a challenge that will instill in themdetermination and integrity that will define who they are. In this journey theyare guided by the principles and traditions of the college.In June the Board of Visitors approved distilling The Citadel’s core values tothree powerful words: Honor, Duty, Respect.Honor is at the heart of The Citadel experience. For cadets, thecommitment to honor springs from the Corps’ Honor Code, but it is a life-longobligation to moral and ethical behavior all of us are expected to observe.Duty is an expectation that we accomplish assigned responsibilities,both on and off campus, in a manner that is proper and appropriate. Dutyalso entails accepting the consequences of one’s actions and holding othersaccountable. Duty demands service to others before self.Respect calls upon us to treat others with dignity and worth. It precludesprejudice, discrimination and harassment. Respect requires acknowledging thepositions of those in authority and, reciprocally, for leaders to hold in esteemthose in their charge.Throughout the pages of this magazine, you will read inspiring storiesof our cadets, our Citadel Graduate College students and alumni. You willfind the story of Cadet Phillip Pandak, a walk-on basketball player who rosethrough the ranks of the Corps of Cadets; the story of graduate students whosecommitment to the education of our young people has taken them on journeysof self discovery and purpose; and the story of Olivia Perry-Smith, ’05, a formerThird Battalion commander who left behind the comforts of home to live ina remote area of Africa where she is helping some of the most underprivilegedpeople in the world.These are the stories of Duty, Honor, Respect. They are the stories ofprincipled leadership, and I am proud to say they are just a smallsample of the stories we hear of the countless cadets, CGC studentsand alumni who live The Citadel’s core values every day.John W. Rosa, ’73Lieutenant General, USAF (Retired)PresidentThe Citadel 2011 3