The Citadel
Nancy Mace's connection to The Citadel, where in 1999 she became the first woman to graduate from the South Carolina Corps of Cadets.
Mace delivering the 2024 commencement address at The Citadel, the institution where she made history in 1999 as its first female Corps of Cadets graduate. (Source: ABC News 4 / WCIV, via YouTube.)
The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, is a state-supported senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Nancy Mace's association with the institution is a defining element of her public biography.
First woman to graduate the Corps of Cadets
In 1999, Mace became the first woman to graduate from The Citadel's Corps of Cadets. The Citadel began admitting women into the Corps of Cadets in 1996, following federal court litigation in which the institution had defended its all-male admissions policy. Mace was therefore among the first cohort of women to enter the Corps and became the first to complete all degree requirements and graduate.
The Honor Code
Cadet life at The Citadel is governed by an Honor Code. The college states it as: "A cadet does not lie, cheat or steal, nor tolerate those who do." The Honor Code is administered by a cadet Honor Committee and is presented by the institution as the foundational standard of cadet conduct (The Citadel, Honor & Conduct System).
As a member of the South Carolina Corps of Cadets from her enrollment through her 1999 graduation, Mace was subject to the Honor Code, and it is a frequent point of reference in how The Citadel describes the formation of its graduates.
Military service
The Citadel is a military college, but graduating from it does not entail serving in the armed forces, military service is optional for South Carolina Corps of Cadets graduates. Roughly 30 percent (about one-third) of each graduating class commissions as officers in a branch of the U.S. military; the majority do not enter service, and the Post and Courier has reported that The Citadel commissions at lower rates than peer senior military colleges (Post and Courier; The Citadel).
Mace did not serve in the U.S. armed forces. Her distinction is as the first woman to graduate the Corps of Cadets (above), not as a veteran, and, as the figures show, completing The Citadel without serving is the path most graduates take. A public association of her background with military service is also tied to her family: her father, J. Emory Mace, was a highly decorated Vietnam War veteran and a former Citadel Commandant of Cadets (Post and Courier).
Memoir
Mace wrote a memoir about her experience as one of the first women in the Corps of Cadets. The account is frequently cited in profiles of her and in her own campaign materials.
Significance to her public identity
Her status as a Citadel graduate is regularly referenced in coverage of her career and is a recurring theme in how she presents her background. The distinction is commonly noted in introductions of her in news media and official biographies.