Leadership Day

For more than 176 years, The Citadel has been a part of the Charleston community. That is one reason why cadets volunteer their time to the Lowcountry community all year long. Servant leadership through community service is also integral to the college’s mission of developing cadets into principled leaders. In fact, in the 2018-2019 academic year, cadets provided 35,894 service hours, according to the college’s Krause Center for Leadership and Ethics.

Leadership Day, held every year in October, is just one of the many ways cadets serve their communities. On Wednesday, Oct. 23, cadets, faculty and staff participating in Leadership Day 2019 focused on leadership learning and volunteering with the assistance of Medal of Honor recipient James McCloughan. The Vietnam War veteran, who taught high school before and after his time in the service, helped kick off this academic year’s Leadership Day with a presentation to freshmen.

All freshmen and sophomores worked in groups throughout the Lowcountry, participating in service learning and civic engagement. Freshmen spent the day in different elementary schools, increasing young students’ awareness of heroism and service to others. Sophomores were able to choose from a variety of service projects on and off campus.

Cadets served at more than 20 locations in the Lowcountry, involved in tasks such as leading classroom activities for children in local elementary and middle schools, helping homeless veterans and cleaning up parks.

While freshmen and sophomores engage in service learning on Leadership Day, junior and senior cadets participate in leadership training or seminars. The juniors took part in an on-campus Ethics Enrichment Experience. To learn from Lowcountry leaders, seniors visited area businesses and organizations based on their area of study.

On average, more than 8,000 hours of service to the Lowcountry are provided by the cadets each Leadership Day, and more than 20,000 annually, according to The Krause Center for Leadership and Ethics.