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realized Shannon Faulkner actually lived there and those were her classmates.� It was a huge wake-up call for Hudson because it became clear that these men weren’t happy about having to alter their living arrangements for women. “When we came in, we were the first females in our battalion so they had to get used to having women there,� Hudson said. “They had to add a bathroom and they actually added a ‘tac’ (tactical) officer to stay there on duty at night to monitor the activities that went on.� The tactical officers were adults hired to live in the barracks so upperclassmen would have supervision when making decisions affecting their battalions. Living in the barracks with dozens of guys forced her to make some adjustments of her own, Hudson admits, because she grew up in a household with four other sisters and no brothers. But no matter what was thrown at her, Hudson said she was determined to handle it like any other knob. “Every freshman is intimidated. And I was going in as intimidated as any other freshman would be,� Hudson said, adding that the military training was grueling. “Initiation week was a huge shock,� Hudson said. “And being an athlete didn’t make it any better. We were doing military training as well as racing. So, you never got rest. “It’s tiring and you can’t leave. So, then you start thinking about your counterparts at other schools out partying and having fun. And soon everyone always wants to go home.� During her first year at The Citadel, Hudson met Dan Cannon, a fellow knob and member of the track team. “Actually, we were the only two African-American runners at school,� Hudson said. “So, we just kind of bonded.� The closer the two cadets became as friends, Cannon said, the more he began worrying about Hudson.
“They didn’t respect me at first. It took a while for them to understand, ‘Look, you may not like me, but you are going to respect me. I’m in charge of this company and what I say, goes.’� – Toshika Hudson, a Citadel graduate
“I think our class, that came in 1998, we were the last class to get The Citadel’s old-school system,� Cannon said. “What I mean is, we still got the hard part of the system because the seniors that were there were the same guys that were around when Shannon Faulkner was there. “And there were some attitudes. The whole atmosphere at school was just anti-female.� By just being friends with Hudson, Cannon said he was immediately targeted by some male upperclassmen. “It was harsh because I used to get in trouble for just talking to her because she was female,� Cannon said. “I used to get a lot of grief, but I looked up to her and I admired her because school was hard for me, just being a male. “The Citadel is a predominately Caucasian school. And going in, I looked at it as, I’m an African-American, so maybe that’s one strike against me. Well, she had two, because she was an African-American and a female.� Both Hudson and Cannon said the level of racism evident at The Citadel hardly compared with some of the cadets’ intolerance of women. “The first African-American guy came to the school in the 1970s, so he kind of bridged that gap,� Cannon said. According to a December 2000 article in The (Columbia, S.C.) State, Charles Foster was the first black to graduate from The Citadel in 1970. “Foster was one of six black applicants and the only one accepted by The Citadel after colleges and universities were desegregated,� the article states. However, there is not much written of Foster’s experience at The Citadel because, when he entered the Corps of Cadets in 1966, reporters were instructed “not to single him out to avoid chaos on the campus.� The media complied with the school’s request, and according to The State Foster went through four years of college without much attention. After Foster graduated, he moved to Garland, Texas, where, in 1986, he was killed in a house fire. According to the article, Foster said he had never encountered problems at The Citadel. “So, it wasn’t so much a race thing, but the attitude against females was horrible when we got there in 1998,� Cannon said. “It’s gotten a lot better since we first came. It’s not completely gone. It’s going to take a while, but we really caught it coming up through the ranks. I can only imagine how hard it was for her being female. “I was worried about her.�
Taking Command of The Citadel
During her four years at The Citadel, Hudson did more than just prove she could survive; she excelled. As a senior, Hudson earned the rank of company commander, one of the top offices for undergraduates at The Citadel, and was also a standout on the school’s track and cross-country teams. Earning the position of company commander was both an honor and a tremendous challenge, Hudson said. “Becoming company commander felt great because I worked so hard to gain all the rank that I continued on page 22
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