In the Company of Men: A Woman at the Citadel

by Nancy Mace, Mary Jane Ross

Overview

When Nancy Mace entered the Citadel, the United States government had just recently overturned the ruling that women were not allowed to enter the "Corps of Cadets." Having grown up in a military family, Nancy was not unfamiliar with the harsh realities of military life. But upon entering those imposing gates. Nancy soon found out that she wasn't just fighting the tradition of the corps, but the culture and city that surrounded it.
Steeped in tradition and lore, the grand bastion known as El Cid is considered one of the South's most infamous and controversial institutions. Built in 1842, it has turned out a unique brand of Southern man — and now woman. This is the true account of one young woman's battle to be a part of the long gray line.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689840036
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	09/01/2002
Edition description:	Original
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	443,261
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.80(d)
Lexile:	1060L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Mary Jane Ross has collaborated on numerous bestselling memoirs, including books by Albert DeMeo, Ray Charles Robinson Jr., Nancy Mace, and Piper Laurie.

Read an Excerpt

Prologue: Remembrance

The room was small and white, filled with battered tan metal furniture. To my right was a double rack with two thin mattresses and a wool blanket, Citadel blue. The room smelled of shoe polish, mildew, and tobacco spit.

I stood rigidly at attention, chin pressed against my throat, eyes straight ahead, forehead fixed in a frown. My uniform clung stickily to my body, damp in the muggy Charleston air. A few feet away, a muscular young man in a gray uniform was pacing up and down. We were the only two people in the room.

Finally, he stopped in front of me, put his face a few inches from mine, stared intently into my eyes, and began to speak. I could feel his hot breath on my throat.

"Mace, I know why you are here. I know all about your past. I have heard the rumors. I know why you came."

My throat constricted, and the familiar anger welled up inside. "Asshole!" I muttered in my head. "What a jerk!"

Then, leaning even closer, he considered me seriously for another moment and said, "I respect your decision to come here. I know what you're trying to do. I understand."

He started to say something else, thought better of it, and finally dismissed me to return to my quarters. As I saluted him and stepped out into the sultry evening air, I looked up at the white galleries towering above me. Tears of rage stung my eyes. "The hell you know why I'm here," I thought. "The hell you do. Nobody knows. Nobody but me."

Copyright © 2001 Nancy Mace

Table of Contents

	Preface	ix
	Brief History of the Citadel	xii
	Prologue: Remembrance	xvi
Chapter 1	Battle Cry	1
Chapter 2	1800 Bulldogs and 4 Bitches	15
Chapter 3	Nancy the Knob	29
Chapter 4	The Haze Maze	37
Chapter 5	Hell Night	52
Chapter 6	Survivor	66
Chapter 7	Stormy Weather	73
Chapter 8	Parade Rest	86
	Photographs	96
Chapter 9	Going the Distance	110
Chapter 10	Brotherhood	128
Chapter 11	Hair of the Dog	142
Chapter 12	Promises to Keep	149
Chapter 13	Holiday Blues	159
Chapter 14	Star Performer	173
Chapter 15	Recognition Day	183
	Epilogue: Wearing the Ring	191
Appendix	Personal Memorabilia and Correspondence From the Citadel Years	213
	Photo Credits	235
	Acknowledgments	236

Editorial Reviews

Pat Conroy author of The Lords of Discipline and The Prince of Tides, and Citadel alumnus, Class of 1967 Nancy Mace has written a wonderful, timeless memoir of the great test to become the first female graduate of The Citadel. Her book is provocative, hilarious, illuminating, and true. It is also a love letter to her college and the best book about The Citadel ever written.

From the Publisher

PW called the chronicle of Mace's experience as the first female cadet ever to graduate from the Citadel a "narrative studded with hard-hitting details. Ultimately a story of triumph." All ages. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Gr 9 Up-In this autobiographical account of one of the first two female graduates of The Citadel, Mace relives both the grueling emotional experiences and occasional supportive moments of her undergraduate years. She struggled through her youth with attention deficit disorder and depression. The daughter of "The Citadel's most decorated living graduate," the young woman was determined to prove herself by breaking the gender barrier at the college. She never grew accustomed to the media attention focused on her, extending from freshman Hell Week to the senior Ring Ceremony. Although threats from outsiders and harassment by fellow male cadets followed her for the three years of her compressed college experience (1996-1999), she stoically faced the dissenters, achieved noteworthy standing, and refused to withdraw. The book is written with clarity and energy. Black-and-white family photographs, personal memorabilia, and letters are included. Mace is a survivor who seems to have had more to prove to herself than society. Nonetheless, readers interested in women's firsts may be interested.-Gerry Larson, Durham School of the Arts, NC Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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