‘I Serve As a Stepping Stone’

The Citadel Fought the Admission of Women. Now a Female Cadet Leads the Corps.

Photographed and written for the New York Times

A group of military cadets in uniform sitting in a room with a brick wall and a portrait of a military officer hanging above.

For most of its 176-year history, the Citadel, a military college in South Carolina, did not admit undergraduate women. That changed in 1995, with a Supreme Court ruling.

But it wasn’t until last year that the school appointed its first woman regimental commander — in essence the head of the student body who leads the corps’ five battalions and 21 companies.

That honor went to 22-year-old Sarah Zorn, now a second lieutenant in the Army.

Person in a uniform putting on a blue military-style jacket in a dorm room with bookshelves and a desk.

I began documenting Ms. Zorn, a business administration major for Florida, when she took command in May. I watched as she welcomed the incoming freshman class, met weekly with administrators and led her fellow students in physical training exercises.

Person in uniform adjusting tie in mirror
Close-up of a person wearing a military uniform jacket with gold buttons and holding a maroon sash, featuring a class ring on the left hand.
Four people linked arm-in-arm lying in the ocean waves, participating in a group exercise or team-building activity. They appear to be enduring the cold water with determination.

Her role was not unlike her job as the leader of her peers: If a cadet stumbled, Ms. Zorn would lift them up. If another struggled, she would encourage them.

Group of people in wet navy blue shirts, engaging in beach activities.
Silhouette of people standing on the beach facing the ocean.

The job of top cadet is to tell subordinates — some 2,400 cadets — what to do.

That included 837 freshman recruits, called “knobs” because their shaved heads make them look like doorknobs.

“You’re treated as an equal,” Ms. Zorn said of her classmates and school leaders. “And you are expected to perform as an equal.”

Military training setting with cadets in uniform seated at tables and other uniformed individuals walking through the room.
Group of cadets with shaved heads wearing "The Citadel" uniforms, eating in a cafeteria.
A man in uniform is having his measurements taken by another person in a room filled with racks of white pants and blue uniforms. Another person in a similar uniform is standing nearby, observing the fitting process.
A group of cadets marching in formation on a large checkered courtyard.

The South Carolina State Legislature founded the Citadel in 1842.

The college did not enroll a Black student until 1966 — more than a decade after public schools were desegregated in Brown v. Board of Education. It took three more decades before the Citadel allowed women to attend its undergraduate program.

Cadets in navy blue uniforms singing or chanting, holding booklets titled "The Guidon."

In 1995, after a two-year fight in court, Shannon Faulkner won the right to enroll as the first female cadet at the Citadel. She dropped out after the first week, citing exhaustion and emotional abuse. On campus, the cadets celebrated her departure.

Gallery wall with framed portraits of military and historical figures, featuring seven paintings arranged in two rows, with arched windows above the top row, set in a well-lit room.

Twenty-four years later, women now make up 10 percent of the Citadel student body and 25 percent of students are of color, according to the institution.

“I’d love to see the population of women here go from 10 percent to 50 percent,” Ms. Zorn said.

Over the past year, the school saw a record number of female applicants — something the Citadel’s president, Gen. Glenn Walters, a retired marine, attributed to Ms. Zorn.

A group of cadets in ceremonial military uniforms with feathered hats standing in formation on a grassy field.

“I serve as a stepping stone for everything else that is going to come for the Citadel,” Ms. Zorn said.

Person sitting on an ATV in a cluttered garage with shelves of tools and equipment, illuminated by overhead fluorescent light.

When Ms. Zorn applied for admission at the Citadel, she knew little about the legal battle that had forced the college to accept women.

Her mother died when she was 16. Ms. Zorn moved in with her aunt in South Carolina, where she joined her high school’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program and eventually earned an Army scholarship.

Her aunt’s family became like her own.

Two people interacting with a yellow dirt bike in a backyard. The person on the bike is smiling and wearing jeans and a gray t-shirt. The other is wearing a bright green shirt and yellow shorts, holding the bike. A wooden shed and white plastic chair are in the background.
Group of friends playing card game on green couch, laughing and smiling in a cozy living room with blankets and artwork on the walls.

Six months before Ms. Zorn started college classes, her aunt learned she had an aggressive form of liver cancer. She died two days after Ms. Zorn moved to campus.

A memorial card featuring a photograph of a woman and the words 'In Loving Memory,' resting on a cardboard box.
Silhouette of a person in military uniform and cap walking outdoors with trees in the background.

Ms. Zorn applied to become top cadet in her junior year. She said it was part of her mission to help repair the reputation of the historic institution. 

“We want to make sure that people are aware of what happened here at the Citadel,” Ms. Zorn said. “So that we can understand and make sure we don’t repeat it.”

Soldier in camouflage uniform walking up stairs

In March, she helped organize an event for students to talk openly about sexual assault. The rate of sexual assault in the United States military increased by 38 percent from 2016 to 2018, according to a recent Pentagon report.

She helped shape the policy overturning a rule requiring first-year women to cut their hair to three inches or shorter.

“Subconsciously, somewhere in the deepest darkest laters of Citadel history, that was an underlying symbol of oppression of women on the Citadel campus,” she said.

Group of uniformed military cadets laughing and talking indoors, wearing blue jackets with gold buttons and white pants.
Green door labeled 'REGIMENTAL COMMANDER' with smaller signs for 'REG. COMMANDER' and 'REG ACTIVITIES OFFICER' on the window above.

She also pushed openly for the inclusion of women and people of color in leadership roles, often passing on opportunities to address the student body to her second in command, David Days.

When asked how she felt that the role would return to a white man, she said: “I have complete faith, trust and confidence that he was picked because he is the right person for the job.”

This month, Ms. Zorn’s tenure came to an end. She graduated on May 4, passing the regimental commander’s sword to her successor, Richard Snyder.

Two cadets in formal military uniforms shaking hands on a grassy field, with a formation of similarly dressed individuals in the background.
Military personnel in uniforms saluting and smiling during an outdoor ceremony.

Ms. Zorn will serve the next eight years in the Army as a field artillery officer.

As her graduation ceremony, she joined nearly 500 seniors walking in alphabetical order across a brightly lit stage to collect their diplomas.

In Citadel tradition, the last cadet to cross the stage — the graduate whose name falls last in the alphabet — gets to speak. Ms. Zorn stood at the podium and addressed her fellow graduates, smiling.

“We survived — female regimental commander and all,” she said.

Cadets in dark blue military uniforms sitting in rows during a ceremony.
Graduation ceremony with a cadet raising diploma, applauding audience