Word: faulknerisms
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...least 30 cadets dropped out of the Citadel's freshman class last week. Shannon Faulkner is the only one whose name people will remember. After fighting since 1993 to become the first female cadet in the school's 152-year history, Faulkner floundered for less than five days, most of them spent in the campus infirmary, before deciding to quit. "The past 2-1/2 years came crashing down on me in an instant," she said in a quavering voice when announcing her decision. In a final sign of how anxious some people at the school were...
Though thousands of women have graduated from the nation's service academies in the past two decades, their presence in uniform is still an uncomfortable fact of life for many men. At her departure Faulkner explained that there would be an injustice in "staying and killing myself just for the political point." But to the delight of her critics, there were political points to be scored in her quitting...
Back with her parents now in Powdersville, South Carolina, Faulkner says she won't return to the Citadel and has no regrets about her quick exit: "I'd rather walk out than be carried out." There were times when she thought it might come to that. Early Saturday morning, Faulkner and her parents had driven to the Citadel from a Charleston hotel nearby. Because of death threats, she was escorted by federal marshals who checked out the campus and its approaches before the Faulkners entered by way of the school's back gate...
Despite that, Faulkner says there were some welcoming voices when she arrived. In the cafeteria three black women workers gave her a hug and told her, "Welcome home." Roses arrived from the mother and sisters of some Citadel alumni. But at an ecumenical service at the campus chapel, a woman abruptly rose and left as soon as the Faulkners sat down in the same...
...Monday, a day of Egyptian heat and heavy humidity, with temperatures reaching 100 degrees. The weather made a perfect start for Hell Week, the days of forced marching, push-ups and verbal badgering that introduces new cadets to their life as "knobs"-campus slang for the shave-headed plebes. Faulkner had already created resentment by resisting the requirement to shave her head. The school ultimately allowed an off-the-shoulder cut, similar to the regulation accepted for women at the service academies. But in the end, that accommodation was far from what she needed to get through. After hours...