Image questions for The Citadel

Whether The Citadel has an image problem depends on who's doing the talking.

Various alumni said the recent arrests of two former football players and another once linked to "the Ring" amount to no more than a blip in the school's 168-year history.

"I've made my pledges and I'm going to honor those pledges," said Gilbert Pohl, Class of '76, a past alumni president, speaking about school donations.

"Sometimes when you recruit someone who has an otherwise outstanding record, you just don't know what will happen with them in the future," said Edward Carter, Class of '66, another past president with the alumni association. "It's just not predictable."

But on Internet chat sites, where alumni and others can talk anonymously, the comments are much harsher. Some said the rules appear to be flexible at the Military College of South Carolina, especially when it comes to filling Johnson Hagood Stadium on fall Saturdays.

"It is clear to me at this point that The Citadel has relaxed its admissions standards too much so that we can attempt to become competitive in the Southern Conference once again," read one days-old entry on thelordsofdiscipline.net. "Our alma mater has sold its sole (sic) to the devil and we will all pay the price for this."

Another comment said nearly the same thing: "Unfortunately, we now appear to be a military college with varied & questionable standards for our cadets."

Since last week, the school on the banks of the Ashley River has received volumes of unwanted publicity, largely tied to the fact that former quarterback Miguel Starks stands charged in two violent home invasions.

A former Citadel linebacker also is implicated in those crimes, and one of the victims is a former cadet jailed in Florida on drug charges.

In a statement last week, Lt. Gen. John Rosa, the school president, said he addressed the matter by telling the Corps of Cadets "to take a hard look in the mirror, and if they aren't willing to meet our standards that they should leave."

Rosa on Tuesday declined a request for an interview through the school's media affairs office.

Other alumni said Tuesday the important fact to remember is that a trend has not shown itself.

"I don't necessarily think this causes an image problem," said Citadel alum Anthony Livoti, Class of '90. "I think what it appears to be is a few bad apples" and not an indictment of the entire Corps of Cadets.

Livoti said the incident will not alter his decisions to keep donating to the Citadel Foundation.

On campus Tuesday, several cadets declined to speak about the mood inside the ranks, quickly turning their heads around to see if anyone had seen them talking with a reporter.

Off campus, other cadets who were interviewed as they jogged around Charleston said the arrests exposed what they saw as a double-standard for athletes, including the way they are recruited and treated separately while enrolled.

The only example one could site was less harassment from upperclassmen during meals.

Others said the arrests uncovered the realization that Citadel cadets "are not perfect" or that "you can't tarnish the whole Corps for the actions of an individual."

Another cadet suggested that the fallout from the criminal filings means the school's reaction will be swift and heavy, mainly to head off any recurrence.

"This is a place that takes care of problems," he said.

Reach Schuyler Kropf at 937-5551 or skropf@postandcourier.com.