Conroy's Losing Season a winner

One of the longest lines at homecoming was for the barbeque lunch served in the Holliday Alumni Center prior to the game with UT-Chattanooga. But the longest line, by far, was made up of fans waiting for alumnus Pat Conroy '67 to autograph their copies of his latest book, My Losing Season.

The Citadel's most famous alumni author had scheduled a three-hour book-signing on Friday of homecoming weekend to be followed by a press conference and talk to the basketball team. But a half hour before his signing period was supposed to end, the line stretched out the door and around the corner of the alumni center toward Hollings Hall, the new home of the Corps of Engineers.

Basketball players lost out on their scheduled meeting with the famous author, but the faithful who waited in line for as long as two hours were winners as Conroy signed every single book, finishing more than five hours after he had started.

Conroy signs hundreds of copies of his book at homecoming.

Many in the line which included alumni, cadets, faculty and area fans had multiple copies. Helping Conroy sign books were Colonel Nugent Courvoisie '38, also known as The Boo, and former basketball teammate Dan Mohr '67. It was a profitable day for Conroy and for The Citadel as the gift shop did a booming business in his books.

My Losing Season, praised by critics as a coming-of-age story, is Conroy's account of the 1966-67 basketball team which finished with a dreary 8-17 record. This much-anticipated work, which recently ranked #3 on the New York Times Best Seller List, is well on its way to becoming a classic.

Most Citadel cadets have read Conroy's earlier classic about The Citadel, The Lords of Discipline, by the time they enroll. And all entering cadets received the letter that Conroy wrote for the admissions office to send to prospective students. His views on why someone should consider coming to The Citadel are compelling and eloquent.

At the center of The Citadel education, the rock that anchors its soul, is the Honor System. I found the Honor System simple and profound, majestic and life-changing:

A cadet does not lie, cheat or steal, nor tolerate those who do.

Those words struck me as beautiful then and even more beautiful today. They provide the framework of cadet life. Plus the Honor Code is moveable goods, as it travels with you all your life. It is the part of The Citadel education that is deathless and not for sale. It is what you get at face value when you meet the alumni of my college. Test us; it is part of our DNA. It is our password against chaos and disorder; the mark of our uniqueness.

From the perspective of many at The Citadel, that letter may be his greatest work of all.