For Release
Jan. 8, 2005

 Commandant at The Citadel announces plans to retire

           Eight years after he returned to his alma mater to lead The Citadel's military program, Brigadier General Emory Mace has announced that he will retire as commandant. Saying he has accomplished what he came here to do, Mace told The Citadel Board of Visitors on Saturday, Jan. 8, 2005, that he will step down from his post this summer.

           The Citadel's president, Major General John Grinalds, will appoint a search committee next week to select a new commandant.

           "The military program at The Citadel is highly professional and rigorous thanks to the strong leadership of General Mace," Grinalds said. "The changes that he has implemented in military training and leadership development have made The Citadel the best military college in the country."

           BG Mace was appointed commandant in 1997, several months after The Citadel admitted its first class of women. As third in command at the college, BG Mace oversaw military training during a dramatic period of transition from an all-male to a coeducational Corps of Cadets.

           In 1999, his daughter Nancy Mace became The Citadel's first female graduate from the Corps. Since that time, 67 women have graduated from the cadet program and the current 2,000-member Corps includes about 130 women.

           When he arrived as commandant, BG Mace announced plans to strengthen and improve military training that led to a number of changes including:

• improved security and discipline in the barracks
• a decrease in freshmen withdrawals
• enhanced leadership and human affairs training
• stronger physical fitness requirements
• an expansion of the community service program
• added requirements to the daily schedule including mandatory breakfast.

           A member of Class of 1963, BG Mace is one of The Citadel's most highly decorated veterans.

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