Maria Aselage is a full-time marketing and communications professor at The Citadel, who owns HearSay Communications, a Charleston-based boutique company.

“You don’t go through something like this without alterations. But the human spirit is resilient, and there’s a special kindness in this community.”

In response to COVID-19, three Citadel professors are working on a new design for an N95 medical mask while also printing pre-approved masks for MUSC.

Despite the interruptions to campus life, The Citadel is carrying on its traditions and making the next group of cadets who will lead the Corps.

“The Career Center staff is fully engaged, working for as many hours as it takes to help our students with their next steps.”

“These are unprecedented times for our country; unprecedented times for our school. We can get through this by working together,”

The first African American cadet graduated from The Citadel in 1970. One year later, the school hired its first black barber to groom cadets of color.

Photo: Lt. Col. James Near Jr. with son in the Australian Outback, near Ayers Rock. (Provided by the Near family.) Lt. Col. James “Jim” Byron Near Jr., USAF (Ret.), a

This year, the child psychologist and researcher is celebrating 30 years as a professor at The Citadel. But her impact spans far beyond the classroom.

Dr. Russell Sobel, professor of economics and entrepreneurship at the Citadel Military College of South Carolina, presented the inaugural presentation.