Rep. Nancy Mace, ’99, to deliver commencement address at The Citadel 25 years after her own graduation

Corps of Cadets and Graduate College ceremonies to be held May 4

Nearly 25 years to the day after becoming the first female cadet to graduate from The Citadel, South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace will serve as the commencement speaker for the 2024 Corps of Cadets commencement ceremony. The ceremony will be held at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 4, 2024.

Later that day, the commencement ceremony for The Citadel Graduate College will take place at 3:30 p.m. Both events will be held in McAlister Field House and will also be livestreamed. For more information on both ceremonies, click here.

Mace matriculated into The Citadel as a member of Band Company in 1996. Three years later she graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Business Administration, setting an example for the hundreds of female cadets who would earn their own Citadel diplomas in the following years.

Today, women make up approximately 13% of the Corps of Cadets and that number continues to grow. Her commencement address will mark the culmination of the college’s celebrations recognizing 25 Years of Female Cadet Graduates. For more information on other events recognizing this milestone, click here.

In 2004, Mace earned a master’s degree from The University of Georgia. She is the author of “In the Company of Men: A Woman at The Citadel,” published by Simon & Schuster in 2001.

Mace started her own company in 2008. Her business background includes technology, PR, marketing, and commercial real estate.

Before being sworn into Congress, she served in the South Carolina General Assembly from 2018-2020.

Mace, a native of the Lowcountry, is the daughter of a retired Army General and a retired school teacher. Mace’s father, Brig. Gen. James E. Mace, ’63, is the most decorated living graduate of The Citadel.