Each semester, The Citadel announces the Presidential Award Winners for the spring semester. The three categories are: The Citadel Excellence in Customer Service Award, Rising Start of The Citadel and Spirit of The Citadel.

The Citadel Excellence in Customer Service Award

The Citadel Excellence in Customer Service Award goes to an employee who has represented The Citadel’s core values of duty and respect by serving others before themselves. This employee will exemplify honesty, integrity and respect in their approach with both internal and external customers. For the spring 2024 semester, The Citadel Excellence in Customer Service Award went to Sally Levitt from the Veteran Student Success Center.

Her nomination reads in part:

With over 20 years of service to The Citadel, Sally fiercely advocates for all military connected students and ensures they are respected and honored for their service and treated equally across campus. Sally took the initiative to create and grow an emergency relief fund for veteran and active-duty students experiencing various financial hardships. Sally is a true leader and endlessly strives to effectively coordinate the educational benefits for over 640 students every semester. She clearly exemplifies The Citadel’s values and is a pillar of its mission to achieve excellence in education and develop principled leaders. 

The Rising Star of The Citadel

The Rising Star of The Citadel goes to an employee who is within their first two years of employment at The Citadel, has demonstrated to others on campus that they exemplify the core values of honor, duty and respect in all interactions on campus, and has created or implemented a new procedure or product that resulted in personnel, budgets or office efficiencies. This award went to Stephen Rutland from The Summerall Chapel.

Aaron Meadows, ’04, Chaplain to the Corps of Cadets, accepted the award on Rutland’s behalf.

His nomination reads in part:

Stephen has made deep and lasting impacts on cadets, staff, and faculty in his first year on campus. He created several new procedures that helped capture critical information, make chapel procedures more efficient, and saved valuable resources. He created a new system for managing the 20+ campus ministries, cutting administrative time by over 50%. He has become a requested resource and trusted guide to many within the community.

The Spirit of The Citadel

The Spirit of The Citadel is awarded to an employee who has exemplified the spirit of The Citadel in all interactions on campus and with external customers. This employee also had a direct impact on achieving excellence in the education and development of principled leaders, as well as shown principled leadership in their employment with The Citadel and with volunteerism on or off campus. This year, the award went to two staff members — Kayla Buckmon from the Title IX office and Daniel Webster from the Commandant’s Office.

Buckmon’s nomination reads in part:

Kayla has established herself as a go-to for student and employee concerns related to Title IX. Kayla’s dedication to continuing the conversation surrounding sexual violence and sexual harassment education and prevention is integral to our school and the community. Her work ensures resolutions that are supportive to our students and employees.

Webster’s nomination reads in part:

First Sergeant Webster is the recognized campus subject matter expert in the ongoing multi-million-dollar upgrade and enhancement of Stevens Barracks. Through his expert mentoring, instruction, and example, our junior cadets grew exponentially in their understanding of their leadership responsibilities and in their confidence to fulfill these responsibilities independently. His leadership and coaching of the Palmetto Battery Cadet Chain of Command was instrumental in re-establishing the Chain of Commands ability to effectively lead their unit and grow as leaders.