Early History of Cuban Cadets at The Citadel

The December 12, 1905 Board of Visitors meeting minutes for The Citadel have the following resolution:

"Requirement for admission
Resolved – That hereafter no Cadet be admitted to the Academy who cannot take the studies of the Academy as laid down in the curriculum adopted"

This resolution is further explained in a letter dated October 14, 1911 from Col. Gadsden, Chair of the Board of Visitors, to Col. Oliver J. Bond, President of The Citadel in 1911. In his letter, Col. Gadsden responds to a letter Bond had sent him a week earlier regarding a student from China seeking admittance to the Corps of Cadets:

“Referring to your letter of the 7th, in reference to the admittance of a Chinaman as a cadet in the Academy, I replied “that I thought the Board of Visitors had passed a resolution that only English speaking pupils would hereafter be received, if not I would agree to your proposition” this action was taken after our failure in efforts to secure applicants from Cuba. I now confirm that wire.

I have been informed by the Secretary of the Board, that the following resolution was passed in December 1905. REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION. “Resolved - That hereafter no Cadet be admitted to the Academy, who cannot take the studies of the academy as laid down in the curriculum.”

Gadsden to Bond, October 14, 1911, from the Oliver J. Bond Papers