Chief video correspondent Graham Flanagan got an inside look at what it’s like on the first day for new freshmen, known as knobs, at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina.
Matriculation day marks the beginning of the knobs’ seven-month journey to joining the South Carolina Corps of Cadets at the Citadel, one of the oldest public senior military colleges in the US, which has been at the center of controversy for decades because of allegations of racism, sexism, and hazing and its historical ties to the Confederacy.
After saying goodbye to their families, the knobs encounter a group of upperclassmen tasked with leading the new class during matriculation. Despite the school’s complicated past, we saw some cadets making progress toward changing the Citadel’s culture in real time.