Stand Forever, Yielding Never, The Citadel in the 21st Century, John Warley

Stand Forever, Yielding Never is a modern history of The Citadel written by John Warley.  John is an alumni from the class of ’67 and classmate of Pat Conroy.  He is the author of three novels and he authored the Citadel War Memorial’s welcoming inscription as well as  “The Citadel at War,” a narrative history etched into the memorial’s walls.  He is also a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and is a resident of Beaufort, South Carolina.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and thought it gave a good review of the history of the college especially events of the last one hundred years.  I learned many interesting facts, especially about events going on and surrounding my cadet years that I was unaware of.  It is interesting learning what was going on in the board meetings and the perceptions about the school outside of our South Carolina microcosm.

The Citadel is a steeped in history and tradition and like many institutions in the Southern United States is resistant to change.  John does a great job of documenting the struggle between progress and the preservation of tradition.  I also came away from the reading of the book proud of the progress we had made, and I am impressed by the fight for preservation of the ideals and traditions that I feel make the institution unique and special and how that has been balanced with changes that have made the Citadel better and stronger. 

I am encouraged after reading the book that the Citadel has a firm foundation for progressing into the next century, providing a unique and challenging experience that has preserved the best of the traditions and ideals while discarding some of the practices that have been preserved for tradition’s sake, however, do not contribute to the overall mission of the school. 

I would encourage all alumni to pick up this book and read it; you will not regret it!