The email for this article was deactivated after The Citadel decided NOT to allow hijabs.

The Washington Post reported on April 14, 2016:

The Citadel considers first-ever uniform exception: allowing a Muslim hijab

The Citadel is considering a request from an admitted student that she be allowed to wear a hijab in keeping with her Muslim faith, a move that would be an unprecedented exception to the school’s longstanding uniform requirements.

If the request for the traditional Muslim hair covering is granted, it apparently would be the first exception made to the Citadel’s uniform, which all cadets at the storied public military college in South Carolina are required to wear at nearly all times. (At beaches, for example, college rules stipulate that, “Cadets will change into appropriate swimwear upon arrival and change back into uniform when departing.”) A spokeswoman said that to her knowledge, in its nearly 175-year history, the school has never granted a religious, or other, accommodation that resulted in a change to the uniform.

Turkishweekly.net reported on April 15, 2016: 

US military college weighing hijab exemption

A leading U.S. military college is weighing the possibility of allowing a recently admitted student to wear an Islamic head covering.

Col. Brett Ashworth, vice president of communications and marketing for the Citadel, said in a statement to Anadolu Agency that the school is currently reviewing the request.

Ashworth did not provide the student’s name, but said the female student has been accepted for the fall semester.

A school spokeswoman said that this is the first request for a hijab exemption at the Citadel.
Founded in 1842, the South Carolina military college is known for its strict attire and conduct codes, as well as its high academic standards.

The New York Times published the following opinion on January 14, 2016 written by two Muslim women Asra Q. Nomani and Hala Arafa:  

Wearing the Hijab in Solidarity Perpetuates Oppression

In the eight times the word hijab, or a derivative, appears in the Koran, it means a “barrier” or “curtain,” with spiritual, not sartorial, meaning.

Today, well-intentioned women are wearing headscarves in interfaith “solidarity.” But, to us, they stand on the wrong side of a lethal war of ideas that sexually objectifies women as vessels for honor and temptation, absolving men of personal responsibility.

This purity culture covers, segregates, subordinates, silences, jails and kills women and girls around the world.

“The Qur'an Does Not Mandate Hijab” writes Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph. D. President Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc.   “… as long as the dresses are not revealing or too tight, cultural variations can add tremendous diversity in the fulfillment of this guideline.  Hijab, a terminology that is NOT to be found in the Qur'an or Hadith in the context of dress code.”  Ibrahim Syed refers to Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl's studies of the Qur’an and Islamic law.  Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl is an accomplished Islamic jurist and scholar, and a Professor of Law at the UCLA's School of Law.  He previously taught Islamic law at the University of Texas, Yale Law School and Princeton University.   A high-ranking Shaykh, Dr. Abou El Fadl also received formal training in Islamic jurisprudence in Egypt and Kuwait.  Ibrahim Syed writes “Abou El Fadl argues that in contemporary Muslim societies people tend to become authoritative by imposing a single viewpoint to the total exclusion of others. Shariah (Islamic law) is then invoked to quash debate by people who are themselves not adequately qualified to do so.”

Pew Research found that only forty three percent (43%) of American Muslim women wear hijabs according a National Public Radio report.  The majority of American Muslim women do NOT wear hijabs.    Rasmieyh Abdelnabi, 27, grew up attending an Islamic school in Bridgeview, Ill., a tiny Arab enclave on Chicago's southwest side. It's a place where most Muslim women wear the hijab.  Abdelnabi explains why she stopped wearing the hijab.  She says that Islam teaches modesty — but wearing the hijab is taking it a step too far.  "I've done my research, and I don't feel its foundation is from Islam," she says. "I think it comes from Arab culture."  Read more at NPR.org 

There is little debate online as to whether the Qu’ ran mentions hijabs because it does not.  Wearing a hijab is clearly driven by culture and custom and is not a religious requirement.  However, Islamists who want to Islamize America instead of assimilate into American culture are pushing these Sharia style customs.

The hijab is a symbol of oppression that is fostered by strict adherents of Sharia law which is antithetical to the rights afforded under the United States Constitution.  Changing the dress code to accommodate the wearing of the hijab dangerously elevates Sharia over the United States Constitution.  

Florida Family Association has written an email for you to send to encourage officials at the Citadel to reject the request to allow cadets to wear hijabs.

The email for this article was deactivated after The Citadel decided NOT to allow hijabs.

Contact information:

John W. Rosa Lt Gen, USAF (Ret.)
President, The Citadel
john.rosa@citadel.edu
 

Colonel William B. Ashworth, SCM
Vice President for Communications & Marketing
Phone: (843) 953-6779
Fax: (843) 953-6767
washwort@citadel.edu