Citadel Rejects Applicant With Female-Looking Name

Any name that even suggests a female applicant seems to set off alarms these days at The Citadel, the all-male military school fighting a woman’s admission.

When Kristian Zoeller applied, the school quickly sent back a rejection letter to the 16-year-old 220-pound high school football player from Newburyport, Mass., noting that the school is for men only.

The Citadel then forwarded his name to the Justice Department, which asked if he would like to join Shannon Faulkner’s lawsuit to be admitted to the school. The Justice Department has intervened on her behalf.

Zoeller said he called the Justice Department to straighten things out and his parents called the school to complain. “I called a couple of lawyers at the department and told them I am a guy and I have all the right body parts,” Zoeller said.

Citadel officials apologized, and he received his application packet last week.