CITADEL'S 2 NEW FEMALE CADETS MAY BE ROOMIES.

Byline: Bruce Smith Associated Press 

The two women who plan to enroll in The Citadel next month will likely be roommates and treated like any other cadets - except for the short haircuts, the board chairman said Saturday.

``We think it's important they have support from each other,'' Jimmy Jones said. ``Roommate support is critical.''

The board agreed at a private meeting Saturday that it would not require the women to wear the close-cropped haircut that male cadets must wear. Shannon Faulkner, who briefly became the first woman cadet last year, was also not required to cut her hair that short.

She dropped out last year after less than a week, citing the stress of her 2-1/2-year legal battle and her isolation on campus.

The board also reviewed the school's plan for admitting women, which will be released when it is submitted to U.S. District Judge C. Weston Houck.

When Faulkner became a cadet, she reported to a special group of cadet officers. There's no such provision in the new plan.

``The intent of this board is to have business as usual - not get into saying only girls do this and only boys do this. We're going to treat all cadets alike,'' Jones said.

Five women have applied and been accepted. Nancy Mace of Goose Creek and Kim Messer of Clover have paid their room deposits and plan to attend.

The college announced last month it would accept women after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the all-male admissions policy at Virginia Military Institute was unconstitutional.