CITADEL DISCIPLINES FEMALE CADETS FOR HAIRCUTS.

Byline: Mike Allen The New York Times

Trying to fit in where they were once not welcome, three female cadets at The Citadel shaved one another's heads to try to make their hair as short as the men's. But they ended up being punished for breaking the military college's rules.

The Citadel, in Charleston, S.C., requires male cadets to keep their hair very closely cropped, while the prescribed haircut for women has more on top and on the sides. Cadets are prohibited from cutting their own hair.

The three women gave one another patchy haircuts in what Citadel officials said the cadets called an effort to demonstrate the same commitment to the college as their male classmates.

``Haircutting is like brain surgery: it is not a job for amateurs,'' said The Citadel's spokesman, Col. Terry E. Leedom.

``Whoever did this haircutting was apparently not well-experienced or skillful, and the product reflected that. The haircuts hardly met standards, so the women had to be shipped over to the barbershop for a repair job.''

The women will be formally disciplined, Leedom said, most likely by being confined to barracks and perhaps by having to perform extra marches.

Four women entered The Citadel after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that state-financed military colleges could not remain all male. When The Citadel began admitting women in August, the college said it would follow the practice of the U.S. military and permit women to have longer hair than men. Freshmen at The Citadel are known as ``knobs'' because the men's severe haircuts make their heads look like doorknobs.

The haircutting by the three women occurred Wednesday night. Squad leaders found out about it Thursday.

``They wanted it shorter,'' Leedom said. ``They got it shorter, and they'll have time to reflect on that. We got them squared away.''

He said that the women otherwise had performed well and that the episode should not hurt them in the long run. ``Everybody makes a mistake here,'' he said. ``It's almost impossible not to.''

Haircuts are also an issue at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Va., the nation's last all-male state college. VMI plans to admit women next year, but the Justice Department has challenged the school's plan to require women to have the same ``buzz cut'' as their brother Rats, as freshmen there are known.

A hearing on that matter and others is scheduled for next week in federal district court in Roanoke.

VMI's spokesman, Michael Strickler, said the haircut policy ``is not something we need to get hung up on,'' adding, ``It's going to be something everyone can live with.''

Women at The Citadel are required to have hair that is neat, short and off their collars. ``It's still obviously a woman.'' Leedom said. ``It needs to remind them that they're knobs, but not humiliate them.'' Leedom said Citadel officials had ``counseled'' the women ``and explained the severity of the offense, and why it's important that they adhere to haircut policy.''