NORTHFIELD,
Vt. – The nation’s oldest private military college will, for the first time,
allow an incoming freshman to wear a Muslim headscarf.

Officials at
Norwich University say the school will allow the hijab as part of the student’s
Corps of Cadets uniform. The female student had requested the religious
accommodation to cover her hair and neck at all times in uniform, and for
uniform accommodations that allow her to cover her arms and legs.

The policy
change at the Northfield school will also allow Jewish cadets to wear the
yarmulke with their uniform.

The same student requested a similar exception to the required uniform from
The Citadel, touching off a highly charged debate at the public military
college in South Carolina where loyalty to the corps is a fundamental value and
individual preferences are set aside to encourage unity.

It was the first formal request for a religious accommodation to the uniform
at Norwich, spokeswoman Daphne Larkin said, so they reached out to peer
institutions “and came to the conclusion that it makes sense for Norwich to
continue to be dynamic in how we serve our students.”

“Regardless of their spiritual or religious affiliation, all students and
employees should feel welcome and comfortable at Norwich University,” Norwich
President Richard Schneider wrote in announcing the exception to the
required Corps of Cadets uniform. “Norwich University is a learning community
that is American in character yet global in perspective.”