The Army has said the ceremony will be conducted much like commencement at the Air Force Academy on April 18, when Vice President Mike Pence addressed graduates who sat 8 feet apart from each other. Graduation Ceremony: The ceremony is appropriate for the responsibilities that these young men and women are about to take on. Graduation Dates: Class of 2020 - June 13, 2020 Class of 2021 - May 22, 2021 Class of 2022 - May 21, 2022 Class of 2023 - May 27, 2023. Cadets will arrive at the stadium one/half hour before the ceremony. Cadets left the academy March 6 when the pandemic hit and instruction shifted to remote learning. Sign up today for a digital subscription. The following sections reflect the West Point traditions, customs, lore and memories that illuminate the human and personal side of Academy life. Otherwise, cadets can acquire additional tickets from other Firsties who will not need all of their tickets. Follow the links provided for more detailed descriptions. Oaths taken: Instead of taking their oath after graduation, the graduates have already received their commissions as second lieutenants, taking their oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States" and starting the clock on their military careers with the all-important "date of rank, which is huge in the Army," Fleek said. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers. Later, goat: Even the last will see a first. Here at home it will cost 8-9 dollars but in the West Point area it may run around 25 dollars because of the demand. As with all large events at West Point you will need to make your hotel reservations years in advance. Stage: Instead of a stage in Michie Stadium, the dais will be set up in front of Washington Hall, aside the statue of George Washington on horseback. as a graduating senior in the Graduation Review. The Corps lines up in formation on The Plain. "With current social distancing requirements, even a small contingent of guests would quickly exceed our seating capacity and was inconsistent with current public health guidance," said Cheryl Boujnida, the academy's chief of media relations. The bar-pinning ceremony occurs at the place of the Lieutenant's choosing and during this ceremony the officer will re-administer the Oath of Office, then "pin on" the new gold brass Second Lieutenant "butter bars." This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Saturday's West Point graduation will be a break from tradition, 7 ways the 2020 West Point graduation will be different. Army photo by Cadet Samantha Price West Point Graduation Any discussion of the customs and traditions of West Point is a discussion of the Academy itself. Now the exact opposite happens. And the idea of a graduation speaker didn't arrive at West Point until Civil War general William T. Sherman addressed the graduates on June 15, 1869, the same year Ulysses S. Grant became president. Here at home it will cost 8-9 dollars but in the West Point area it may run around 25 dollars because of the demand. President Donald Trump speaks to cadets in the Class of 2020 at a commencement ceremony on the parade field, at the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., June 13, 2020. ' Yes, we have.". Dress comfortably, bring a cushion, a lights jacket, a camera, binoculars and maybe even a snack and drink as you will be sitting there for over 3 hours. As with all things at the Academy - the deadline must be met. During the Civil War, World War I and World War II, there were multiple graduations in the same year, to speed newly-minted second lieutenants to the battlefield. Ring Weekend is a tradition at the United States Military Academy where senior cadets are awarded their West Point class ring.West Point was the first American school to have class rings. Seating: Instead of long rows of gray-uniformed cadets sitting shoulder to shoulder, the Class of 2020 will be socially distant, with their chairs 6 feet apart on the Parade Field, Boujnida said. And the Goat was given a silver dollar by every member of the class, which could add up to a lot of money when you have about a thousand graduates. Only the graduating seniors have returned to barracks in recent days to prepare for Saturday's event, which is closed to all guests. If it's the night before graduation at Liberty University and you … At a place like West Point, history is long and Fleek takes the historian's view. President Donald J. Trump gave the commencement address for the U.S. Military Academy's Class of 2020 at West Point, New York, telling them they are the embodiment of … Thank you! Take pictures because you probably won't be able to attend many promotion ceremonies after this time. The ceremony was closed to visitors. 10:20 a.m. For control of the music, click on the musical note. It will be the last time that the Firstie cadets will march onto The Plain as a member of the Corps of Cadets and I'm sure many will remember the first time they marched in formation on R-Day short four years ago as well as the first time they marched onto The Plain, joined the Corps of Cadets and were accepted as Plebes on Acceptance Day. One of the great traditions of the West Point graduation is the naming of "the goat," the cadet graduating last in the class. That's just one of several ways the Class of 2020's graduation will be different, owing to the coronavirus pandemic. The West Point “Traditions” website says this about the Class Goat: “On graduation day, as cadets receive their diplomas by company and regiment in alphabetical order, one will get a resounding round of applause. Plan on being at Michie Stadium around 0700. But education reformers didn't like this practice. In 1999, LTC (R) Ron Turner ’58 wrote an article for the May/June issue of ASSEMBLY magazine proposing the idea for a “Memorial Class Ring” program, for which graduates could bequeath their West Point class rings for the specific purpose of incorporating the gold into the class rings of future graduates. Each cadet donates to a fund for the goat, who, traditionally, is handed a bag of cash at the graduation, getting a huge ovation. He can be reached at pkramer@lohud.com or on Twitter at @PeterKramer. "I've had several contact me asking those unique things, 'Have we ever graduated anyone on on The Plain or The Parade Field before? Scrub-burning at Liberty University. This is an occasion where cadets are in their full dress regalia and their guests are similarly in their best as well. They won't shake hands. The overflow banquet will provide a live video feed form Washing Hall for the banquet so that guests may see and hear the speakers. After the awarding of the diplomas the Commandant of Cadets gives the Commissioning Oath to the graduates. This year, 1,113 cadets graduated, including 229 women, 132 African-Americans, 103 Asian/Pacific Islanders, 102 Hispanics and 10 Native Americans. Also: Sen. … WEST POINT, N.Y. -- During a ceremony Nov. 13, 1,089 members of the Class of 2020 at the U.S. Military Academy received their assignments for which branch of … Even the tradition of honoring the last in the class will undergo a change. No handshakes: There will be no handshakes on Saturday, Boujnida said, and graduates won't cross the stage. TRADITION CLASS RING Cadets of the United States Military Academy at West Point were the first American students to wear class rings The tradition started in 1835, and except for 1836 (no ring adoptd) and 1879 (class cuff- links) clas rings have been a fixture at the Academy. But those traditions have shifted through the years, said Sherman Fleek, the academy's command historian. But, with more than two hundred years of American and military history, and West Point’s time honored traditions, the U.S. Military Academy truly is like nowhere else. Class rings within West Point culture. Location: Instead of the 38,000-seat Michie Stadium, where West Point plays football and where graduations have been held since the 1960s (except the year when artificial turf installation forced a change), the ceremony will be held on the Parade Field on the campus' Plain, a vast field encircled by statues of Washington and Eisenhower, Patton and MacArthur. Even with this banquet there are only 400 seats so have your cadet purchase these first come first served tickets as soon as possible. The U.S. Air Force Academy opted to hold a scaled-down ceremony with hundreds of graduating cadets sitting in chairs eight feet apart on the school’s parade field, instead of in its stadium. Simply put the new Second Lieutenant is to give the first enlisted person who salutes him/her a newly minted silver dollar. My favorite campus tradition is Christmas dinner, especially when the chorus starts singing the 12 days of Christmas, and everyone goes crazy at the five golden rings part. Instead, the ceremony will be livestreamed at 9:30 a.m. on the West Point Channel on YouTube, yet another virtual graduation in a season that has seen concessions made in … (George Armstrong Custer was the goat of the class of 1861, the second graduation held that year.) Always check with your cadet for the latest information. After the banquet a dance will be held at Eisenhower Hall. The earlier that the cadet requests the tickets the greater the chance that they will receive them. The Graduation Review is a very moving experience. West Point’s graduation ceremonies are usually held in May in … In the academy's first years, cadets graduated as soon as they completed their coursework, Fleek said. No moms and dads, no grandparents, no friends and faculty, no cap-seeking kids. Then they will meet an officer who is charged with presiding over a bar-pinning ceremony.