Give to West Point
The West Point Association of Graduates (WPAOG) is the home to all graduates and their families.
It is an organization funded neither by the Academy nor by dues, but rather by the generosity of people like you.
Your support of the Long Gray Line Endowment helps keep Herbert Hall, your home at West Point, open and functioning, and your gifts support programs such as the Ring Melt and 50-Year Affiliation Program, as well as communications from West Point, memorial services, class and society support, career services, and graduate archives—keeping you connected to West Point and the Corps of Cadets. You perpetuate the events, the awards, the traditions. You provide the means that honor you, your families, today’s cadets, and West Point itself—all hearts clad in gray.
Annual Ring Melt Program
Cadet Brandon Lawrence ’11 will always remember his grandfather’s West Point Class Ring. “He wore it on his left hand, and everyone could tell how proud he was,” recalls Cadet Lawrence. Before his grandfather, COL Richard E. Bauchspies ’58, passed away, one of his final wishes was to donate his ring to the West Point Association of Graduates’ Class Ring Memorial Program. In the decade-old tradition, gold from the donated rings is melted and combined with samples from previous melts. Then the gold is shaped into the rings for the incoming senior class, creating a tangible connection among past, present, and future graduates.
In March, Cadet Lawrence and his family travelled to Warwick, RI, where he read aloud his grandfather’s biography before dropping his beloved ring into the crucible. A total of 20 rings were donated to this year’s Ring Memorial, with owners ranging from a member of the Class of 1908 to a 1984 graduate. “It was an honor to be part of such an important and memorable event for my class and my family,” says Lawrence, who plans to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps by pursuing Aviation. “I’ve aspired to wear the West Point Class Ring for a long time, and I am beyond honored to have a piece of my grandfather’s ring in my own.”
Because of Them Because of You 
The West Point Association of Graduates understands the profound importance of maintaining the unbreakable connection among members of the Long Gray Line - those of the past, those of today, and those of tomorrow. Learn more about the Long Gray Line Endowment