WEST POINT, to THEE by Samantha Stewart Army West Point Women’S Lacrosse
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JUNE 11, 2020 1 WWW.WESTPOINT.EDU THE JUNE 11, 2020 VOL. 77, NO. 22 OINTER IEW® DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY PSERVING THE U.S. MILITARY ACADEMY AND THE COMMUNITY V OF WEST POINT ® SEE INSIDE FOR MORE COVID-19 INFORMATION POINTER VIEW INSIDE & ONLINE WWW . WESTPOINT . EDU / NEWS WWW . POINTERVIEW . COM USMA PAO continues to provide comprehensive resources across the West Point community through the West Point Coronavirus webpage at www.westpoint. edu/coronavirus, and it has released external messages on USMA social media platforms. Alumni For more information, contact the West Point Public Affairs Office at paoinformation@ Wreath Laying westpoint.edu. See pages 4-7, 11 for a story SEE PAGE 3 on West Point’s current female • • cadets. A wreath was placed at the base of Col. Sylvanus Thayer’s statue by First Captain Daine Van de Wall with Superintendent Lt. Gen. Darryl See pages 8-10 for Class of A. Williams, West Point Command Sgt. Maj. Jack Love and West 2020 members’ Q&As and Point Association of Graduates President and CEO Todd Browne in narratives on their West Point attendance during the Alumni Wreath Laying ceremony Tuesday on the Plain. The event traditionally honors the Long Gray Line and classes experience. in attendance during Graduation Week. However, this year, due to COVID-19, members of the Long Gray Line and classes were not able See pages 12 and 13 for Keller to attend. Photo Illustration and Photo by John Pellino/USMA PAO Corner and MWR updates. 2 JUNE 11, 2020 NEWS & FEATURES POINTER VIEW 40 Mulberry Street, Middletown, NY 10940 POINTER VIEW ® To subscribe to the Pointer View or The Army civilian enterprise newspaper, the Pointer View, is an authorized publication for members The appearance of advertising in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not if you have delivery problems, call 845-346-3213. of the Department of Defense. Contents of the Pointer View are not necessarily the offi cial views of, or constitute endorsement of the products or services advertised by the U.S. Army or the Times Herald- Lt. Gen. Darryl Williams endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Department of the Army or the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Record. Superintendent Brandon O’Connor The editorial content of the Pointer View is the responsibility of the U.S. Military Academy Public Everything advertised in this pub li ca tion will be made available for purchase, use or pa tron age Lt. Col. Christopher Ophardt PV Assistant Editor, 938-3079 Affairs Offi ce, Bldg. 600, West Point, New York 10996, (845) 938-2015. with out regard to race, color, re li gion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, phys i cal handi cap, Public Affairs Officer [email protected] The Pointer View is printed weekly by the Times Herald-Record, a pri vate fi rm in no way connect ed po liti cal af fi l i a tion or any other nonmerit factor of the purchaser, user or pa tron. Eric S. Bartelt Vacant with the De partment of the Army, under ex clu sive con tract with West Point. The Times Herald-Record is If a violation or re jec tion of this equal opportunity policy by an ad ver tis er is confi rmed, the publisher PV Managing Editor, 938-2015 PV Photojournalist, 938-3684 responsible for all commercial advertising. will refuse to print ad ver tis ing from that source until the violation has been corrected. [email protected] POINT POINTER VIEW IN FOCUS: ALUMNI WREATH LAYING CEREMONY JUNE 11, 2020 3 West Point holds wreath laying to honor members of the Long Gray Line By Brandon O’Connor years past with the large crowd of hundreds PV Assistant Editor of Old Grads replaced by a small party that included Superintendent Lt. Gen. Darryl A. Each year on the Tuesday before graduation, Williams, West Point Command Sgt. Maj. Jack the U.S. Military Academy honors the members Love, West Point Association of Graduates of the Long Gray Line by laying a wreath at the President and CEO Todd Browne and Van base of the Col. Sylvanus Thayer statue that de Wall, who filled in for the oldest graduate overlooks the Plain. and placed the wreath. They were joined by The wreath laying is traditionally performed members of the West Point Band, which filled by the oldest graduate in attendance and in for the cadet choir that typically performs at precedes the alumni review parade. This year, the ceremony. there was no parade and the ceremony took on a Many of the traditional graduation week different form as West Point adjusted to the new events have been canceled or adjusted this conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. year due to the global pandemic, including the The wreath laying was originally scheduled ceremony which will take place on the Plain for May 19 but was delayed a few weeks along this year for the first time since 1977. with the graduation ceremony, which will take Although Tuesday’s wreath laying was place Saturday. performed differently than it is traditionally, The delay caused a fortuitous occurrence Van de Wall said it was still important to hold where the wreath was laid at the Thayer statue it because it was a chance to show that no on the 235th birthday of the man who is known matter the circumstances, West Point and the as the “Father of Military Academy.” Army will continue fighting and performing “Knowing what Col. Thayer has done for their duties. the academy and specifically for the dean side “Graduation signifies getting to be part and the impact that he had, it’s only fitting that of the Long Gray Line and all those people A wreath was placed at the base of Col. Sylvanus Thayer's statue by First we could come out here and celebrate him who came before us,” Van de Wall said. “It’s Captain Daine Van de Wall with Superintendent Lt. Gen. Darryl A. Williams, on his birthday,” First Captain Daine Van de definitely sad that we couldn’t have the oldest West Point Command Sgt. Maj. Jack Love, West Point Association of Graduates Wall said. living grad here to do this for us, but it was an President and CEO Todd Browne in attendance during the Alumni Wreath Laying The ceremony was more intimate than in honor for me to get to fill that person’s shoes.” ceremony Tuesday on the Plain. Photo by John Pellino/USMA PAO POINT 4 JUNE 11, 2020 IN FOCUS: 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF WOMEN GRADUATING FROM WEST POINT POINTER VIEW Class of 2020 Cadet Elizabeth Cross, center, spent Cadet Troop Leader Training with the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii this past summer. Cross' time with Coldsteel Company was the first time a woman had been embedded as a member of the company. Photos Courtesy of Elizabeth Cross ‘The Army is changing’ Current female cadets will enter the Army with more career options than ever By Brandon O’Connor with the academy and the Army way of life all all sexually harassed.” PV Assistant Editor over again. Only a decade after women first graduated Then came a familiar question asked of the from West Point, considerable progress had It was a simple answer to a question, but current and former female cadets who have already been made. In the summer of 1989, the implications of the words carried the weight walked through the granite halls of West Point Kristin Baker stepped into the role of first of history. along the banks of the Hudson River: “Do you captain, becoming the first female cadet to lead Talking over video chat due to the global think you've faced any different challenges at the Corps of Cadets. She said she felt largely pandemic that threw the spring semester at the West Point because you are a female?” accepted by the Corps during her time in the U.S. Military Academy into chaos, Class of Tracing the history of women at West role, but that equality quickly dissipated once 2020 Cadet Elizabeth Cross detailed her unique Point across 40 years, the varying answers to she received her diploma and left West Point journey to West Point, which first took her to that question told of the struggles women have behind for the Army. There, she soon realized a military preparatory school in Philadelphia faced, but also the progress that has been made. she was a “second-class citizen” because so after she wasn’t admitted to West Point the first The women in the Class of 1980—the first many doors were closed to her due to the time she applied. to include female cadets—were able to say restrictions on what roles women could have It was a difficult year, but her heart was unequivocally they were treated differently and which branches of the Army they could set on attending West Point, so she persevered because of their sex. They spoke of the assaults serve in. through the adversity before earning a spot in and harassment they faced both at the academy When Baker and many of the 5,140 the Class of 2020. and once they entered the Army. women who are members of the Long Gray She talked about her four years at West Brig. Gen. Cindy Jebb, who now serves as Line entered the Army, they knew their career Point, the challenges she’d overcome—such the Dean of the Academic Board at West Point, paths were limited. They couldn’t go to Ranger Class of 2020 Cadet Elizabeth Cross as a cracked femur that sidelined her during arrived two years later as a member of the Class School.