AUGUST 26, 2026 – More than 1,100 cadets from the U.S. Military Academy Class of 2027 took the next step in dedicating their lives to “Duty, Honor, Country” when they donned their class rings during the Ring Ceremony on Aug. 21 on The Plain at West Point. It is a time-honored tradition that symbolizes the achievement of reaching their Firstie year while forever bonding them with their classmates and the Long Gray Line.
The Ring Ceremony marked the beginning of a milestone weekend for the Class of 2027. After receiving their class rings, the Firsties gathered the following morning for the traditional Ring Run before closing out Ring Weekend Aug. 22 with the Ring Banquet in the Cadet Mess Hall.
The origins of the West Point class ring trace back to 1835, the first of its kind at any institution, and now is an ongoing reminder of gripping hands with previous classes. This year’s class had 67 rings donated to their Ring Melt Ceremony on Jan. 9, 2026, and through the “Legacy Gold” that was melted from previous melts going back to 2002, there are now more than 1,000 rings symbolically melded into each ring of this class.
The legacy gold contains donated rings spanning the USMA Classes of 1896 to 2006 with graduates who served global armed conflicts over several generations from the Philippines and the Mexican Expedition of 1916, both World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm and more recently, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Included in this year’s legacy gold was USMA 1997 graduate Capt. Ian P. Weikel’s ring. Weikel died serving in Iraq in 2006, and this year, his son, Jonathan Weikel, is a member of the USMA Class of 2027, and will carry his father’s memory with him on his finger throughout his service to the nation.
Brig. Gen. Joseph Katz, Commandant of Cadets, reminded the First Class of that legacy of sacrifice. His words carried added meaning as the new ring bearers looked upon rings bearing their class crest on one side and the West Point crest on the other – a tangible connection between the Class of 2027 and the generations of leaders of character who came before them.
Class of 2027 Cadet William Young, an Economics major from South Jordan, Utah, reiterated the commandant’s comments as a “surreal moment” when reflecting on previous graduates’ rings as part of their rings, including Weikel’s as Jonathan is in his cadet company.
“His dad’s ring was a part of our melt, and it’s really a big expression of the Long Gray Line,” Young said of Weikel and the Ring Ceremony. “Knowing that I’m going to be cemented in this with all of my buddies to my left and right, and those who came before us, it’s a big culminating event and definitely surreal.”
A ring itself weighs barely a few ounces, however, what it means bears significant weight to the past and to the future service of the one who wears it.
Young said the ring has already given him an unexpected connection to graduates he had never met. While going through the West Point application process, he encountered a graduate during a trip to Italy and immediately noticed the West Point ring on his finger. That encounter stayed with Young and became an early source of inspiration as he pursued his own path to the academy.
“It was amazing to see the significance that (the ring) held to him, and how proud he was of it even though he’d been retired for more than 20 years at that point,” Young stated. “Just to stand here now while looking at my ring and know that feeling of what it’s going to be like in my future is really exciting for that time to come. However, it also gives me a lot of respect for everybody who’s worn it before me.”
From a personal perspective, Young chose to wear his birthstone as his jewel within the ring he now bears. He also presented a matching pin to his mother for her personal impact on him.
“She’s done a lot to get me here and has been really involved in this whole experience,” Young expressed. “It’s nice to have something that we can both match in style.”
Class of 2027 Cadet Claire Shioutakon, a Math Sciences major from Rockville, Maryland, said she experienced a similar “surreal moment” as Young as she watched the previous years’ ceremonies to where she “felt it was never going to happen for us.”
“All day today, we went to classes and we were all like, ‘It doesn’t feel like it is happening today,’” Shioutakon said. “Then I lined up just now, and you’re like ‘Oh my gosh, you’re about to become a part of something.’ When you receive your class ring, I now think, ‘Every single graduate that has their class ring, I now can identify with them,’ and that’s something you know you don’t get anywhere else, and it’s really cool.”
Shioutakon also reflected on the commandant’s remarks in putting everything about the Ring Ceremony in its proper perspective.
“It’s a lot of responsibility with carrying the class ring, especially with (Weikel’s) dad’s gold melted into this ring,” Shioutakon explained. “We are carrying so many graduates’ rings, and the things that they did. We have a responsibility now to go out and steward the profession and do what they did. One day my ring will go into somebody else’s, and I hope that will steward the profession for them. It’s a huge legacy to continue on.”
Shioutakon spoke favorably of continuing the tradition of passing on her ring to future generations even though she just got comfortable with placing it on her finger that day.
“I will definitely have my ring melted,” she said. “I thought I would want to keep it, but I rather have it melted down and have it go on forever because West Point and the Army are going to be here forever.”
Shioutakon chose blue lapis for her ring’s stone in honor of her grandfather, whose influence played a significant role in her journey to West Point. Though he passed away in recent years, she carries his memory with her as she marks this milestone in her cadet experience.
“I chose blue lapis for him, and then I have two pendants for my mother and grandmother, and they both have his initials in them,” Shioutakon stated. “My grandfather couldn’t get into the academies, but he went to MIT. He was a brainiac who was in the CIA, and he always believed in me, and was like, ‘You can do it,’ when talking about coming to West Point, and I wish he were here today to witness this. However, with this ring, I hope to honor him always.”
Story by Eric Bartelt
United States Military Academy at West Point