Top Tips For West Point Graduation Planning
By a Grad, Sponsor Mom, and Hotel General Manager
1. Check your Emails!
Especially since 2020, emails from The Thayer Hotel, the USMA Parent Liaison, and communication forwarded from your cadet will contain useful information that may help you plan or adjust planning. Often, there are limited tickets or reservations to things, so checking your email frequently will ensure you get the information quickly and are the early bird on securing any reservations you may want to get. The Thayer Hotel will continue to send you updates and information up until the week of your arrival (with weather, any information we have gotten from West Point, and other pro-tips as Graduation Day approaches).
2. Attire.
Ladies and gentlemen, our number 1 tip is to wear comfortable walking shoes, and if you want something fancier for pictures, bring a cute tote to put those in. Wear layers, bring sunscreen, and get that clear bag for Michie Stadium on Graduation morning. The Thayer Hotel has ponchos to sell in the event of inclement weather, but we always recommend bringing a few small umbrellas, because the forecast can change over the 4 days you are here.
3. Dining Reservations.
Regardless of where you plan to dine, make reservations as far ahead of time as possible, because there are limited dining options in and around West Point on the busiest week of the year. There are a limited number of tickets to the Graduation Banquet in the Cadet Mess Hall, and at The Thayer Hotel we offer a Graduation Banquet Dinner where we serve a similar meal to the Cadet Mess Hall, and even have the same programs at each seat that those dining in the Mess Hall have. This is a great way to keep family and friends involved while you are with your cadet in the Mess Hall. Where do you plan to eat after the Graduation Ceremony before the Commissioning Ceremony? We have a guide to all meal periods with reservations and menus that you can find by clicking here:
By a Grad, Sponsor Mom, and Hotel General Manager
1. Check your Emails!
Especially since 2020, emails from The Thayer Hotel, the USMA Parent Liaison, and communication forwarded from your cadet will contain useful information that may help you plan or adjust planning. Often, there are limited tickets or reservations to things, so checking your email frequently will ensure you get the information quickly and are the early bird on securing any reservations you may want to get. The Thayer Hotel will continue to send you updates and information up until the week of your arrival (with weather, any information we have gotten from West Point, and other pro-tips as Graduation Day approaches).
2. Attire.
Ladies and gentlemen, our number 1 tip is to wear comfortable walking shoes, and if you want something fancier for pictures, bring a cute tote to put those in. Wear layers, bring sunscreen, and get that clear bag for Michie Stadium on Graduation morning. The Thayer Hotel has ponchos to sell in the event of inclement weather, but we always recommend bringing a few small umbrellas, because the forecast can change over the 4 days you are here.
3. Dining Reservations.
Regardless of where you plan to dine, make reservations as far ahead of time as possible, because there are limited dining options in and around West Point on the busiest week of the year. There are a limited number of tickets to the Graduation Banquet in the Cadet Mess Hall, and at The Thayer Hotel we offer a Graduation Banquet Dinner where we serve a similar meal to the Cadet Mess Hall, and even have the same programs at each seat that those dining in the Mess Hall have. This is a great way to keep family and friends involved while you are with your cadet in the Mess Hall. Where do you plan to eat after the Graduation Ceremony before the Commissioning Ceremony? We have a guide to all meal periods with reservations and menus that you can find by clicking here:
4. Graduation Pictures.
We all love the studio Firstie Photo taken at West Point, but there are some incredible photographers out there who can take (between now and graduation) photos of your cadet in uniform on the Academy grounds. These sessions are priceless. You may also ask photographers if they are available on Graduation Day to take photos of your family or at the commissioning ceremony. What a treasure it is for my family to have a photograph from my Graduation Day with my parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and both sets of grandparents. Some of our favorite Firstie Photographers (though there are others) are Dani Fobar Photography (military spouse), Sherry Friedrick Photography (cadet mom), and Deb Haley Photography (military spouse)...but other West Point parents in your West Point Parents Club may have other recommendations.
5. Some Topics to Discuss with Your Cadet Ahead of Graduation:
Who is going to do your Commissioning, and where are you planning to do it?
Will you have dinner with us on Saturday night after Graduation, or are you going somewhere else?
What do you envision for free time during Grad week? Would you like to have dinner with us any of these nights?
6. Gifts.
Often parents bring meaningful gifts to their cadets on Graduation. Some do not and wait until they are back at home. A favorite gift that some families give is the commissioning and diploma frame set from the West Point AOG (it can be shipped home, and a picture presented to the cadet). While a brand new 2LT may not care about it now, they may later. Another favorite gift for cadets is Army rank: if there has been a relative who was in the military, and you have their second lieutenant rank – my grandfather pinned me at my commissioning with his second lieutenant insignia from World War II, and then gifted me his brother’s first lieutenant bars for when I would later be promoted (signaling his confidence that I would be). If you don’t have someone in your family who had that rank, you can find a way to purchase Captain’s Bars, and gift those – for your new 2LT’s future success. Another really neat thing that some parents do is get gifts for their cadet’s best friends: monogrammed or personalized beach towels for adventures, a hammer and a gift card to the Home Depot, a ring holder dish to go next to the sink in their new home (most cadets don’t think about that!), etc. It is a very nice way to say, “Thank you.” It will be incredible how many times you will see these same cadets over the years – and that they will see each other at reunions, Army/Navy, etc., and it is fun for them to have that memory of the gift that came from you on Graduation. If your cadet has been to their sponsor’s house often, you as the parent may consider giving a gift of thanks to them (and definitely a picture of your cadet for them to cherish!). You may also encourage your cadet to get small gifts of thanks to their sponsors, favorite professors, mentors, or to the person who does their commissioning ceremony (this could just be a nice handwritten thank you card or letter). The Army is small, and their professors/people your cadet knows today may know your cadet’s future commanders in the Army, end up being their future commanders, and/or sit on a board selecting them for promotion or to come back and teach at West Point. These same professors may write letters of recommendation to graduate schools, etc. And your student’s note or small token (we mean, really small) may help further differentiate your cadet. In our house, we have things like salad tongs that a cadet gave to us because he always liked to eat salads. Another cadet got us a new dish for salsa. Two women cadets we sponsored 10 years ago got us a framed photo of them that now sits among our framed family photos. My husband teaches here and has received kind notes, and more field artillery insignia for his uniform (that is his branch, and while he didn’t need it, he thinks of the cadet when he puts it on).
7. Verify Your Lodging.
Every year it happens that parents call us a few months before Graduation because they thought that they had a reservation somewhere, and then other hotels lost their reservation information. We often cannot help them, but my heart aches for them! Our hotel proactively reaches out to all families with Graduation Reservations and everyone will receive a call or message by the middle of February - we leave voice messages for those who we could not connect with - but not all hotels do this. So please, while it is still early, just verify your lodging arrangements that you made months (or years) ago, to make sure that you are all set for what you need to know, and to verify your room type that you have reserved.
We hope that you have a wonderful time planning. As much as your cadet’s childhood flew by, the time between now and Graduation will as well. We are here to support you, to answer questions, and to be the backdrop for the incredible memories you will make during your Cadet’s Graduation Week. Congratulations!
Beat Navy!
Carly