West Point
Society of New Jersey
P.O. Box 627
Fort Monmouth, NJ 07703
Dear Member and/or fellow Graduate:
We have completed our fourth year of the Society’s Dwight D. Eisenhower Leadership Award program, which has become a meaningful experience for both the high school junior award recipients and Society member sponsors. The feedback has been, and continues to be positive from the high schools, parents and recipients as well as our sponsor members.
Our Awardee Recognition Day at West Point on May 11, 2003 was a huge success for the 23 award recipients in attendance and over 60 guests including families and several sponsors. In addition, representative of the Parents Club of West Point and the West Point Society of Lehigh Valley participated in the day’s activities.
We honored our Dwight D. Eisenhower Leadership Award recipients with a formal presentation of their recognition letter. The day’s agenda included presentations in the morning by USMA staff and cadets, a lunch for the award recipients in Washington Hall and a buffet lunch for everyone else in Eisenhower Hall. After lunch, we provided a walking tour of West Point with cadet escorts. Lunch in Washington Hall was a treat for the award recipients.
It was a great day and the families were encouraged to visit the West Point Museum and Visitors Center at the conclusion of their visit. They were informed that a formal presentation would be held in each high school. Each award recipient would receive a copy of “The West Point Way of Leadership” by Col. (Ret.) Larry R. Donnithorne. They would also be presented with an individual plaque and each recipient’s name would be added to the perpetual plaque in his or her school.
Enclosed for your information is a thoughtful thank you letter from Leadership Awardee Cassie Ravo, from Hackettstown High School.
As an adjunct Society project this October, we plan to host a corporate funded Ethics Conference for high school seniors to include all of the year 2003 Leadership Awardees.
As you can imagine our Leadership Award and Recognition Program costs money! We are attempting to build a $100,000 endowment fund to cover the ongoing expenses of an expanded program. Currently our fund stands at $11,431.
This year we spent $3,415 for forty-four (44) award recipients. In the four (4) years of the program, we have presented the Dwight D. Eisenhower Leadership Award to 125 recipients at a cost of $9,522.82.
So far, our expenses are under control as we are receiving a great price on the plaques and have reduced the meal expense when we are able to have lunch in Washington Hall. However, in the future both of these costs could increase substantially.
To date 103 individuals have made tax-deductible donations of $11,499 at dues renewal or Founders Day reservation time, and we are grateful for those contributions. However, I would like to ask that you consider at this time a tax-deductible gift and perhaps a matching corporate gift (if you have that ability) to help us get to our goal and to expand our worthwhile Leadership recognition program. It is through our local efforts that we can make a difference. The Long Gray Line and our nation will be stronger as a result of our recognition of tomorrow’s leaders of character.
I ask that you make your tax-deductible Leadership Award donation directly to the “West Point Society of New Jersey”, P.O. Box 627, Fort Monmouth, NJ 07703.
If you have any questions, or would like to discuss our program, Jim Jackson ’61 our Leadership Award Coordinator can be reached at (732) 449-9187 (home).
Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Edward M. Crowley
EDWARD
M. CROWLEY ‘60
Maj. Gen. (Ret.)
President