First Class Gift: A Commitment to Paying it Forward

When asked to describe her class, class president Katherine (LaReau) Metz ’25 answered with a single word, “cohesiveness.” It was this trait that put the Class of 2025 on the leaderboard with the sixth highest participation rate in First Class Gift program history and increased the number of recurring gifts by 97 percent over the previous year.

Kicking off their campaign at Ike Hall last February, Metz delivered an inspiring roll out of the First Class Gift to her classmates. She then introduced the campaign’s secret weapon, treasurer and class favorite, Hongbo Jia ’25, known as “Jia” to his classmates, who rallied the class to make early gifts for maximum growth.

Metz and Jia encouraged the class to take advantage of Rob ’69 and Nina Leslie’s generous $10,000 matching gift. Later, anonymous parents added intrigue and excitement, offering an additional $10,000 matching gift. As graduation approached, 464 firsties claimed their Old Grad t-shirts at events like Chick-Fil-A’s Feed the Corps and the Firstie Social, driving on-the-spot donations to the Class of 2025 Gift Fund.

While class gifts have been a staple of West Point fundraising since the Class of 1912 donated $5,000 to the Library in 1964, the First Class Gift was not officially created until 1994. As class president, 2LT Spencer Dodge ’94 had a vision to give back to West Point early, encouraging his fellow firsties to pledge to their class gift fund via military allotment upon commissioning.

Dodge tragically passed away during a Ranger School training accident in 1995. But his philanthropic spirit continues to shape the Academy in perpetuity. His vision tapped into the ethos of Duty, Honor, Country, translating class unity beyond dollars into building a class legacy.

LTC Noel Sioson, Class of 2004—the class with the all-time highest participation rate of 75 percent—reflected on what made their First Class Gift so successful: “We were all in. We were yearlings when 9/11 happened, so those of us who stayed in were IN.”

2LT Metz echoed Sioson’s commitment to both mission and paying it forward, a sentiment cadets continue to express. “It will take us a lifetime of giving to repay even a fraction of what West Point has given to us and our classmates,” Metz said.

Photo 1: 2LT Mark Metz ’25 and Class President 2LT Katherine (LaReau) Metz. Photo 2: 2LT Katherine (LaReau) Metz ’25 educates her class on their role as the newest graduates in the Long Gray Line. Photo 3: 2LT Hongbo Jia ’25 and WPAOG Advisory Council member Rich Wolff ’76 speaking during the Advisory Council Luncheon.