By Jane Anderson, WPAOG Staff
About 500 United States Military Academy alumni, friends, family, and peers gathered at West Point April 19-22 for Athena’s Arena, a conference focused on connecting and strengthening the Long Gray Line and celebrating its shared commitment to Duty, Honor, Country.
The event informally kicked off on Saturday the 18th with optional attendance at multiple events including the Army Orienteering banquet, and continued with a plethora of plenaries, outdoor activities, and other opportunities for attendees to connect with one another. A particularly meaningful activity was a group that tackled the Trail of the Fallen on Torne Mountain to honor fallen members of the Long Gray Line and place a memorial rock at the summit.
The formal conference kicked off on Sunday, April 19 at the West Point Club—home to the Pallas Athena statue.
“The goal of Athena’s Arena is to make sure anyone who attended could have access to topics relevant to them personally or professionally,” explained Andrea So ’02, 2026 Conference Chair for Athena’s Arena.
Five plenaries were held: Telling The Story – History of West Point over the Past 50 Years; an Academy update briefing; a First Captains Panel moderated by GEN (R) Vincent Brooks ’80 and featuring five of the eight women who have held the First Captain title at USMA, including Lauren Drysdale Moore ’23, who recently graduated from Ranger School and is the ninth woman to earn the Sapper and Ranger tabs; Serving Outside the Lines, featuring photojournalist and author J.T. Blatty ’00 and author Jon Gensler ’00; and Miles to Go: Perseverance Across Generations, featuring Maria Blom ’18 and Deb James ‘92 who have tackled, among others, the Pacific Crest, Continental Divide, and Appalachian Trails.
“We aimed for a strong multigenerational connection, with both depth and breadth,” So said. In that vein, speakers ranged from older Old Grads to Zoe Winston ’25, a member of the youngest USMA graduating class so far.
Beyond the plenaries, attendees could take a West Point Cemetery History Tour led by USMA Historian Jennifer Voigtschild ’93; honor the fallen at a memorial service at the Cadet Chapel; and indulge in various breakfasts, luncheons, and dinners. In between, some grads found time to record oral-history interviews at the West Point Center for Oral History. Other special events included a keynote address by 1LT Alma Cooper ’23, Knight Hennessy Scholar (Stanford University) and Miss USA 2024 and a fireside chat featuring “West Pointers Excelling in Corporate Leadership,” which included Karen Lee ’86, Jill Shurtz ’86, Kate Shattuck ’96, and two Distinguished Graduates, Pete Selleck ’77 and Kathy Hildreth ’83.
Participants discovered surprising synchronicities, So added. “A lot of connections happened on the margins,” So said. “Surprise meetings between classmates who hadn’t seen each other in a long time, sports events that they discovered while here and were able to attend… All of this had the ability to occur because they physically showed up. It was kind of kismet as we went along.”
As the lead planner for this event, So found that attending was special in a way that’s hard to put into words. “It was joyful for me to be there and experience the fulfillment of several years of work,” she concluded. “Seeing grads show up and have a wonderful experience was incredibly meaningful to me.”
Above photo: Class of ’83 Laureen Barone, Jeanette McMahon, Kathy Widmer, Kathy Hildreth
