In sports , G.O.A.T. status is reserved for the " Greatest of All Time " — the the likes of of Michael Jordan , Muhammad Alior Jim Brown . At the U.S. Military Academy inWest Point , New York , being the " Goat " mean something very different .
Every May , when roughly 1,000 " firsties " ( as seniors are called ) grad from the splendidly stringent program , the flash cheerfulness are reserved for the Goat , the plebe who finished dead last in the class with the lowest overall GPA .
" It is decidedly an purity ; it is in no agency a joke , " said James Robbins , source of " Last in Their category : Custer , Pickett and the Goats of West Point , " in aninterviewwith the wireless show " The Takeaway . " At West Point , where plenty of plebe " wash out " ( flunk out or quit ) years before graduation , there ’s a genuine respect for the plebe who teetered closest to the sharpness but came out on top .
The Goat not only receives a force out applause , but also a bag stuffed with dollar bills , one from each penis of the graduating grade . This totals closely $ 1,000 .
As the title of Robbins ' book suggests , two of the most famous Goats in West Point account wereGeorge Armstrong Custer(of Custer ’s Last Stand renown ) and Confederate General George Pickett . Custer refused to take his studies in earnest , regularly lift out to go tope and playing pranks on fellow cadets . At the 1861 West Point commencement ceremonial , Custer admitted as much .
" My calling as a plebe had but lilliputian to urge it to the study of those who come after me,“Custer evidence the graduating course , " unless as an example to be cautiously avoided . "
But as Custer ’s instance proves , being a Goat does n’t foreclose West Point alumna from rising to the highest ranks of the armed services , or fromwinning the Medal of Honor , the Army ’s highest purity for valor in fight . Robbins believe that stooge own certain intangible qualities — a penchant for thinking " outside of the box " and for improvising their fashion out of trouble — that interpret into success in battle and in life .
Other Military Academies With ‘Last in Class’ Traditions
The Army is n’t the only branch of the military to honor the graduate with the lowest GPA . The U.S. Naval Academy calls its last - in - class honoree the " anchorman man . " interchangeable to the Goat , the anchor man receives a dollar from his fellow midshipmen and is awarded a plaque for " Forever hold the Ship in Place . " No one knows the identity of the keystone man until graduation 24-hour interval , when a small anchorperson isplaced under his chair . ( The Naval Academy’smascot is a goatwhich may excuse why West Point use that condition for its last - space closer . The two schools have a fierce rivalry . )
The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy has asimilar anchor custom , where the graduate experience a container of all the coins tossed into a lucky fountain on campus during final exam calendar week .
The U.S. Air Force Academy used to lionise their own last man as the stratum " Tailgunner,“according to graduateswho attended the academy in the 1970s and 1980s , but the custom seems to have go bad out ( or been ban by the Air Force administration ) .
