Class of '73 Sets a Record

When preparations began for the 1973 50th reunion project, Class President Dirk Mosis and classmate Captain George Watt, USNR (Ret.), former president and CEO of the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation (USNA AA&F), knew it would take a special effort to achieve an impactful goal for their class.

Though the Class of ’73 included a very active base of donors, the class did not have a core group of major donors who could help push fundraising efforts to new highs.

“Often in development, you hear about the 95-5 rule, where 95% of the giving comes from 5% of the donors,” said Watt. “We knew that would likely not be the case for us, so ours would need to be a campaign of broad participation.”

Thanks to the work of leaders like Mosis, Watt, and many others, the Class of ’73 achieved that broad participation and then some. At their 50th reunion gathering in October, it was announced that the class project achieved greater than 76% participation, exceeding the previous record of class giving at the Academy.

“It was an audacious goal, no doubt about it,” said Watt. “Thankfully, we had leaders in our class. Guys like Captain Max Lindner, USN (Ret.), Captain Mark Kohring, USNR (Ret.), and Captain Mike Zimet, USNR (Ret.), who we called ‘Task Force 3M,’ and others including staff at the Foundation, who created innovative endeavors to help us achieve it, and they refused to give up.”

A Campaign Leadership Council was created, comprising of 20 class leaders and diversified by retirees, civilian, flag rank, geography, and professions. The council kept classmates regularly updated on their project’s goals and mission.

73 for 73

Class leadership attributes the triumph of the venture to a handful of “critical success factors” that took place throughout the project. One of the earliest efforts, designed to help the class “build the equivalency of a million dollar ‘donor’,” was the “73 for 73”-push. Prior to the launch of the class project, class leaders, with the help of the Foundation, initiated a campaign to encourage classmates to commit to donating $73 per month, for 73 months.

“This gave us momentum by getting people signed up and involved early and bringing in folks who had not been annual donors,” Watt said.

“Every Gift Counts, Every Classmate Matters”

The second factor in building this successful project was the creation of the philosophy, “Every Gift Counts, Every Classmate Matters.” “Dan Quattrini ’81 (USNA AA&F director of Class Legacy Gifts) really came in strong with this,” Watt said. “This philosophy allowed classmates to follow their passion. It gave donors a choice to donate to something they care about, and that helped not only in terms of total participation but also in getting to bigger donations than we would have gotten otherwise.”

Four Pillars

Mosis, Watt, and other class leaders worked with Yard leadership to create four pillars of their project. The first priority, which all class projects must support due to its broad impact, is the Naval Academy Fund. Next, the class established opportunities in each of the moral, mental, and physical areas of the Academy’s mission.

“The term ‘Athletic Excellence’ may not have meant as much to our individual donors or families,” Watt said. “So instead, when it came to supporting the physical mission, we created the Class of 1973 Heinz Lenz Fellow for the Physical Mission, named after Lieutenant Commander Heinz W. Lenz, USN (Ret.), a person who imprinted on all of us on the first day of Plebe Summer and someone who everyone in our class respected.”

Lenz, who joined the Naval Academy in 1957, developed “PEP,” a daily exercise program for the incoming class of plebes. He continued to lead PEP until 1992 and retired from the Academy in 1994 before passing away in 2006. The Heinz Lenz Fellowship gives a two-year award to a non-revenue sport coach, with a stipend for both the coach and team.

Next, the Class of ’73 established the Class of 1973 Fred Minier Resident Ethics Fellow, in honor of their classmate, Fred Minier, who sacrificed his life to save two shipmates while engaged in diving operations in Sicily, Italy, in 1975. For his heroic actions, Minier was posthumously awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal.

This new ethics fellowship allows the class to honor their classmate, while fulfilling the need for a resident ethics fellow at the Stockdale Center.

“Fred Minier was a person everyone knew here from our class; he happened to be the guy who developed our class crest and the class motto, Non Sibi (Not for Self),” Watt said.

Class leaders then helped fulfill the need for a cyber tutor in the Class of 1963 Center for Academic Excellence, Endowed by J. Ronald Terwilliger ’63 and Classmates (CAE). Midshipmen are required to take two semesters of cyber courses, which are typically very difficult.

This was an idea many members of the Class of ’73 wanted to support. The Class of 1973 Cyber Studies Tutor position was established, giving class members a direct impact on supporting the mental mission within the CAE, which impacts approximately 98% of all midshipmen at least once throughout their time at the Academy.

Through the idea of supporting four pillars, class leaders were able to complete another critical factor of success—immediacy. Watt explained that the class did not want their efforts to be focused on only raising money for several years, followed by several more years of waiting for an impact.

“Being able to start these fellowships and positions right away allowed us to have real stories to tell early in our project, and that became a big part of our success,” said Watt. “We could then personify our class giving with examples of committed professionals having an immediate impact on the Academy and the Brigade of Midshipmen.”

Mosis and Watt discovered that each classmate had a different preference for where to give, but that the cyber tutor, coaches, and the visiting fellow at the Stockdale Center provided direct ways to impact midshipmen.

Color Company Competition

Class leaders took advantage of the natural competitive spirit between the Class of ’73 companies, organizing a battle to see which company could reach the highest rate of participation in their class project.

The competition ran until the Class of ’73 Reunion. The winner of the competition, the Fifth Company, was announced at the Navy-North Texas football game on 7 October in Annapolis.

The “73 for 73” campaign, the color competition, and all other efforts were established by the class leaders to help drive as much participation as possible, but they were careful not to disparage, or “bilge,” classmates who did not participate.

“Everything we did was about positive reinforcement,” said Watt. “It was all about impact, all about telling our story, all about honoring the class, ‘Non Sibi,’ and continuing the legacy.”

By the end of September, the class project had 575 donors, reaching a 76% participation rate. According to Quattrini, legacy class projects considered “successful” usually reach only a mid-40% participation range, with the occasional 50% range.

“These guys were committed to meeting this goal, and they all did a tremendous job,” said Quattrini.

Mosis attributes their success to Quattrini, Rusty Yeiser ’74 (senior advisor at the USNA AA&F), Sarah Brown (coordinator of Class Giving at the USNA AA&F), George Watt, “Task Force 3M,” and their company leaders.

“They were all critical in getting us to the 73% mark,” said Mosis. “I don’t know how you replicate what we got from George. He knew how to appeal to people and his message resonates.”

Watt explains that it was a complete team effort among their entire class. The result yielded unprecedented support, including from classmates who had not been involved in the Academy for more than 50 years. The class received support from 575 men and women, including widows and classmates who left the Academy before graduation.

The True Power of Class Giving

Quattrini believes this effort showcases the true power of class giving. “Class giving is alive and well at the Naval Academy,” he said. “When you come here, you are thrown in with 11-, 12-, 13 hundred people and through intense shared experiences you are molded into one class and become loyal to it. So anytime you need something done, the power of connection that the classes have leads to amazing results.”

Despite the record-setting achievements of the class during this process, the Class of ’73 project was always about supporting the Brigade.

“At the end of the day, this is really all about helping the midshipmen,” Mosis said. “They are just like George and I were back in the day. They’re trying to pass a class, trying to make the second boat to get a letter, trying to get through, whatever it might be. To help those guys just like I was helped … the Academy put me in a position and blessed me, and now you just try to give back.”

“For me, part of this is that I still believe in giving back,” said Watt. “We didn’t pay a cent for our education and experience; in fact, we were paid to go to the Naval Academy. That put me on the right track for the success I had later in life. So certainly, there is a giving-back aspect.”

“But, and perhaps more importantly, I want to invest in winners, I want to invest in excellence, I want to invest in the nation,” continued Watt. “I really believe the Naval Academy turns out leaders of great character for the nation. If we can create excellent leaders of great character who provide excellence for our Marines and sailors, and eventually down the line for our country, then I’m all in. I think it’s a great return on investment!”