Last week our alumni took the helm and showed up to support the Brigade. Achieving 113% of the 6,400-donor goal, 7,293 supporters answered the call and raised $3,432,625 during the Great Class Challenge (GCC). The Class of 1984 will hold on to their title as the winning class with the most participation of the 2026 challenge, while also beating our highest participation record from last year. They did it again this year, growing their class participation rate from 63.5% to 69.2%. This is ’84’s fifth consecutive year claiming the win. And in what is becoming an annual GCC tradition, ’78 and ’87 went head-to-head for second and third place in participation once more, and had our data team running numbers until yesterday evening. But it was the Class of 1978 who took home second place this year with a participation rate of 48.0%, and the Class of 1987 brought home third with 46.9%. Of course, we have to give a shout-out and credit to the top participating classes per decade, from 1948 all the way to the Parents of 2029, whose children are “Plebes no more” after climbing and capping Herndon Monument yesterday morning. We would like to thank our amazing and passionate Naval Academy alumni, parents and friends for participating in this year’s Great Class Challenge, demonstrating their Navy Blue and Gold class pride and generously supporting the Brigade!