worse with the upperclass midshipmen.
Herndon Monument Climb – a year-end informal ritual (analogous to the "cover toss" at graduation) marking the passage from plebe to third-classman. The new upperclassmen raise a classmate to the top of the monument to replace a dixie cup sailor cover with the combination cover traditional to midshipmen. For the event, Herndon is covered with lard. Only teamwork will result in the changing of caps. In 2008, the dixie cup removed and the cover placed belonged to Midshipman Kristen Dickmann, Class of 2011, who had died a few days previously. These were the first women's caps used for the Climb.
== Notable alumni ==
Graduates include over 50 U.S. astronauts, including six who flew to the Moon, more than from any other undergraduate institution in the U.S. Over 990 noted scholars in a variety of academic fields are Academy graduates, including 46 Rhodes Scholars and 24 Marshall Scholars. Alumni include one President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, who is also a Nobel laureate, …
