Who We Are

Overview and Mission
West-Point.Org (WP-ORG) is a 501(c)(3) organization connecting almost 27,000 USMA grads, parents, and friends of West Point. Since its inception in 1996, WP-ORG has been funded by the generosity of member contributions and is governed and run independently from USMA and AOG. WP-ORG is governed by a Board of Advisors and run by two employees, but the major lifting is accomplished by an army of volunteers serving the Long Gray Line. Our mission is as follows:

West-Point.Org (WP-ORG), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, provides an online communications infrastructure that enables graduates, parents, and friends of the military academy to maintain and strengthen the associations that bind us together. We will provide this community any requested support, consistent with this purpose, as quickly and efficiently as possible.

WP-ORG’s Beginning
The concept of networking grads, in the literal sense, started in the summer of 1994. The first e-mail was sent out sometime in September of 1994 as a simple ‘Hello’ to a list of 30+ names that Expeditus Bolanos ’90 (founder of WP-ORG) downloaded from the AOG-BBS. At the time, ‘ditus was employed at Intermedics, Inc. and the best he could muster (or be allowed to do using company equipment) was an alias file. By March 1995, ‘ditus moved to Austin, Texas, and joined Pencom Software, a division of Pencom Systems Inc. There, he was provided the tools to start a true e-mail listserv. He dubbed the service AOG-NET.

By April 1995, Dolf Beil, an MIS professional and cadet parent who supported the initial efforts, helped ‘ditus bring the West Point Parents on line with wpp-net. This group was very motivated, as the ability to communicate with their cadets through the Internet gateways had shown them the power of e-mail.

By December 1995, with Jack Price’s (USMA ’64) help, AOG-NET expanded to the web. On 1 January, 1996, AOG-NET officially announced web services. Shortly thereafter, a group of class year group representatives encouraged ‘ditus to think about setting up a more permanent arrangement and offered to raise the necessary money. The original donors of the funds to buy the system hardware were Dolf Beil, Warren Hearnes ’89, Bob Magruder ’64, and Jack Price ’64. These four individuals became the first Board of Advisors.

Officially on April 27, 1996, AOG-NET was retired with many thanks to AOG. WP-ORG Inc. was born under a new charter and with a sense of independence. WP-ORG Inc. lives in its own domain under http://www.west-point.org. For a snapshot of WP-ORG through the years, take a look at the Way Back Machine.

Current Status
WP-ORG is governed by a Board of Advisors. The current board, past board members, and other people important to WP-ORG are listed in the links below:

Board of Advisors
Past Advisors

The servers and other equipment are housed in a co-location facility. WP-ORG is a volunteer army numbering nearly 100 graduates and parents running more than 300 e-mail listservices in support of most USMA classes, 51 West Point Societies, and 41 West Point Parent Clubs. WP-ORG is also host to grad interest and sport listservices and is providing a home for USNA parents and USNA Parent club sites.