Figures Behind the Figure: The Team That Shapes a Cadet Tradition

By Cadet Gabriel Morales '27 Class Officer - Corps of Cadets Liaison

When it comes to class rings, the typical Virginia Tech student walks into Squires to claim their ring and opens the box in a wave of excitement that quickly fades as the ring becomes a constant background in their daily life.  

It’s different for cadets. They aren’t allowed to see their ring until Ring Figure, adding an air of tradition, exhilaration, and expectation that culminates all at once.

Each year in late winter (or early spring, depending on how Blacksburg weather is going that year), junior cadets, their dates, and their freshman mentees come together to form Ring Figure. They march in formation into the shape of their class year, and the juniors’ rings are presented to them as one of the first traditions and transitions into becoming a cadet officer. It’s a noteworthy and memorable moment, signifying the approaching end of their junior year, and the start of their final undertaking: senior year and graduation.

Ring Figure is an event that every cadet knows about, participating first as a freshman with their mentor, with the roles eventually shifting as they receive their ring during junior year from their own mentee. What cadets and guests aren’t aware of, however, is the work that goes into making the Figure a reality. Behind the scenes is a team of cadets that works specifically for Ring Figure and Ring Dance (as well as Ring Premiere in the fall). This journey starts with the Corps of Cadets liaison (previously the cadet member-at-large) during freshman year. The liaison is one of five elected officers chosen by and for their class, the only non-traditional officer position. Later in the year, two more members are chosen: the Cadet Dress & Sabre representative and the Corps of Cadets representative. These three positions are only a small part of a larger university organization revolving around the tradition of class rings, but their roles cannot be understated in the purpose and knowledge they bring in order to make university events truly unforgettable.

Not only does this trio of cadets organize the involvement of the Highty-Tighties, Gregory Guard, and Skipper in all things ring-related; they also assist with the university side of the ring events. The Class of 2026 Cadet Member-At-Large, Cadet Darwin Otchere, believes that his position on the ring committee allowed him to connect with the university in ways that he would never have imagined.

“I got the opportunity to speak at the Lindsay Cherry event where he donated his ring and saber to Virginia Tech. That's inspiring to me because this place gave so much to him that he believed that it was right for him to donate that back to the school.” The cadets on the Class of 2027 ring team have opportunities to expand their worldview not only through a military lens, but a civilian lens as well.

U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Yollande Djossou '24 held a non-cadet position as the Class of 2024 ring design committee chair. She had the opportunity to work with and manage civilian students along with other cadets to support a tradition that spans nearly a century. She believes that the ring committee taught her lessons that she wasn’t able to glean from the Corps and ROTC; “It definitely helped with people skills. I think working with civilians, it was a different ballgame.”

The cadets on the class ring team are not at the forefront of most cadets' minds, but they are constantly interacting with members of the university, whether students or faculty. They present a unified front, and often first glance, of how the Corps represents itself professionally and uniformly, year after year.