As a student leader in the Class of 1972, I remember the spring of 1971 when we learned that the Board had voted to eliminate the semi-military structure and become a civilian school the following fall, our senior year. It was only a year earlier when they announced that McDonogh would keep its military status. The decision didn’t fare well with the Class of 1971, who had a tumultuous year as the last military class. Many of us juniors winced at losing our senior year military leadership roles with majors’ oak leafs, captains’ bars, and sabers accompanying our uniforms, but we were also honored to be the class that would lead the way to a new structure that exists today.