West Point''s Impact

Throughout the United States'' history, West Point graduates have and continue to play a central leadership role in both the military and business worlds. Although West Point has and continues to be a major development source of our nation''s leaders, very little literature exists today that attempts to understand West Point''s curriculum impact on the guiding leadership principles of its graduates. With its high entrance requirements, West Point''s student body continues to be largely white male while moral and ethical leadership development has and continues to be its primary student development mission. In recognizing that today''s volunteer Army is multiracial and that Army “leadership must weld together soldiers of mixed race, ethnic background, and sex into effective collaborative units” (Bass & Avolio, 2000, p. 2), the purpose of this study was to determine: What are the guiding leadership principles of West Point graduates? How has West Point''s overall curriculum impacted the guiding leadership principles of its graduates? How do West Point graduates interpret and carry out the values instilled by West Point''s curriculum?