I too was at the parent leader briefing on April 20, and due to my travels have not been able to comment until now:
- Hawk is pretty much spot on with his sharing of information. Definitely a much better note taker than I am
- the conference planner, Deb Dalton, has summarized the meeting and sent a report to all parent club leaders to share with their clubs. At no time were we told "do not share".
- the alcohol situation was mentioned as, "too many alcohol boards", and the policy change came after the parent leader meeting, but not as a result of it. I'm sure the discussion at the meeting would have been more animated if the policy change had occurred prior to the meeting. The same goes for the sexual assault lawsuit that was announced that same weekend, but after the meeting.
- as for recordings, I too thought that would be a good way to share the information with accuracy. Unfortunately, I was not granted permission to record the event. I was prepared to do this.
- I attended the same parent leader meeting last year, so have the opportunity to compare. Last year, the WP leaders were more senior - Supe, and department heads attended and presented. This year, 2nd and 3rd in command provided the briefings. Last year the TAC panel had cadets, NCOs, and officers in a panel Q&A that provided insight into the contrast across the corps, discussing different leadership styles. This year, it was brigade staff only, but still informative. Last year department heads spoke in more detail about classes. This year, the Registrar, Dr. Dalton spoke in more general terms about academics (except for "dirt"). All in all, both were quite useful, and they definitely were NOT repetitious.
- there was quite a bit of information more apropos to parent clubs: logo usage, quality of information from west-point.org (which is NOT an official source of info), tax-exempt status
- there was also discussion of privacy issues. While most parents have a pretty relationship with their cadets, this is not always the case. Cadets may not tell their parents or family members everything. Parents and guardians are not entitled to information about their cadets. Some may be struggling, and may not want this to be known. Some may be subject to disciplinary actions and not want to share this info. Some may have medical issues and not want this known. The TACs were upfront about this, reminding parents that their cadets are considered adults, and information about the cadets is private unless the cadet specifically provides permission to release information. For example, grades. I had a few discussions with parents, and was surprised that some had no real idea about what their cadet was doing: did not know company, did not know what sport or club activity their cadet participated in, did not know what their cadet's plans were for summer training or AIAD. This was corroborated by son, when he was surprised to learn that some of his fellow cadets were estranged from their parents.
To echo what Hawk mentioned, and was asked by scoutpilot to clarify, there is always change at West Point, and what may have been true a few years back is no longer true today. The best source of information is from current staff members at West Point, and from current cadets. There will always be filtering due to how people hear and retain information. The information overload may contribute - my son sometimes has to read thru the hundreds of emails to find the nuggets worth retaining, and that provide final confirmation after preceding emails provide conflicting info.
In addition to Service Academy forums, official and unofficial websites, and Facebook contents from official and unofficial sources, there are also the personal contacts that one establishes during our time associated with West Point. As an active parent club leader, I have a wealth of information from the parents of other cadets from across the Corps. At the national level, our 2014 parent group is a close-knit, club-like group where we share info about our cadet's experiences. At our state's regular club meetings we share this information to help each other. Our cadets, too, interact with cadets in other companies across the corps, to see how leadership differences affect how each company operates. In some communication is excellent, in others, not so. At the same time, we also realize that some of this information might be personal and should remain private.
Bottom line, there is no one right answer. All are representative of today's West Point and today's Army.
Best course of action? Perhaps analyzing and digesting the various information sources, and personally selecting the best course of action for one's self.
PS not sure if I met Hawk. Did get the chance to meet buff81.
PPS private message me if you'd like a copy of Deb's summary of the event
It won't be that level of detail, but we are planning on trying to brief the club in followup sessions. 