Senior Sean Cuffe was awarded the Dwight D. Eisenhower Award along with a Letter of Assurance from the United States Military Academy at West Point. The Dwight D. Eisenhower Award is given to one junior of each high school that the West Point Society of New Jersey sponsors.

Cuffe said that the award is given to someone who is an all-around good person with good grades, leadership experience, athletic ability, community service hours, and is a good citizen. 

According to Cuffe, he is at the top 3% of his class academically. He plays three sports – football, hockey, and lacrosse – and is also a captain of the football team. As for additional leadership, he participates in National Honors Society, Science National Honors Society as president, and executive council class liaison. He is also treasurer of the environmental club and participates in Habitat for Humanity where he is co-president with his brother, Kevin Cuffe. 

Cuffe was selected to attend the West Point Cadet Leaders Program, which was cancelled due to the coronavirus. 

“My major goal is to get into West Point and I want to go there mainly because I want to serve and I have a lot of pride in this country,” Cuffe said. “The opportunity is going to help me have great education – one of the best in the country – and I’ll be developing myself physically and mentally, building my leadership skills, and it’s going to turn me into an even better person. Even after I get in there and after I serve my military service, I’ll have a plethora of opportunities in the workforce with [a] West Point degree.”

Cuffe noted that his biggest role model is his dad, saying that he looks up to him because he has always pushed Cuffe to do the right thing.

“I think my parents made me who I am today,” Cuffe said. “[They] pushed me to do as much as I can and [to] be hardworking so I try to reflect my parents with everything I do and all the clubs I take part in, [as well as] how I work in the classroom [and] how I work on the field. I definitely have to give credit to my parents.”

Cuffe said that receiving this award attests to who he is as a person, which means a lot to him.

“West Point looks for people who are good with everything: leadership, academics, athletics, citizenship and so in general it definitely means a ton to me and I am very happy about it,” Cuffe said. “Everyday, with school, sports, and everything I do, I try to be the best possible version of myself.”