The front says ‘Class of 2025’ and on the back is their class crest. At the top, a bald eagle spans its wings. The words ...

A lard-covered obelisk is more than a slippery slope for U.S. Naval Academy plebes, who view it as a rite of passage that changes them into midshipmen.

The doors are wide open, and the muted humming of a machine can be heard as dozens of cases of Woodford Reserve Bourbon are engraved with the U.S. Naval Academy’s Class of 2025 crest.