1977.. I didn't get one. I was supposed to finish in '78, and maybe I would have felt more of a sense of identity with my class/wanted one, if I'd finished with the people I started with.. don't know.
my father still wears his.. I'm not sure what year he has on it, he spent some time in the navy in the middle of going to college (WWII) and things get confused.. I believe they consider themselves graduates of the class they started with rather than when they finished, though.. so it's probably class of 45 .. and my sister still wears hers ('80).. she has a more signet-ring style one than the standard bulky large-stoned class rings virginia tech was offering me in '77.. I might have wanted one if I'd had such a choice.. hard to say. probably not, at the time.
my daughter will graduate in may and she hasn't expressed any interest in having one, yet, anyway.
it's a big deal at some schools.. like the citidel.. they ALL get rings.. and most of 'em are buried in 'em.
anno