“First Vulcan to graduate at the head of her class”

[Bryan Levy]

Not to take away anything from the successes of pre-treasonous Valeris, but this is an absolutely nutty statement. How was Spock not the first Vulcan at the head of his class? Was there any kind of lit-verse answer to this? I would be happy if this was ignored wholly.

 

[Extrocomp]

In the Undiscovered Country novelization, the quote is "The lieutenant recently graduated at the top of her class from Starfleet Academy". No mention of her being the first.

The novel Cast No Shadow does say she was the first, but doesn't really explain why. The next paragraph says "Even after hundreds of years, there were still many Vulcans who considered Starfleet to be a human-centric organization of lesser value than the more esoteric, academic pursuits of the Vulcan Science Academy and other, similar institutions." So perhaps the implication is that all the really high-achieving Vulcans go to the Science Academy.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Not to take away anything from the successes of pre-treasonous Valeris, but this is an absolutely nutty statement. How was Spock not the first Vulcan at the head of his class? Was there any kind of lit-verse answer to this? I would be happy if this was ignored wholly.

Perhaps Spock was "distracted" by Leila Kalomi and graduated above human levels but below, ummmm, [insert other brainy Star Trek aliens here]

 

[Christopher]

Perhaps Spock was "distracted" by Leila Kalomi and graduated above human levels but below, ummmm, [insert other brainy Star Trek aliens here]

The timing's wrong. Leila was 6 years before "This Side of Paradise," so 2261, well after the Academy and seven years into Spock's Enterprise tenure under Pike's command (about 3 years after we last saw Pike and Spock in Discovery, so maybe Leila will show up on Strange New Worlds eventually).

 

[Dayton Ward]

There’s no evidence to suggest Spock was even the first Vulcan to join Starfleet.

 

[Christopher]

There’s no evidence to suggest Spock was even the first Vulcan to join Starfleet.

Yeah, I've tried to figure out where that myth originated and I'm still clueless. A lot of extracanonical fan lore originated in The Making of Star Trek, like the idea that Kirk was the youngest captain or that there was a Klingon-Romulan alliance, but all it says about Spock is that he's the only Vulcan on the Enterprise. My best guess is that that got misremembered and memetically mutated into "first Vulcan in Starfleet."

 

[Bryan Levy]

There’s no evidence to suggest Spock was even the first Vulcan to join Starfleet.

Even that would make more sense to me. Was every crew member on the Intrepid a Vulcan dullard?

 

[KRAD]

Spock can't possibly be the first Vulcan to do anything, because he isn't a Vulcan, he's a human-Vulcan hybrid.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

There’s no evidence to suggest Spock was even the first Vulcan to join Starfleet.

And if we count the UESPA Starfleet, then T'Pol would, if memory serves correctly, be the first. At least, I think I remember her, at some point, going from being an exchange officer to a Starfleet officer. Maybe even canonically.

 

[Ronald Held]

T'Pol did not attend SFA. Could it be few Vulcsns joined SF in the 23d century?

 

[Dayton Ward]

 

[Christopher]

Spock can't possibly be the first Vulcan to do anything, because he isn't a Vulcan, he's a human-Vulcan hybrid.

He self-identifies as Vulcan. He is a natural-born citizen of Vulcan, an adherent to Vulcan philosophy and cultural norms. He's Vulcan in every respect except biology, so by any modern, enlightened standard of personal identity, hell yes, he's a Vulcan.

And if we count the UESPA Starfleet, then T'Pol would, if memory serves correctly, be the first. At least, I think I remember her, at some point, going from being an exchange officer to a Starfleet officer. Maybe even canonically.

Yes, in season 4, after a season in sort of an intermediate advisory stage after leaving the Vulcan service. (Although, weirdly, she still wore her season 3 catsuits, just with Starfleet insignias stuck on.) And the novels have her remaining in the Federation Starfleet once it's incorporated in 2161.

 

[KRAD]

And if we count the UESPA Starfleet, then T'Pol would, if memory serves correctly, be the first. At least, I think I remember her, at some point, going from being an exchange officer to a Starfleet officer. Maybe even canonically.

Nope, not even a little bit. Because the UESPA Starfleet is part of the United Earth (it's what the UE stands for) and the Federation Starfleet is part of the United Federation of Planets, which are two entirely different nations. Now if she winds up joining the Federation Starfleet in 2161, that's a different thing, but we don't have any on-screen evidence of that one way or the other.

He self-identifies as Vulcan. He is a natural-born citizen of Vulcan, an adherent to Vulcan philosophy and cultural norms. He's Vulcan in every respect except biology, so by any modern, enlightened standard of personal identity, hell yes, he's a Vulcan.

That is a fair point, though I'm not all that thrilled with the notion of just pretending his mother doesn't exist, either, especially since she was still willing to speak to him all the time.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Although, weirdly, she still wore her season 3 catsuits, just with Starfleet insignias stuck on.

<Mister Rogers>Can you say fanservice?</Mister Rogers>

And CLB just confirmed something I'd rattled off from memory. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

 

[Christopher]

That is a fair point, though I'm not all that thrilled with the notion of just pretending his mother doesn't exist, either, especially since she was still willing to speak to him all the time.

It's not denying her existence, it's respecting his self-identification. "Vulcan" isn't just a biological classification, it's a culture and a nationality. If Amanda's a citizen of Vulcan and identifies with its culture, then she's a Vulcan too. By all rights, anyone who has Vulcan citizenship and regards themselves as culturally Vulcan should be acknowledged as Vulcan regardless of whether they're biologically Vulcan, human, Andorian, Edoan, Organian, Twi'lek, Wookiee, Skrull, Tamaranian, Cylon, Sontaran, elf, mermaid, kobold, or Koozebanian. Nobody should have their entire identity reduced to their race. The fact that Trek insists on doing so is one of its very worst conceptual failings.

 

[F. King Daniel]

There were Vulcan admirals in Starfleet/Section 31 in Discovery season 2 while Spock was a Lieutenant. No chance is he the first.

 

[David cgc]

T'Pol did not attend SFA. Could it be few Vulcsns joined SF in the 23d century?

I think you're on to something. Michael Burnham was commissioned into Starfleet without attending the Academy, having gotten her education of Vulcan. Many Vulcans in Starfleet might've transferred in. That still leaves the question of how Spock, widely-recognized as a super-genius even by Vulcan standards, didn't graduate at the head of his class, but that could be down to some specific aspect of how Starfleet calculates GPA that Spock didn't find it logical to indulge in merely for the sake of having a higher numerical ranking (say, he would've had to take an additional course to push up his average grade that he expected to have no use for in his career, and believed there were better uses of his time and effort).

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

. . . regardless of whether they're biologically Vulcan, human, Andorian, Edoan, Organian, Twi'lek, Wookiee, Skrull, Tamaranian, Cylon, Sontaran, elf, mermaid, kobold, or Koozebanian

Not to mention the Sulamids, Suliban, hestv, Xindi, Lactrans, and Lozadians (a species from my own writings, inspired by Sulamids, Kelvans, Phylosians, Vendorians, and similar tentacled beings, and named after a classmate in a writing class).

 

[Mike Doyle]

There were Vulcan admirals in Starfleet/Section 31 in Discovery season 2 while Spock was a Lieutenant. No chance is he the first.

And in TOS the Intrepid was crewed entirely by Vulcans. Statistically unlikely that there are that many and Spock joined before them all.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

How was Spock not the first Vulcan at the head of his class?

Any particular reason he SHOULD have been?