Vice President Kamala Harris delivers a keynote address at the United States Coast Guard Academy’s 141st inaugural exercise on May 18, 2022, in New London, Conn.
Stephen Dunn / AP
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Stephen Dunn / AP
Vice President Kamala Harris delivers a keynote address at the United States Coast Guard Academy’s 141st inaugural exercise on May 18, 2022, in New London, Conn.
Stephen Dunn / AP
Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver a keynote address at West Point’s graduation on Saturday, making her the first woman to deliver the opening speech in the military academy’s 221-year history.
“We are honored to have the Vice President as our inaugural speaker,” said West Point general manager, Lt. Gen. Steven W. Gilland. in a statement. “As an accomplished leader who has achieved major milestones throughout her career, we look forward to her inspiring comments on our students.”
Traditionally, vice presidents give opening remarks to graduating classes at US military academies.
Last year, Harris delivered the opening address to the graduates of the United States Coast Guard Academy, and in 2021 she has become the The first female speaker starts at the United States Naval Academy.
Meanwhile, President Biden will speak at the graduation ceremony of the US Air Force Academy this year. Earlier this month, he spoke at Howard University Opening Ceremony ceremony.
As vice president, Biden delivered the opening address of West Point in 2016.
When asked why it took such a long time for a woman to take on the role of speaker at a graduation ceremony, a West Point spokesperson said only that the role often rotates between senior leaders in the industry. the academy’s command system, consisting of the president, vice president, defense minister, and defense minister. Chairman of the Commander-in-Chief Council.
Historically, men have largely held those senior positions in government. Although the deputy defense ministers assigned address starts at West Point In the past, Kathleen Hicks – who becomes the first female deputy secretary of defense in 2021 – has yet to speak at the school’s opening ceremony.
As for school, women didn’t start attending West Point until 1976 – a year after Congress passed legislation allowing women to enroll in federal military academies. In 1980, Andrea Hollen became the first of 62 pioneer women to graduate from West Point. Since then, more than 5,000 women graduated from the military academy.
