Harris becomes first woman commencement speaker at West Point

Vice President Kamala Harris delivered the commencement address for the May 27 graduation ceremonies at the United States Military Academy at West Point and in so doing became the first woman to serve as commencement speaker in the academy’s 221-year history.

The 2023 commencement ceremonies also marked Harris’ first visit to the academy. It was in 1976 that the first female cadet was admitted to West Point. Since then, more than 5,000 women have become West Point graduates and embarked on military careers.

“We are honored to have the vice president as our commencement speaker,” said Lt. Gen. Steven W. Gilland, West Point’s 61st superintendent, calling her “an accomplished leader who has achieved significant milestones throughout her career.”

“Each and every day, America”™s service members demonstrate extraordinary skill, dedication, and discipline,” Harris said. “They are willing to sacrifice everything to protect the lives and liberty of people they may never meet. And I believe there is no more noble work that a person can do than to serve our nation in uniform.”

Harris told the cadets that they’re graduating into an increasingly unsettled world.

“Russia launched the first major ground war in Europe since World War Two,” Harris said. “In Ukraine, Russia”™s aggression is an attack on the lives and freedom of the Ukrainian people and an attack on international rules and norms that have served as the foundation of international security and prosperity for generations. In the Indo-Pacific, China is rapidly modernizing its military and threatening both the freedom of the seas and rules of international commerce. At the same time, autocrats have become bolder, the threat of terrorism persists, and an accelerating climate crisis continues to disrupt lives and livelihoods.”

Harris said that America plays a singular role of leadership and that a strong America remains indispensable to the world.

“The power of America”™s military not only rests on our technology, our weaponry, our hardware,” Harris said. “It rests on the character and the resolve of our people. America has no greater resource, no greater strategic asset than the men and women who wear our uniform. Our soldiers are the best trained and most prepared in the world; the most effective, most cohesive, and most lethal warriors in the world. For more than two centuries, America has relied on the conscience, the capability, and the courage of West Point officers. Today, our nation turns to each of you for the strength that you have built here at West Point. The physical strength, the mental strength, the emotional strength, and the strength of character.”