Overview
- The United States Military Academy announced on short notice that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will deliver the commencement address at Michie Stadium to graduating cadets.
- The appointment will be Hegseth’s first visit to the West Point campus and the speech is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.
- Hegseth is a former Army National Guard member with deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantánamo Bay and previously worked as a Fox News contributor and co-host of Fox & Friends.
- The late announcement is drawing attention because West Point normally names speakers well in advance and because recent commencements have featured overtly political rhetoric.
- The selection comes after a period of tension between the academy and the administration that included the disbanding of roughly a dozen cadet clubs focused on identity topics and a faculty lawsuit alleging censorship.