Harris to give commencement address at Coast Guard Academy

Vice President Harris will speak at the Coast Guard Academy’s commencement later this month, a White House official said Friday.  

The Academy’s Commencement Exercises will take place on May 18.  

“We are honored to host the Vice President and look forward to having her present the Coast Guard’s newest leaders with their commissions,” Rear Adm. Bill Kelly, the superintendent of the Coast Guard Academy, said in a statement shared with The Hill.  

“This will also be a memorable moment for our graduates before they head out across the country and around the globe to take their places in the fleet,” Kelly said. 

The scheduled appearance, which will be the vice president’s first visit to the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., is among a handful of commencement addresses the president and vice president are expected to make in the coming weeks.  

Harris is also scheduled to deliver the commencement address at Tennessee State University, a historically Black university, on May 7. Plans for that appearance are still moving forward after the vice president tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week; Harris can come out of quarantine as soon as five days after her positive test  

President Biden is scheduled to deliver the commencement address at the Naval Academy on May 27, the White House official said. It was previously announced that Biden would address this year’s graduating class at his alma mater, the University of Delaware. 

Presidents and vice presidents traditionally deliver commencement addresses to the service academies.  

Last year, Harris addressed the Naval Academy, making history as the academy’s first female commencement speaker. Biden spoke at the Coast Guard Academy last year.