Pomp & politics at DSU
There Ya Go
Last week, I wrote about how nice it will be for my daughter, Olivia, to experience a traditional graduation ceremony since her high school version in 2020 was anything but.
Sure enough, she got to do it Saturday as part of Dakota State University’s largest graduation class ever. However, it was anything but a “normal” day, and it had everything you could want — if you were at the U.S. Capitol.
This special day for Olivia included a bodyguard — 250 pounds of muscle in a suit — snipers, hundreds of protestors, many holding signs or writing anti-Noem messages on the sidewalk, metal detector wands, and South Dakota cops and State Troopers everywhere you looked.
We also got “wanded” when we entered the DSU Fieldhouse. Tara even had her purse searched. I bet it’s easier to board a plane than it was to get access into the field house.
Talk about pomp and circumstance. All the hubbub of the day was a nice reminder that we live in a free country where everyone has a right to gather publicly and speak their mind.
So, why all the fuss? It was because the keynote speaker and recipient of the university’s honorary degree this year was none other than former South Dakota Gov. and current Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, one of the more polarizing political figures in D.C.
Both the Dakota State University student senate and general faculty voted against the honorary degree for Noem, citing concerns over Noem’s policies and the message her recognition would send to international students and marginalized communities.
Apparently Noem got the invitation to speak and receive the honorary degree while she was still governor for her support of the university’s nationally-recognized cybersecurity programs.
Noem offered students a five-point bullet list of advice during her 10-minute speech, saying, among other things that while their education is important, the world still revolves on relationships.
I thought the speech was a good one, but all the while, I was waiting for something to happen — perhaps some students would turn their chair around during the speech. Or maybe some would yell something.
Watching Olivia walk across the stage to receive her diploma made me very proud, of course, and even though I wasn’t working, I was looking for a story. As it turns out, Olivia graduating was the only story for me.
