Campus life has been upended across the United States and West Point is no different, with cadets now home and its commencement speech, from President Donald Trump, postponed. That is, until Trump decided that it’s back on. As the New York Times reports, the president surprised everyone—including West Point officials—last week when he announced that he would indeed be speaking at the service academy’s graduation, an event initially slated for late May. Academy officials told the Times that the options they were considering included a delayed presidential commencement speech in mid-June, but that they had yet to make any concrete decisions and were taken aback by Trump’s pre-emptive announcement. But just a few days later, superintendent Lt. Gen. Darryl A. Williams expressed support for Trump’s decision. “We are honored to host the commander in chief as we celebrate the many accomplishments of our graduating class,” he said.
Before Trump’s statement, school officials were debating whether to have the event at all, with other schools like the Naval Academy deciding on a virtual commencement as the safest option. But now, the 1,000 cadets who were sent home in March are being summoned from across the country back to campus in New York, which the Times notes to be the epicenter of coronavirus cases. Recalling the cadets requires waivers—which the academy has asked Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper for—given the military travel ban that was recently extended to June 30.
Whether parents or other visitors will be allowed to attend is still undecided, as are many other moving parts involved in rescheduling the event—including whether seniors will share bedrooms upon returning to campus. General Williams told the Times that returning seniors will be tested off-campus for the virus and that those who test negative will be monitored on campus for 14 days before the ceremony. In “an academic year marred by tragedy even before the outbreak,” some faculty members worry about the impact that Trump’s risky decision will have on the mental health of the cadets.
Trump’s surprise announcement may be fueled by the fact that the president has grown increasingly restless in White House confinement. As my colleague Eric Lutz recently wrote, Trump is said to be itching to travel despite the continued outbreak of the virus, asking aides to let him take day trips and make the public appearances that he last week said were “great for the country.”
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