Dakota State University must ask DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to step aside as commencement speaker
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is scheduled to speak at the spring 2025 graduation ceremonies for DSU on Saturday, May 10.
it is also anticipated that she will receive an honorary doctorate degree.
This visit by Secretary Noem brings with it anxiety, disappointment and a view of poor judgment for many on campus, the Madison community, and throughout South Dakota. A petition calling on DSU to rescind its offer of an honorary doctorate to Noem is now circulating.
But the greater focus is what does the visit mean for the betterment of students. DSU has nearly 200 foreign students from 61 countries.
In the last 100 days, Secretary Noem has caused fear and chaos for students, especially those from other countries with education visas. Courts have found that she and the administration she works for ignore the rule of law and due legal process. Her agencies carry out actions that fail the test of legality, morality, common sense and adherence to human rights.
She no longer displays the values of average South Dakotans. That of humility, respect for others, knowing one’s place and duty to follow law.
A university is an institution that is about students and faculty. It is about learning and intellectual foreplay. It is about exercising critical thinking. It is about learning from others. It is about developing a value system that brings about a better good both locally and globally.
A university is not just necessarily brick or mortar. It is not about huge donations for large and expensive facilities. A university is the art of building a better community here and throughout the world.
Secretary Noem and DSU officials are certainly going to proceed as they deem necessary. The optics is not lost on the public of seeing an Indian student from South Dakota School of Mines fight a legal challenge against Secretary Noem in order to obtain her hard-earned doctorate degree, while on May 10, Noem is to granted an honorary degree from DSU. (Editor’s note: A federal judge has temporarily blocked DHS action against the SDSM&T student.)
Students who come to Dakota State whether they are immigrants or not should know that their hard work and their efforts toward education are going to be honored and respected and made secure.
Charlie Johnson is a lifelong resident of the Madison area. He graduated summa cum laude from then-Dakota State College in 1980. He served on the Student Senate and was student vice president while on campus, and was a Lake County commissioner from 1987-95.
Photo: public domain, wikimedia commons
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