Noem has some explaining to do, so let her speak
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem delivers her 2025 State of the State address to lawmakers at the Capitol in Pierre on Jan. 14, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
After a career in journalism that has let me have my say about a wide range of issues, it's galling to me whenever a group wants to shut down someone else's speech.
At issue this weekend is an honorary degree that Dakota State University in Madison plans to bestow on former South Dakota governor and current Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. She will also deliver the university's commencement address on Saturday.
DSU officials — who said they extended the invitation while Noem was still governor — want to honor Noem for her support of the university's cyber initiatives and her backing of the creation of the Center for Quantum Information Science and Technology in partnership with South Dakota Mines, another state university in Rapid City.
Graduation now likely for college student with revoked visa, but later deportation still possible
Noem's contributions to those efforts are noteworthy. She helped DSU secure $30 million in state funding, launching it on a path toward leadership in cybersecurity research and essentially creating a new industry in South Dakota, all the while providing an important, lucrative path for DSU graduates to follow.
A nonprofit, South Dakota Voices for Peace, has started a petition drive asking DSU to rescind its invitation to Noem. Voices for Peace makes its case, in part, by citing Noem's actions on immigration in her current position.
Noem certainly has plenty to answer for. No doubt there will be international students in the DSU audience wondering just how welcome they are, and just how safe they are as the Trump administration makes the case for deporting as many immigrants as possible.
The reality of that uncertainty for foreign students has reached into South Dakota with cases including Priya Saxena, a graduate student from India studying at South Dakota Mines. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is part of Noem's Department of Homeland Security, is trying to deport Saxena due to a criminal records check that turned up a four-year-old traffic ticket.
Saxena has sued to protect herself from deportation, and has so far succeeded. She's scheduled to receive doctoral and master's degrees Saturday in Rapid City, around the same time Noem will speak on the other side of the state in Madison.
In response to that controversy and a planned protest at DSU, Noem should use part of her commencement speech to explain why she thinks deporting a graduate student because of a traffic ticket serves the cause of public safety or national security. In reality, Noem, being a seasoned politician, will know how to tap dance around the elephant in the room. She might simply offer some praise for her past performance as governor, some graduation day bromides about tackling the challenges of the future, and some lofty talk about setting and meeting goals.
If we took the microphone away from everyone we disagreed with, the country would be blissfully quiet, but we would all be just as blissfully ignorant.
The speech at least presents an opportunity for Noem's critics to protest, for her to respond, and for the public to hear that response. That opportunity will be lost if the petition from Voices for Peace succeeds. The group's work advocating for immigrants is laudable, and because of that mission, its disdain for Noem is understandable. But that doesn't mean Noem should be silenced. If we took the microphone away from everyone we disagreed with, the country would be blissfully quiet, but we would all be just as blissfully ignorant.
Voices for Peace wants to punish Noem by taking away her honorary degree and her chance to speak. That's not the right lesson for the students at DSU or for the rest of us. That lesson should center on supporting free speech, both for Noem and the people who oppose her.
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