22-05-2025
At Coast Guard Academy graduation, Kristi Noem talks as protesters gather
U.S. Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem delivered the keynote address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy's 2025 commencement. She said the Trump administration plans to 'transform' the Coast Guard. (Photo by USCGA via YouTube)
As U.S. Coast Guard Academy cadets and their families arrived on the New London campus in Connecticut Wednesday morning for graduation, protesters filled nearby McKinley Park to voice their opposition to the academy's commencement speaker, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
'Congratulations!' the protesters called out to the cadets and their family members as they passed by on the sidewalk. Some of the graduation attendees thanked the protesters for their presence outside the academy.
The protesters carried signs calling out various actions by the Trump administration, including the unlawful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador, the Trump administration's cuts to veterans services, the recent federal budget proposal that includes cuts to Medicaid, the administration's position on Ukraine and the detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student who played a strong role in pro-Palestinian protests.
While demonstrators protested right outside of the campus, Noem got a polite and warm reception from Cadet Memorial Field as she delivered a 20-minute keynote address.
'You're the first graduating class of a brand new Coast Guard,' Noem said. 'I want to share with you today what part of President Trump's vision is for the future of this force. With your help, President Trump and I are going to make America's Coast Guard the strongest, the most capable, the also most effective military service in the entire government.'
She highlighted recent conversations with President Donald J. Trump from the Oval Office about the needs of the Coast Guard, which, unlike other military branches, is overseen by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. And she detailed how the administration plans to 'transform' the service through a new effort called 'Force Design 2028.'
Protesters, meanwhile, uniformly told The Connecticut Mirror they had no problem with the Coast Guard. In fact, they expressed admiration for the service.
'[I] highly respect the Coast Guard,' said Janet Bannister of Coventry. 'I've known a lot of young people who have made it through. I'm just so proud of them. So yes, we hope it's clear to people that we are pro-Coast Guard and celebrating the graduates, but … here we are.'
Montville resident Linda Ness said she was against the current federal budget proposal, particularly cuts to Medicaid and the amount of money it would add to the national debt.
'It's where they're putting their money. It has nothing to do with the country['s] needs and the people. They're taking care of corporations, they're taking care of the ultra-wealthy. That's not democracy,' she said.
Ness held a sign listing police, fire departments, hospitals and utilities as some of the benefits that the wealthy use and said she was opposed to the idea of them receiving tax cuts.
Claudia Allen, a resident of Thompson, told CT Mirror that she'd been attending protests since Ronald Reagan was elected president.
' My son was sent to Iraq, and I'm a peace activist. That was horrifying, with George Bush. But even that, there were some people who were competent and who were not aligned [with] him instead of the U.S. Constitution,' said Allen. 'This is the Constitution state, and she's not upholding the Constitution, nor is that administration. That's a big reason that I'm here.'
Immigration enforcement was another common theme among the protesters. They mentioned the violation of court orders, instances of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement apprehending people, and deportations to countries like El Salvador and South Sudan without due process.
'[The administration] is so incompetent,' said Denise Weinschenker of Salem. ' He was supposed to drain the swamp. Instead he went into the swamp and pulled all those people out.'
Joanne Sheehan, one of the protest's organizers and a member of the Unify & Resist Coalition, told CT Mirror that they have organized protests in the past against U.S. Coast Guard Academy commencement speakers. She said they had counted 250 people present at the protest today but estimated that there were more.
Sheehan said the protests were different sizes each year. Some years, only a few dozen people showed up, and others counted protesters in the hundreds. The largest, she said, was the spring after Trump was elected for the first time.
Other protesters mentioned the abrupt firing of Admiral Linda Lee Fagan in late January, a day after Trump's inauguration.
They criticized the administration for Fagan's dismissal, noting that she was the first woman to lead a branch of the U.S. Armed Forces and praising her focus on diversity in the Coast Guard.
'Sexual assault has been endemic and such a problem here. And they finally get someone to clean it up, and he fires her immediately. Day one,' said Mystic resident Martha Crum.
The firing drew condemnation from some of Connecticut's congressional delegation at the time.
DHS officials cited issues with deployment of the Coast Guard to assist with border security, dissatisfaction with recruitment and retention, efforts surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion policies, and cost overruns on icebreakers and helicopters used in the Arctic region.
They also raised concerns about the handling of Operation Fouled Anchor, an investigation into decades of sexual misconduct claims at the Coast Guard Academy and past leaders' decisions not to disclose a report about it to Congress. Fagan did not serve as commandant at that time but had apologized for not acting on it until CNN broke the story in 2023.
In addition to a shift in top leadership, the Coast Guard and its New London service academy have already undergone other structural changes.
Since Trump's executive order taking aim at DEI policies, the Coast Guard has shuttered a number of DEI-related programs and offices, including the Academy's Office of Culture and Climate.
The Coast Guard had prioritized DEI as a way to boost recruitment and retention among cadets as well as within the force. In a Coast Guard Academy diversity report submitted to Congress in 2024, Fagan wrote that such initiatives show progress was made 'in attracting a workforce that is representative of the nation and preparing culturally competent leaders for the future.'
Recruitment was a big part of Noem's keynote address Wednesday, pointing out the current shortfalls in the enlisted workforce as well as ships with incomplete crews. According to Admiral Kevin Lunday, who is currently serving as acting commandant, the Coast Guard has surpassed its annual recruitment goal and has so far recruited 4,700 new members, Noem said.
Since Trump's executive order taking aim at DEI policies, the Coast Guard has shuttered a number of DEI-related programs and offices, including the Academy's Office of Culture and Climate.
Along with recruitment, Noem said, 'Force Design 2028' will aim to reorganize the service by reducing the number of admirals by 25%, replacing outdated technology, fixing crumbling infrastructure and increasing the number of icebreakers. She said the goal over the next four years is to increase the size of the Coast Guard by at least 15,000 personnel.
'Those needs represent the biggest Coast Guard readiness crisis that we have seen since World War II,' Noem said. 'That may have been the Coast Guard of the past, but that will not be the Coast Guard of the future.'
As her speech concluded, Noem made an initially unplanned announcement about the new leadership team at the Coast Guard. Among other promotions, Lunday will now be nominated for the commandant role permanently. He spoke shortly before Noem and praised the administration for its 'inspiring leadership and remarkable advocacy' of the Coast Guard.
This article first appeared on CT Mirror and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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