VP Kamala Harris to give commencement speech at Coast Guard Academy

April 29 (UPI) -- Vice President Kamala Harris will be the commencement speaker next month at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut, officials announced Friday.

The academy in New London said that the vice president will attend the May 18 graduation ceremony, give the keynote address and hand out the diplomas.

Harris' visit to southeast Connecticut will be her first to the Coast Guard Academy.

The president and vice president traditionally attend the commencement ceremonies at each military branch on a rotating basis. Last year, President Joe Biden spoke at the graduation event in New London and Harris went to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., and became the first woman ever to deliver the commencement speech there.

The Naval Academy announced on Thursday that Biden will attend and be the keynote speaker at its commencement on May 27.

Harris will also deliver a keynote address next week at Tennessee State University, a historically Black university.

On Tuesday, the vice president tested positive for COVID-19, but said she'd experienced no symptoms. The diagnosis is not expected to affect her visits to Tennessee and Connecticut next month.