Hegseth’s visit to U.S. base in Germany met with student walkout
The civil disobedience by dozens of middle-schoolers — and some adults who booed the defense secretary — was aimed at the Trump administration’s rollback of DEI initiatives.
Today at 5:53 p.m. ET
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is on his first overseas trip since being confirmed by the Senate. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
By Dan Lamothe
BRUSSELS — Dozens of American students at a U.S. military installation in Germany walked out of their middle school on Tuesday as part of protests aimed at an official visit by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, underscoring the scope of disillusionment with the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
The students attend Patch Middle School in Stuttgart, Germany, and peacefully walked out of class for nearly an hour, according to three people familiar with the matter and a letter sent to parents by a school administrator. Separately, a small group of adults dressed in civilian clothing — likely parents — gathered outside at Stuttgart and protested within view and earshot of Hegseth’s delegation, booing and chanting “DEI!”, according to video recorded by a reporter traveling with the secretary.
The protests were in response to President Donald Trump’s string of executive orders targeting diversity efforts throughout the U.S. government, directives Hegseth has carried out enthusiastically. Since he took over the Pentagon, Black History Month celebrations and other similar events have been banned and access to select books in Defense Department schools attended by the children of U.S. service members have been restricted. Those moves have drawn criticism from parents and students alike.
A spokesman for Hegseth did not respond to requests for comment about the protests. Last week, the secretary, a former National Guard soldier who rose to prominence as a Fox News personality, proclaimed that he believes “the single-dumbest phrase in military history is, ‘Our diversity is our strength.’”
The school administrator’s letter said that about 1 p.m., roughly 55 students “walked out in protest of recent events.” They exited the school in orderly fashion and gathered in a courtyard outside, said the letter, signed by Alexis Small, an assistant principal.
She added that the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), which oversees about 67,000 students spread across about 160 schools worldwide, “respects our students’ rights to peacefully express their opinions through speech and other means as long as it is done respectfully, does not interfere with the rights of others, and does not disrupt learning in our school.”
A Pentagon spokesman said he had no information to provide about the issue. Will Griffin, a spokesman for DoDEA, said he had nothing to add to what was in the memo the school sent to parents.
Hegseth has sought to portray U.S. troops and their families as nearly universally in support of Trump and the administration’s effort to reinvigorate the military’s “warrior ethos.”
“They’re so excited to have President Trump as their commander in chief,” Hegseth said recently on the Fox News program “Sunday Morning Futures.” There is now “an electricity” in the military, he added.
Such protests on military installations are exceedingly rare, even when service members are not involved. While service members are prohibited from carrying out actions that may be perceived as partisan, military spouses face few prohibitions.
The walkout was organized in part by an eighth-grade student who is not yet 14 years old, she and her mother said in a joint phone interview with The Washington Post. She spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing concerns about backlash from Trump supporters. Other parents verified the girl’s leading role in the protest.
The student said that she and other students decided to act after seeing how Trump’s executive orders would target diversity events, including a drama club performance that celebrated Black History Month with Motown songs. Many involved in the protest, she said, also were concerned with how the Trump administration’s directives would affect people in the LGBTQ+ community.
It made sense to do something, she said, while Hegseth was visiting Patch Barracks. The installation in Stuttgart is home to both U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command, major military headquarters that call Patch home.
“There was this great sense of community and belonging,” the student said. “Like we’re not alone, because so many kids came out.”
Hegseth addresses the media during his visit to Stuttgart, Germany, on Tuesday. Looking on is Marine Corps Gen. Michael Langley, commander of U.S. Africa Command, which is headquartered there. (Michael Probst/AP)
It was not clear if Hegseth was aware of the school walkout, and he did not mention the protest by adults during a news conference in Stuttgart later Tuesday. He departed after the event for Brussels, where he is expected to meet Wednesday with counterparts from the dozens of countries that support Ukraine in its efforts to resist Russia’s three-year-old invasion.
A senior military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon, said Hegseth had several productive meetings while at Stuttgart, speaking with troops, command staffs and generals. He also posted photographs of an early-morning workout with rank-and-file service members.
On Monday night, after leaving Washington, Hegseth announced that he was reverting the name of Fort Liberty in North Carolina to Fort Bragg. The name of the installation, home to the 82nd Airborne Division and other high-profile Army units, was changed from Fort Bragg to Fort Liberty in 2023 by the Biden administration because it had been named for Braxton Bragg, a Confederate general who had fought against preserving the Union in the Civil War.
Trump has complained about the change since it was instituted, and Hegseth’s team made the swap by naming the installation instead for Roland Bragg, a soldier decorated with a Silver Star for valor in World War II. It was not immediately clear if they are related. Hegseth on Tuesday sought to highlight what he deems the benefits of restoring the Bragg name.
“It means that Bragg is back,” he said. “It means that the legacy of an institution that generations of Americans have mobilized through and served at is back. It’s a shame what was done to vets, service members and their families who were born there, deployed out of there, lived there.”
Sen. Jack Reed (Rhode Island), the Senate Armed Services Committee’s top Democrat, denounced the move, saying in a statement Tuesday that Hegseth had violated the “spirit” of a bipartisan law that banned the use of Confederate names on military installations. Hegseth, he added, also “dishonored himself” by associating the good name of Roland Bragg with that of a traitor.
“This is typical of the Trump Administration’s obsession with fighting culture wars instead of actually supporting our warfighters and their families,” Reed said. “This order disregards the law and disrespects our service members. Secretary Hegseth must immediately rescind it.”
Now I would have been grounded had I done this re Vietnam back in the day, but the situation is very different.
Now I would have been grounded had I done this re Vietnam back in the day, but the situation is very different.
