Obama To Give Commencement Speech At Watertown Tech School

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — President Barack Obama will have visited all 50 states when he tours a northeastern South Dakota community college next month.

South Dakota is the only state Obama has not been to as president. During an interview with KSFY-TV anchor Nancy Naeve, Obama on Monday announced that he will give the commencement speech at Lake Area Technical Institute in Watertown. Naeve was among a number of anchors from TV stations from various states who met with Obama at the White House.

When Naeve asked the president whether he planned a trip to the state, Obama responded that he would be visiting May 8.

“I can’t let my South Dakota friends feel neglected,” he said.

Lake Area Technical Institute President Mike Cartney in December was among the attendees at the White House College Opportunity Summit. The school has been a top 10 national finalist for the Aspen Community College Excellence Award three consecutive times and has one of the highest graduation and placement rates in the nation.

The summit drew colleges and universities, business leaders, nonprofit groups and others who support expanding college opportunities for students.

Obama did stop in the state in 2008 when he was a senator campaigning for the Democratic Party’s nomination for president. He spoke last year in North Dakota on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, which straddles that state’s border with South Dakota.

Obama had made it to just 46 states by the start of the year. That left Idaho, South Carolina, Utah and South Dakota without a presidential sighting. The White House quickly scheduled presidential appearances in Idaho and South Carolina, and Obama stopped in Utah earlier this month.

When Obama does make it to South Dakota, the White House Historical Association says he will be only the fourth president to have touched down in every state.