Student Veteran Savion Pollard ’25 an Honored Guest During Tonight’s State of the Union Address

Tonight’s annual State of the Union Address from President Joseph R. Biden L’68 to a joint session of Congress and the American people will have a decidedly Orange tint to it, and not just because President Biden is a proud alumnus of the College of Law.

Savion Pollard ’25, the first person hired by the semiconductor manufacturer Micron Technology for the company’s proposed $100 billion campus in the town of Clay, New York, will attend the State of the Union inside the U.S. Capitol as an honored guest of U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer. The primetime address begins at 9 p.m. ET.

Schumer invited Pollard, a student in the College of Engineering and Computer Science and a U.S. Navy veteran, because he represents the commitment Micron has made to transform the Central New York community into the nation’s leading producer of these high-tech memory chips. Micron hopes to bring 9,000 high-paying jobs to the area over the next 20 years.

“I am hopeful for the future of Micron and the Central New York region. The historic investment will bring about a lot of opportunity in the area. I feel blessed that my military and engineering backgrounds have led me to be able to take advantage of this opportunity,” Savion Pollard said in a statement.

Syracuse University will play a key role in building and training the workforce of the future that will power Micron’s leading-edge memory megafab in Clay, the largest facility of its kind in the United States.

“The future will be made in Syracuse, in Upstate New York, and I am proud to have Savion as my guest as one of the first people who will be helping lay the foundation to have the future be built here in America,” Schumer said in a statement.

Pollard met President Biden on Oct. 27 during the president’s visit to Onondaga Community College to promote Micron’s investment in the community and celebrate the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act, a bill aimed at increasing semiconductor manufacturing in the country.

Pollard, who previously worked as a nuclear engineering electronics technician on a Navy submarine, is majoring in electrical engineering. He will serve as an equipment engineer intern, maintaining and troubleshooting through any problems that arise with Micron’s equipment used to produce these semiconductors.

The president and the first lady typically invite around two dozen guests to attend each State of the Union address, watching the events from the House gallery. Additionally, elected leaders like Sen. Schumer were encouraged to invite their own guests this year.

Check back later for a follow-up story recapping Pollard’s experience as an honored State of the Union guest.