Governor Noem

Finishing what she started

Now serving as South Dakota’s 33rd governor, Kristi Noem ’11 is using her ‘finish what you started’ attitude to lead the state.

Governor Kristi Noem

Noem’s path to her degree was not the traditional route. That route ended when she left Northern State University following her father’s death in a farm accident.

“I quit taking classes to become the general manager. We were farming a lot of acres, had a lot of things to do and I didn’t have time to take classes,” Noem said. “However, the idea about me completing my degree started with a conversation I had with my sister in our hunting lodge. We were talking about résumés and doing things for different people, and she said ‘you’re not a quitter. One thing that’s really surprised me is you’ve never completed school to get your degree. You don’t quit at anything.’

“That talk resonated with me and I admitted to myself that I hadn’t gotten that done and decided I should finish. I always tell my kids that if you start something, you finish it, and it was the one thing I hadn’t finished,” she continued. “I also recognized, being in the state Legislature at the time, that I should change my major and take some political science and history classes.”

Noem completed her degree at SDSU as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, a position she held for eight years before becoming governor. She is the second SDSU graduate to serve as South Dakota’s governor.

“As one of 435 representatives in Congress, you’re not in a position to set an agenda,” she said. “You have the ability to craft federal policy, but you can do a lot more as governor as there are only 50 of us in the nation. I have the opportunity to really get things done.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem talks to SDState students following
the Governor’s Day event April 15.

“People say that because South Dakota is a small state that we can’t do certain things, but I think because we’re small, we can reform programs, set education policies, and be more nimble than other states,” Noem continued. “While I focus on everyday decisions, I also recognize the rest of the country is watching us, too. They can perpetuate our ideas in their states.”

One of those ideas is serving as a governor for future generations, including her daughters, Kassidy ’16 and Kennedy ’18, who also graduated from State.

“I love South Dakota and I’m very happy with the opportunities I’ve had in the state, but people my age and older should recognize that we have an opportunity and an obligation to make our state better for future generations,” she said. “I don’t think about what we should do for ourselves but rather how we can prepare our state for the next generation. How do we facilitate them having the careers they want, along with higher wages, here?

“We want our current college students and the ones who follow them to be able to work in jobs they want to do here, be able to raise their families in safe communities and be able to enjoy the heritage and culture that make South Dakota special,” Noem continued. “In the recent legislative session, there were close to 600 bills my staff looked at and analyzed, trying to find how they impacted the next generation or how they set us up for the future. South Dakota State University students should know their leaders are thinking about that. While there are opportunities here in this state, we need to develop more technology and engineering jobs and more jobs in the math and scientific fields, too. We’re working to get those jobs here.”

– Matt Schmidt