Harbaugh, Other Michiganders at State of Union Address

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WASHINGTON, DC – University of Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh and his wife, Sarah, will be among the guests at President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address Tuesday.

Harbaugh was invited by U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, and Justin Amash R-Cascade Township, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Refaai Hamo, the Syrian civil engineer with a doctorate whose haunting story of loss and hope for the future tugged at the world’s heartstrings, will be a guest of President Obama, The Detroit News reports.

Hamo arrived in Troy last month. He will be seated with First Lady Michelle Obama.

The State of the Union address at 9 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Jan. 12. All major networks and cable news channels will broadcast the speech live, it will be livestreamed on whitehouse.gov and on NPR.

Harbaugh, a starting quarterback for the U-M Wolverines for three years, ended his first season as the coach of his alma mater with a 10-3 record, capped by a Citrus Bowl win on New Year’s Day. He played professional football for 14 years and coached the San Francisco 49ers for three years before returning to U-M.

Also invited to the State of the Union address are Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, who has made the testing of 11,000 forgotten rape kits a hallmark of her administration; Hassan Jaber, executive director of ACCESS, a social service agency serving Arab-Americans; and Sarah Hekmati, whose brother, former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati, has been held in an Iranian jail for nearly four and one-half years.

Worthy was invited by U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence, D-Southfield; Jaber was invited by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township; and Hekmati was invited by U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township.

Other members of Michigan’s congressional delegation will also have special guests. Among them are Greg Clevenger, a retired Rochester Adams HIgh School teacher who taught history to U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, and Leah Pensler, granddaughter of U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, D-Royal Oak. U.S. Rep. Dave Trott, R-Birmingham, told the Free Press he was planning to take one of his children to the State of the Union address.

» Photo by MGoBlog via Flickr / Creative Commons