Lawrence High students and faculty members were among the crowd that queued up at the doors of Anschutz Athletic Pavilion as early as 3:30 this morning in temperatures in the low teens for the 11:30 presidential address.

Coming off of his Tuesday night State of the Union address, President Barack Obama came to Lawrence last night, and spoke this morning about the plan for his final two years in office. His speech focused on middle class economics, from creating high-quality, affordable childcare to raising minimum wage.

The rare presidential visit came to a city he said “totally gets it.”

“There is a strong Democratic base in Douglas County, so that makes this friendly territory for the President,” said debate coach Jeff Plinsky, who was in the audience.

LHS students and faculty were among the thousands of people who stood in line — first to receive tickets at the Douglas County Fairgrounds and then in front of the sports pavilion.

“I found out I was getting a ticket at 7:50 this morning, and when I got there, I found out I got a VIP ticket, so I was super close to him,” sophomore Julia Randolph said. “It was really exciting.”

Obama opened his Lawrence speech by sharing he had just met up with Bill Self and the rest of the KU basketball team. He referred to himself as a “Kansas guy,” sharing his family history tracing back to his grandparents and his mother, who was born in Kansas.

President Obama is the fourth sitting president to visit the campus, the first in more than a century.

“There is no one alive in this community who has welcomed a sitting US President to Lawrence. Regardless of your politics this is a part of our role to play in the legislative process,” KU student and former LHS student body president J’Qui Audena said. “Our leader bringing his plan before the people, and by being an informed citizen we can participate further by contacting our congressmen… His presence today highlights City of Lawrence as more than the home of KU basketball and the most hungover city in America. We should be grateful for this exposure.”

Among his policies, students responded most enthusiastically to proposed reforms to education.

In his State of the Union address, the president asserted the importance of higher education in the workforce and said universal two-year college is essential to modern “middle class economics.” He also discussed the importance of bipartisan politics, improving infrastructure and technology, as well as touching on gender pay-equality.

The President elaborated on the importance of affordable childcare, referring to education as “the best investment we can make.”

Students who waited out the lines and cold were not disappointed.

“I’ve always looked up to him as a politician, but not only appreciate him in that sense, but I appreciate him as a good, moral human being,” Randolph said. “He is very passionate about America and Lawrence. It was an amazing experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything.”

“I found out i was getting a ticket at 7:50 this morning, and when I got there I found out I got a VIP ticket so I was super close to him. It was really exciting. He spoke about education, child care, bipartisan agreement, middle-class economics, and even a little bit of women’s rights. He then went around and shook people’s hands. I’ve always looked up to him as a politician, but not only appreciate him in that sense, but I appreciate him as a good, moral human being. He is very passionate about America and Lawrence. It was an amazing experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything.”