Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Cuba Trip (South Dakota State University)
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1977
History
Five members of the South Dakota State University [SDSU] basketball team took part in a 1977 trip to Cuba as part of a South Dakota Delegation. The first mention of such a trip to Cuba came after Sen. George McGovern's 1975 trip to that country. Dave Martin, the SDSU sport's director, was in contact with Sen. McGovern almost immediately after his return from Cuba, interested in what sorts of sports exchanges would be possible with the broadening of relations with the communist country. Despite the numerous diplomatic troubles requisite in such an exchange, by March of 1977 plans for such a trip were well underway. Due perhaps to the continuing influence of Sen. McGovern and Sen. James Abourezk, the trip became a joint venture between the University of South Dakota and South Dakota State University, and was finally taken on April. 4-8 1977. Twenty people were a part of the South Dakota delegation, among them five students and five advisors from SDSU.