Jill Biden champions community college education during Valparaiso visit

During a visit to Ivy Tech Community College in Valparaiso, first lady Jill Biden made a case for the value of community colleges, boasted of her husband's achievements in investing in the nation's infrastructure and spoke about how students at institutions like Ivy Tech can fill the jobs created by that infrastructure.

"Two years ago, my husband President (Joe) Biden made a promise to rebuild the middle class," Biden said. "Who does that is community colleges. And as Joe has said, they provide the best career training in America."

Biden arrived at the college in the early afternoon and spoke with faculty, students and a graduate of the college's energy technology department. The students showed Biden demonstrations of wind turbine and solar energy simulators.

"This is so exciting," she said while speaking to the students. "This is the future."

Afterward, Biden spoke to an audience of students, local leaders and Ivy Tech officials. She spoke about registered apprenticeships and providing dual enrollment opportunities for high school students. She called these not "a Democrat idea or a Republican idea" but rather "American ideas championed by leaders from both parties."

"High school education just isn’t enough for so many of the jobs of the 21st century," she said. "But there are great careers out there that can be found with associate’s degrees and certificates and other job training and paths that don’t really require the four years of college."

Biden said her husband is creating millions of jobs in infrastructure and clean energy through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which passed through congress in 2021 and was a cornerstone of the president's domestic agenda.

"Jobs that are just waiting to be filled by students like you," she said.

Prior to Biden's remarks, which lasted roughly seven minutes, the audience heard from several high-ranking cabinet members, the president of Ivy Tech Community College and a student from the school.

"We not only have a president who champions community colleges," said Julie Su, U.S. deputy secretary of labor and nominee for secretary of labor, "we have a first lady who loves community colleges, who teaches at a community college and who is making sure that everyone understands how critical community colleges are in our communities."

Su spoke about the Biden administration’s efforts to upgrade the country’s infrastructure and how that creates jobs. She also shouted out members of the steelworkers and IBEW unions, which led to a round of applause.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk took his time on stage to praise the first lady.

"I think the top compliment anyone can give someone else in Washington, D.C., is what you see in public is what you see, what you get in private," Turk said. "That is our first lady to a T."

U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Highland, who represents Northwest Indiana, also spoke. He talked about the Region’s manufacturing industry and said he was proud to vote for Biden's bipartisan infrastructure bill, calling the bill a "once-in-a-generation investment" in the American worker and in renewable energy.

Biden was introduced by a student herself. Lane Seibert, who is working toward a certificate in renewable energy, called the first lady "inspiring."

"I am so proud to be here today," Seibert said, "to be here with Dr. Biden, who is a professor at a community college just like the one I go to."

Oliver Wood, who is a sophomore at Chesterton High School and takes courses at Ivy Tech, is taking advantage of the dual enrollment programs Biden advocated for Monday. Wood, who is one of the students Biden spoke with, said that having the first lady visit his campus and meet him was "mind-blowing."

He said he hopes Biden sees the value in "the ability for high school students to be able to get education outside of just high school, to have people who genuinely want to learn go outside their comfort zones, learn about the college experience and learn how to be in a college class."

Wood is working toward his associate degree and a renewable energy certificate. He spends half his day at Chesterton High School and the other half at Ivy Tech.

"When I got into the program, I was unsure about what I would do after this," he said. "It was always up in the air. This has given me an opportunity that if I ever need a job, I can go work at any of these electric companies. This has put me ahead of anyone else in the game."

Another one of the students Biden spoke with Monday, Berdey Ahmat, is expected to graduate in May and said that after working for a couple of years, he hopes to create his own renewable energy company.

Ahmat, who immigrated to the U.S. from Chad in 2015, said he hopes Biden returns to Washington seeing what a difference these programs have made for people like him.

"It was a very exciting honor to have first lady Dr. Biden at our campus," said Aco Sikoski, chancellor of Ivy Tech's Valparaiso campus. "And to recognize what we do in terms of training students to meet these high-paying jobs' high demand."

Sikoski really enjoyed hosting someone who has so vigorously advocated for community colleges nationwide.

"We really hope she continues with the passion about community colleges, what we do and how we can build a strong relationship with industry," he said.