A social evening to hear about Ivy Tech was hosted by Michael and Rebecca Kubacki, Ivy Tech Foundation and Ivy Tech Community College Northeast Friday evening at the Kubacki’s Syracuse Lake home. The evening was to learn how Ivy Tech is changing lives and impacting communities.

Over 100 friends, Ivy Tech Foundation members, Ivy Tech board of trustees members and chancellors were given the opportunity to sample appetizers and hors d’oeuvres prepared by the Ivy Tech Northeast Hospitality Administration students or chefs in training. The two-hour event provided an opportunity for individuals to hear about what Ivy Tech is doing and how to spread the word.

Jerrilee Mosier, chancellor of Ivy Tech Northeast, spoke briefly before turning the presentation over to Chef Jeff Albertson.

Guests heard from Jen Kohler, a hospitality administration student, who is working on her third degree from Ivy Tech. Kohler, a mother of three and who at times works up to three jobs, has been a student at Ivy Tech since the summer of 2007. “I work a very, very hard life,” she said. Kohler has not had a traditional life. Stating both her parents were drug addicts. She was homeless at the age of 15.

“Programs like this are very beneficial to people like me,” said Kohler “The financial aid, the scholarships, are what make it possible  to break traditions and get out of cycles like that. At sometime it became apparent to me I needed to do something with myself or my children would fall into that same pattern. I want to thank Ivy Tech and all the investors. It really does give people like me a chance.”

Guests also heard from Tom Snyder, Ivy Tech president. He spoke on how with the loss of Navistar and other major manufacturers changed communities, He spoke on the fact society never re-engineered itself to replace those jobs, and the need for people with a different form of education. “Our opportunity is available to everybody, not just the fresh high school graduate, who is college prepared. Every year about 25,000 high school students finish high school, get a diploma, and do not attend college (or military service) … A million Hoosiers have a high school diploma with no certificate beyond that. We know today, there are many opportunities for certificates that you can get without one year, without two years, without four years of school. What I challenge you with is to learn more about us, to reach out to the Ivy Tech team, when you see someone in a life that is not there.”

Rebecca Kubacki, who along with her husband, are advocates of education, briefly spoke. “There’s nothing more important to us than education … we hear so often not everybody can go to college … This is an education economy driven society and we need to raise the bar and we need to say everybody needs to be prepared for college. You decide whether you want to do that or not. We’re making a mistake by an early age, you may want to take another path … we need to prepare them for college …”