First lady Jill Biden encouraged more than 80 graduates of the Erie County Community College to ignore people who tell them they “can’t” and pursue their dreams, while also advocating for one of President Joe Biden’s key educational initiatives — two years of free community college tuition for all students.

Biden addressed approximately 600 people Saturday as the keynote speaker for the college’s second graduating class, fulfilling a commitment she made nearly four years ago, shortly after its creation in June 2020, to monitor the college’s progress.

More: Jill Biden talks community college education with virtual Erie audience

Biden, a community college professor, recalled being “crushed” by a high school guidance counselor who told her she shouldn’t go to college because it would be a waste of her time.

She spent 15 years not only getting her undergraduate degree, but also two master’s degrees and a doctorate, while raising three children, working full-time and attending school at night.

“And at 55, I walked across my last graduation stage,” she said. “I really wanted to call that damn guidance counselor to tell him I just got my doctorate.”

Biden said local officials who set out to establish the college, despite years of hurdles, summoned the same resolve she and members of the college’s second graduating had shown. “When people told you that this city is too small or it will be too hard to start a new school, you fought for one anyway, because Erie doesn’t do ‘can’t,'” Biden said. “And four years ago, with the pandemic raging, before classes had started or students had enrolled, I joined leaders here — some of whom are with us today — to talk about the promise ahead. “I told you that community colleges change lives,” Biden continued. “And graduates, you have made that promise real, one paper, one project, one credit — one job offer — at a time. A few years ago, this community took a leap. And, graduates, you rose to the challenge. You stepped onto this campus for the first time –— and look at what you’ve accomplished.”

Biden, who has more than 30 years of teaching experience, has been a professor at Northern Virginia Community College since 2009 and has continued to teach English and writing during her husband’s presidency.

“I teach at a community college for the same reason students go to community colleges,” she said. “They’re flexible and meet people where they are. And, as my husband, President Biden, says, they provide the ‘best career training in America.’”

The Pennsylvania Board of Education created the Erie County Community College in June 2020 after years of failed attempts by local officials, who believed the school was critical to reviving a depressed manufacturing base. It was the first community college to be established under the state system in more than 25 years.

Jill Biden spoke with Erie leaders that fall in a virtual roundtable, outlining her husband’s key educational initiatives, including a plan to provide two years of tuition-free community college education to all students. Biden, however, has not met that goal as he’s faced opposition from Republicans, including a GOP-controlled House.

In March, the president again proposed free community college tuition as part of a $7.3 trillion budget plan.

Jill Biden echoed her husband’s policy goal during Saturday’s commencement speech: “Community colleges should be free,” she said. “This community knows that. From shipyards to steel mills to health care centers, there are jobs here that need workers with the training to fill them.”

Pennsylvania Auditor General Timothy DeFoor also addressed graduates Saturday.

This is a developing story. Please check back to GoErie.com for updates.

Matthew Rink can be reached at mrink@timesnews.com or on X at @ETNRink.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Jill Biden talks adversity, free community college at Erie graduation