toledoblade.com --

Grab your leather jacket and rev up your engine, Jay Leno.

Betty Young, the president of Northwest State Community College in Archbold, has challenged the late-night talk show host and motorcycle enthusiast to a "friendly" ride together in hopes of having a one-on-one chat with him about the successes of community colleges.

The offer is in response to jokes the comedian and host of The Tonight Show has made in recent years - including one last month - suggesting that students who attend community colleges are, ah, second rate.

"I want to tell my story to Jay Leno, if he's open to hearing what we're all about," said Ms. Young, who obtained an associate's degree in a two-year program from Ohio University at age 28 as a single mother.

Ms. Young then moved on to later get her bachelor's degree and doctorate in educational leadership from Ohio University, and a law degree from Capital University in Columbus.

In addition to her work as a college president, Ms. Young also likes to spend time on her motorcycle: a turquoise 1992 Harley-Davidson. She's driven it to California three times - a trip she said she'd take again to see Mr. Leno.

A spokesman for Mr. Leno and The Tonight Show could not be reached for comment, but Northwest State officials said they sent a photograph of Ms. Young on her motorcycle with her letter seeking a chance to meet and talk.

Ms. Young is not the only official who is upset with Mr. Leno and other naysayers who make wisecracks about community colleges.

"We would like it to be seen as unacceptable to be targeting community colleges. It's kind of making fun of people who are trying to better their lives," said George Boggs, president of the American Association of Community Colleges. "But we still face this pretty frequently. I think there's still this feeling in America, 'if [anyone] can go to a community college, it can't be all that high of quality.' "

Despite bragging points like explosive enrollment growth and added program offerings, Mr. Boggs admits the nation's 1,200 two-year institutions still face public image issues - although he believes it has improved over the last five to 10 years.

Lisa Hawthorne-Price makes class selections at Owens Community College's Perrysburg Township campus.
( THE BLADE/LORI KING )

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Many of the issues stem from the fact that community colleges cost less (prompting comments from naysayers such as "you get what you pay for"), are typically not as restrictive in admissions practices ("anybody can get in"), and generally offer two-year associate degrees rather than four-year bachelor's degrees required for most higher-paying jobs. They also lack residence halls that some critics say not only provide an important part of the college experience, but the prestige of a campus of higher education.

And while Mr. Leno is far from the only person to make cracks about the two-year colleges, Mr. Boggs has taken aim at the comedian because of the size of the audience he commands when he makes cracks that contribute to a negative image of community colleges.

One of Mr. Leno's past jokes involved a fake photograph of community college students with signs that read "skool is expensive" and "let us lern."

In a recent letter to Mr. Leno and NBC-TV that was posted on the community college association's Web site, Mr. Boggs criticized Mr. Leno's jokes as "cheap shots."

Mr. Boggs pointed out in the letter that community colleges serve nearly half of all U.S. undergraduates, including more than half of the nation's new nurses and more than 80 percent of firefighters and law enforcement officers.

Those who've graduated from a two-year college - which in this area includes Northwest State, Owens Community College in Perrysburg Township and Findlay, and Terra Community College in Fremont - are in the same company with actor Dustin Hoffman, U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona, and Astronaut Eileen Collins, who will command NASA's next Discovery space mission, he noted.

This isn't the first time Mr. Boggs has gone to such lengths to fight the image issue.

Several years ago, Burger King ran a television advertisement with a talking menu-board that told two community college students they should choose from a 99-cent menu because their earning potential wouldn't be high. The fast-food chain pulled the commercial after an outcry from the association's members.

"I think you have to stand up and let people know something is wrong when it is. We wouldn't be where we are today if women didn't stand up or African-Americans didn't stand up," Mr. Boggs said.

Officials say such attacks represent the public relations role they still must play on their own behalf. The community college system is only 40 years old, which means it doesn't have the same high-profile history as four-year institutions.

"I think there's a lot of misunderstanding about what community colleges are," Terra President Marsha Bordner said. "I also think they probably don't understand our mission very well. We are 'democracy's colleges, which means we provide access to everyone."

Christa Adams, president of Owens, said she believes people who poke fun at community colleges are often simply behind the times.

Still, she likes to talk up success stories at Owens, including a popular nursing program that has a waiting list of several years and overall skyrocketing enrollment.

Owens first opened in 1965 as the Penta County Technical Institute and had less than 200 students. Last fall, it broke the 20,000 student mark.

"I think any time you're doing good things, it's useful to let the public know," Ms. Adams said.

Community college students say they also have to overcome perception issues oftentimes associated with attending a two-year school.

"Before I came here, I looked down on it too," admitted John Anderson, 19, a Start High School graduate who now attends Owens and eventually plans to pursue a four-year degree in psychology.

"I just couldn't see myself at a small school. But now I approve of it," he said, adding that class size and selection, as well as cost, are among the benefits.

Another Owens student, Lisa Hawthorne-Price, who is in her 30s and has three children, said people tried to talk her out of attending a two-year college.

"I didn't let it sway my decision to come here. I can always transfer my credits," said Ms. Hawthorne-Price, a former University of Toledo student who recently changed her major from nuclear medicine to nursing.

The ability to attend a community college and then transfer credits to a four-year institution is an important message that Toledo guidance counselor Mona McGhee said she sends to her students. She said about 25 percent of Bowsher High School graduates attend two-year schools.

"What we really love about the two-year option is it gets them into higher education. It gets their feet wet," she said.

Contact Kim Bates at: kimbates@theblade.com or 419-724-6074.

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