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NANTICOKE — Tom Leary remembers his mother tying someone’s shoes.
The President of Luzerne County Community College recently shared that memory when reflecting on his ability to overcome adversity, lead a major educational institution and remain open to new programs and policy.
“As a youngster, I would visit my mother after school at an west side school where she taught,” Leary said. “One day I was waiting there for what seemed like a long time when Mrs. Hottenstein, who worked in the principal’s office, called me over.”
Looking out a window, which allowed her to monitor the children, she called Leary’s attention to a woman bent over and tying a student’s shoe. It turned out to be his mother.
“Do you see that Thomas?” she said. “Not everyone is willing to tie someone’s shoe, but your mother always is. I hope you turn out to be like your mother.”
By all accounts, Leary has.
President of the college since 2008, with over 40 years of service to the school and still teaching history, he believes the college should constantly be evolving, in tune with the needs of the community it serves.
Dual admission agreements with other colleges, for example, have made it possible for students to be assured of a seamless transition to a four-year institution upon completion of an associate’s degree at LCCC.
The agreements also make grant money available to students making that transition.
Leary said of the dual-admission agreement, “this affects hundreds, thousands, of our students making a four year degree financially possible.”
Also greatly benefiting the students, he said, was a Department of Labor grant received in 2014 by the college to be directed to programs in high-priority career fields.
The college directed those funds, nearly $2 million, to its diesel technology, welding and advanced manufacturing programs — relatively new areas of study utilizing advanced technology.
He also credits the LCCC Foundation, an independent nonprofit organization established in 1983, with garnering support of corporate and community leaders, raising both awareness and funds for the college and its students, including the provision of annual scholarships.
An annual dinner provides opportunity for scholarship recipients and scholarship donors to actually meet one-on-one, an experience he said is enlightening and emotional.
More than education
Leary emphasizes that the college, which is a mix of traditional and non-traditional students, does not simply address educational needs, but endeavors to address all of a student’s needs, making long-term success more likely.
For example, the college operates a food pantry, at which Leary routinely volunteers.
“Some of our students are here from early in the morning to late at night,” he said, “and they don’t have the cash in their pocket to buy something to eat.”
Recently a young man came in timidly asking of he could have something to eat.
Leary told him he could have anything he wanted, and the student grabbed a can of ravioli, opening it and eating them immediately.
“I told him we had a microwave and he could heat them up,” said Leary, then adding, “he said he was too hungry to wait.”
These and other similar campus occurrences underscores the college’s commitment to provision of not simply a good education or a degree, but of what is necessary to succeed in the long term, Leary said.
Growing pains
The college is not without challenges as it grows.
With the opening of the Culinary Arts Institute in 2010 and the Health Sciences Center in 2012, some have raised questions about parking and security.
“I’m very cognizant when it comes to safety and security,” said Leary, “I don’t want to dismiss or minimize any concerns.”
Leary said college security is mobile and responsive.
The college website advises students that security officers are available to provide an escort or respond to any concern, providing landline and cell phone numbers.
As for parking for its downtown buildings, Leary said it takes less than six minutes to walk from either of the two buildings to designated parking lots, and security escorts are available when classes are in session.
Looking back, forward
The college will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2017, and Leary is already looking forward to it, as both a reflection on what has been accomplished and anticipation of what is ahead.
The college, he said, has always sought to be responsive to the needs of its students.
From its beginnings on River Street in 1967 with two buildings and just over 800 students, to the present, operating out of 17 buildings, with over 6,000 students, the school has always sought to meet the needs of those it serves.
Originally responding to the needs of local business and industries seeking employees skilled in new technologies and trades, the college has also pro-actively responded to changes in the economy, community demographics and continuing business developments.
At the main campus in Nanticoke, which opened in January 1974, the college added an Educational Conference Center and Advanced Technology Center during the ’80s and a new Campus Center in 1999. Its Public Safety Training Institute on Prospect Street opened in 2008.
Its Culinary Arts Institute and Health Service Center, which opened in 2010 and 2012 respectively, brought the college to the downtown area and solidified a partnership between the college and Nanticoke city.
The college also operates dedicated sites in Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton, Berwick and Shamokin.
With an open-door policy that allows admittance of anyone with a high school diploma or equivalency, the college’s main goal is to equip area residents, both traditional and non-traditional, to reach their potential and maximize their benefit to the community, also preparing its graduates to subsequently obtain a four-year degree, Leary said.
Eight out of 10 graduates entering the workforce, he noted, remain in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
And it’s the ever-present commitment to community that inspired the formation of the college 50 years ago, Leary said, that drives him, along with the Board of Trustees, faculty and staff, to remain focused on meeting the evolving educational and vocational needs of area residents.
