In a brief but rousing commencement address to Howard Community College?s largest graduating class Friday, Gov. Martin O?Malley revealed he had “a personal motive to freeze tuition” as he?s done in the past.
He hopes his oldest daughter, soon to graduate high school, will attend a state college.
Besides praise and encouragement for the 701 graduates, O?Malley touted the better than average employment conditions in Maryland and his own record of increasing “investment” in community colleges by hiking spending to them by 39 percent.
Howard?s trustee chairman, County Executive Ken Ulman and the student who introduced him already had beaten O?Malley to the punch, noting O?Malley?s support of the institution. Board Chairman Patrick Huddie pointed to the governor?s connection to the institution even as mayor, when he helped the college implement a performance-measuring model like CitiStat.
“Howard Community College has been the beneficiary of some of those tough decisions” in Annapolis, Ulman said. Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown had been to the college just last week to deliver a ceremonial check for $8 million to match the county?s contribution for renovation of the Sen. James Clark Jr. library.
The college has undergone a major transformation in the last decade as a building program funded by the state, county and private donations. The college added four new buildings on campus.
The focus of the graduation, however, was not political. O?Malley singled out graduates who had overcome major difficulties to achieve their associate degrees and certificates.
These included Naeema Sandy, getting her proficiency certificates in the fields of mental health and chemical dependency after losing members of her family to drugs and addictions. Another student was finishing the degree she began 30 years ago, O?Malley said.
Besides the diplomas, the college also awarded honorary degrees to Patrick and Jill McCuan, who have been major contributors to the college for two decades. Patrick McCuan, a real estate developer in Howard County, West Virginia and Florida, and his wife most recently gave the college $1.2 million, half for the scholarship fund they already had established and the other half an unrestricted gift.
