Howard County is known for our high quality of education. Howard Community College continues to be an exemplar. Thousands of students and employees come to campus excited to keep Howard County one of the best places to live, learn, work, play, grow and thrive.

I’ve studied educational systems and earned a doctorate with a focus on community college leadership. Working in higher education administration and teaching at higher education institutions helped to lay the foundation for my career.

Throughout my career, I also have analyzed community college and university presidents and institutional effectiveness around the nation, taught doctoral students national best practices regarding community colleges, and served as a director for nearly five years at a community college.

I have known former HCC presidents Kathleen Hetherington, Mary Ellen Duncan and Dwight A. Burrill and shared their dedication to ensuring our students can get there from here.

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In Howard County and our surrounding region, we all have a vested interest in the success of HCC, as the anchor higher education institution in our community.

Since President Daria Willis arrived at HCC in 2022 after being unanimously selected by the Howard Community College Board of Trustees, HCC has made significant progress on improving student lives.

Together, we have partnered with our Economic Development Authority to expand HCC’s cybersecurity registered apprenticeships, opened the first Boys & Girls Club on a college campus in the state, reopened the beloved Children’s Learning Center to support student parents, opened a new math and athletics complex, and broken ground on the Workforce Development & Trades Center.

As a parent of two children who have benefited from HCC’s supportive environment during Willis’ tenure, I know we all share the responsibility of making HCC one of the nation’s greatest community colleges. Even with the recent news about the college (‘Trust no one’: Howard Community College’s president rattles a changing campus, Nov. 25, 2024), I am confident we will reach a point where unity will translate into even greater student success and a growing HCC.

The sooner we all come together for the greater good of this invaluable institution, the better everyone will be served. Together, I know we can put our students first and meet them where they dream.

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball