AACC's Board Announces Leadership For FY 2013

The Anne Arundel Community College Board of Trustees has re-elected Victoria K. Fretwell, of Annapolis, as chair and elected Diane R. Dixon-Proctor, of Glen Burnie, as vice chair.

The two will serve as the trustees’ leaders for fiscal year 2013, which starts on July 1.

New to the board is student representative Cassandra E. Holly, of Glen Burnie, who was appointed by Gov. Martin O'Malley for a one-year term on the board. 

This board will be the first to work with a new president since 1994, when Martha Smith began her 18-year tenure at the community college. Smith will retire in August and her, will begin as AACC's new president.

Background information on each of the trustees is provided in a press release issued by AACC on Thursday:

Fretwell was appointed to a six-year term on the board in 2007. She served as vice chair in 2009-11, bringing great experience to the board in the areas of communications, marketing and fundraising. Fretwell is senior director of marketing and communications for Johns Hopkins HealthCare, handling media and public relations, communication strategy and planning, identity and brand development, and print and design for publications and advertising for the Managed Care Organization. She also serves as a liaison with state and local government agencies.

Prior to her current position, Fretwell was public information officer for Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. and has worked for the Maryland Secretary of State, AMVETS National Service Foundation, the Office of the Anne Arundel County Executive, Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts and the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension Service. She is a member of Leadership Anne Arundel’s Flagship Class of 2008.

Fretwell earned a graduate certificate in public relations from George Washington University (equivalent to GWU’s current Master of Science degree in Media and Public Affairs) and a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Ecology/Marketing from the University of Dayton.

Dixon-Proctor joined the Board of Trustees on July 1, 2008. In her new post, she replaces Jerome W. Klasmeier, who will remain on the board. Now the senior pastor of Lincoln Park United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C., Dixon-Proctor served as senior pastor of John Wesley United Methodist Church in Glen Burnie for eight years, where she implemented programs for ex-offenders, launched a food bank, a winter relief shelter and a Women’s Empowerment Center. The New York City native also owns a fashion boutique, Occasions by Diane.

Her leadership involvement can be seen throughout the region. She serves on the board of the Capitol Hill Group Ministry and The Veterans Resource Center (both in Washington D.C.), the board of directors of One Church One Child of Maryland, County Executive John Leopold's Clergy Advisory Board, the Baltimore Regional Initiative For Genuine Equality (BRIDGE) and American Association for Pastoral Counselors. Dixon-Proctor also is the chaplain for the Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie.

She earned a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, a Master of Divinity degree from The Samuel Dewitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University, a Doctor of Ministry from Richmond Virginia Seminary and a certification in pastoral counseling from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina.

Holly has been attending AACC off and on since 2002. She has earned a letter of recognition in Phlebotomy, as well as an Associate of Arts degree in Transfer Studies at AACC. She has contributed writings to the college literary magazine Amaranth and, since 2011, served as editor.

She is a member of the psychology honor society Psi Beta. For more than a decade, Holly has tutored students in elementary, middle and high school in reading, writing, Algebra and science, and she also has worked with senior citizens to improve their computer literacy. She is working toward an Associate of Arts degree in Creative Writing and a certificate in Gender and Sexuality Studies at AACC while also studying for a Bachelor of Arts degree in English at University of Baltimore.