Campus News
July 8th, 2025
Midcap named Presidents Council chair
GC president has served on MACC Executive Committee since 2021
Garrett College President Dr. Richard Midcap has been elected chair of the Maryland Community Colleges Council of Presidents (MCCCP).
Annapolis, MD – The Maryland Association of Community Colleges Board of Directors has elected Garrett College President Dr. Richard Midcap to chair MACC's Presidents Council.
Midcap, who has been on MACC's Executive Committee since 2021, officially took over as chair of the 16-member Presidents Council on July 1. He succeeds Dr. Mary Bolt, Cecil College's president, who served a pair of one-year terms as chair.
"I'm honored to serve as chair of such an impressive group of presidents," said Midcap, who is in his ninth year as president of Garrett College. "We're a collaborative and close-knit group that has one overarching mission – supporting all of the community college students across the state who are preparing for transfer to four-year colleges and universities or direct entry into Maryland's workforce."
As chair of the Presidents Council, Midcap will also serve as vice president of MACC. Audrey Farley, a Prince George's Community College trustee, will serve as MACC president.
Three other community college presidents – Dr. James Klauber (Hagerstown Community College), Dr. Dawn Lindsay (Anne Arundel Community College) and Bolt as past chair – will serve with Midcap and Farley on MACC's Executive Committee. Trustees Reza Jafari (Chesapeake College) and Shawn Coates (College of Southern Maryland) will round out the seven-member Executive Committee.
MACC was formed in 1992 to serve as the unified voice of Maryland's 16 community colleges. Dr. Brad Phillips serves as executive director of MACC, which acts as a liaison for community colleges with the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC), the University System of Maryland, and other relevant state and federal organizations.
MACC also has a significant government relations role, maintaining relationships with the Maryland General Assembly, the office of Governor Wes Moore, and other state departments and agencies. It has in recent years taken on a significant grants-management role, serving as the grant recipient for a host of federal and statewide grants in the cybersecurity field that support training at the 16 community colleges.
Midcap spent 23 years at Chesapeake College, including 13 as vice president, before being appointed Garrett College's 13th president in November 2016. His GC tenure has been marked by comprehensive capital improvements – including construction of the Offutt STEM Center, the Performing Arts Center at Garrett College, the Mosser Road Heritage Trail, and a multipurpose turf field – as well as successful reaccreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE).
The College has also seen a broad expansion of its intercollegiate athletics program, with men's soccer set to become GC's eighth varsity sport this fall.
Midcap earned a Bachelor of Science degree in History from Salisbury (MD) University, a Master of Education degree in History from Washington (MD) College, and a doctorate in innovation and leadership from Wilmington (DE) University. He is also a graduate of Maryland Eastern Shore Leadership, and earned a certification in sport management from Concordia (MN) University St. Paul.
Midcap and his wife, Donna, a retired elementary school teacher, live in McHenry.
