Freeholder E. Marie Hayes will serve as Atlantic Cape Community College’s commencement speaker on May 23rd. Hayes also was honored at the President’s Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner for ACCC. Hayes is a graduate of ACCC in 1979, with an Associate’s Degree in Law Enforcement.

 

“It is such an honor to be able to speak to the students who are graduating at ACCC this year,” said Hayes. “These men and women are going to be our next leaders coming through and we need to support education for our youth.”

 

Hayes would go on to receive her Bachelor’s Degree from Thomas Edison University in Human Services with a concentration in Criminal Justice. Those educational building blocks helped her get hired by the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office as an Investigator. During most of her career, she was assigned to Child Abuse and Sexual Assault Investigations. She rose through the ranks being promoted to Sergeant of Detectives, Lieutenant of Detectives and retiring as Captain of Detectives in 2009.

“The education at ACCC was so important for me as I was starting out my career in law enforcement,” said Hayes. “We have such a jewel in our backyard with ACCC. I couldn’t be prouder to be a graduate of the school.”

 

Hayes has been on the Freeholder board since 2013. Prior to serving as Freeholder, she was an Adjunct Professor at ACCC, to give back to that she felt gave her so much. She is the Director of Tourism & Public Information overseeing the Board of Elections, Culture and Heritage, Fare Free Transportation, Library, Museum, Park/Zoo, Print Shop, Surrogate and Tax Board. She currently serves as the Vice President of both the New Jersey Association of Counties (NJAC) and the Southern New Jersey Freeholders Association. In her law enforcement career, she has also served as the Vice President of PBA Local 59 and as president for two terms to the Mid-Atlantic Association of Women in Law Enforcement (MAAWLE), an organization of police women serving the east coast.