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JAN-03-96 16:24 FROM:U N C F
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The College Fund/ UNCF
A mind is a terrible thing to waste.
WILLIAM H. GRAY, III
William H. Gray, III has been president and chief executive officer of The
College Fund/UNCF since September 11, 1991.
As head of America's oldest and most successful black higher education
assistance organization, Mr. Gray has led The College Fund to new fund-
raising records while cutting costs and expanding programs and services.
Approximately one-third of the nearly S1 billion raised in the College Fund's
50-year history has been collected during Mr. Gray's tenure. In fiscal year
1995, The College Fund kept fund-raising receipts 32 record levels (90.4
million for fiscal year 1995). In October 1995, The College Fund concluded
its most ambitious capital drive, CAMPAIGN 2000: An Investment in
America's Future, which raised $280 million, exceeding its $250 million goal
by 12%. The College Fund also reduced its total administrative and fund-
raising costs from 21.7% in 1992 to 15.8 percent in 1995, a rate competitive
with leading American fund-raising organizations.
Among the dramatic initiatives launched under Mr. Gray's leadership are:
staff restructuring and relocation of The College Fund's headquarters to the
Washington. DC area, to further improve efficiency; development of a new
technology center to link UNCF offices and member colleges electronically
to facilitate sharing of scholarship and donor information; the development
of a Research Institute to compile and analyze data on a host OÍ issues
affecting African American students from kindergarten through graduate
school.
Prior to his selection as president of UNCF, Mr. Gray served in the U.S.
Congress and was a staunch supporter of education. As Chairman of the
Democratic Caucus and later as Majority Whip, Mr. Gray was the highest
ranking African American ever to serve in Congress. Mr. Gray was a leading
advocate for historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) through his
support of set-aside programs at the U.S. Agency for International
Development. He was also a co-sponsor of the Black Coliege Act, which
provides formula-driven federal funds for the enhancement of HBCU
programs, faculty and facilities. Also, as the first African American to chair
the House Budget Committee, Mr. Gray was a leading advocate for
strengthening America's educational systems.
- more -
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JAN-03-96 16:26 FROM:U N C F
Biography
Michael H. Jordan
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Westinghouse Electric Corporation
Michael H. Jordan was elected chair-
advises the president on export
military service. he was 2 consultant
man and chief executive officer of
performance and expansion and
and principal with McKinsey and
Westinghouse Elecric Corporation,
provides a forum for resolving trade-
Company, a New York-based
and a member of the corporation's
related issues.
management consultant, from 1964
board of directors. in June 1993.
Before joining Westinghouse,
to 1974.
Since joining Westinghouse,
Mr. Jordan had been a partner with
Mr. Jordan graduated from Yale
Mr. Jordan has moved quickly to
Clayton. Dubilier and Rice. Inc.. a
University in 1957 with a bachelor's
position the corporation for growth
private investment firm based in
degree in chemical engineering. He
in its core businesses. Westinghouse
New York City. Prior to that he
earned his master's degree in chemi-
broadened the scope of its Electronic
spent 18 years with PepsiCo, Inc.
cal engineering from Princeton
Systems business with the acquisition
He joined PepsiCo in 1974 as a
University in 1959.
of Norden Systems, a manufacturer
financial planner. and moved on to
Mr. Jordan is chairman of the
of complementary radar technology.
senior management positions in the
board of directors of the United
and established a long-term strategic
Frito Lay Division and at corporate
Negro College Fund, and a board
partnership in the broadcasting
headquarters. In 1991 Mr. Jordan
member of the University of Pitts-
business with CBS Inc.
was named chairman of the PepsiCo
burgh Medical Center. He serves or.
Mr. Jordan has also been an active
International Foods and Beverages
several corporate boards. including
participant in President Clinton's
Division.
Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Melville
program to promote international
Mr. Jordan's four-year tour of duty
Corporation. Dell Computer Corpora-
trade. having accompanied Com-
with the U.S. Navy began in 1960,
tion and the Actna Life and Casualty
merce Secretary Ron Brown
and included a six-month assignment
Company.
and other CEOs On missions to
at the Westinghouse Bettis Atomic
Mr. Jordan was bom in Kansas
several foreign countries. In 1994 he
Power Laboratory near Pittsburgh.
City, Missouri He and his wife,
was named to the 25-member
where he earned certification as a
Kathryn. have TWO grown children.
President's Export Council. which
nuclear engineer. Following his
JAN-03-96 16:26 FROM:U NCF
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JHN 02190 - 16:45 8.02
JOHNNETTA B. COLE
PRESIDENT, SPELMAN COLLEGE
Biographical Sketch
In 1987, Johnnetta B. Cole assumed the presidency of Spelman College. The first African
American woman to head this historically Black college for women, Dr. Cole has helped to lead Spelman
into the runks of America's outstanding colleges.
During Dr. Cole's tenure, several new programs have been initiated including the Spelman
Corporate Women's Roundtable, the Spelman College Corporate Partnership Program, a mentorship
program in coordination with the Atlanta business community, and an International Affairs Center.
Coordinated student volunteer outreach into the Atlanta community has been achieved through the
formation of an Office of Community Service. Faculty exchanges have been established with major
research institutions such as Princeton, New York University and University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Under Dr. Cole's leadership, Spelman has attracted increasing numbers of outstanding students.
Since 1987, the scores of Spelman's freshman classes have been among the highest SAT averages of
students at any Historically Black College or University. In 1992, Spelman made history by becoming the
first historically black college to receive a number one rating in U.S. News & World Report's annual
college issue of "Best College Buys." Spelman was named the number one regional, liberal arts college in
the South.
At Dr. Cole's inauguration as Spelman's seventh president, Drs. Bill and Camille Cosby gave a
gift of $20 million to the College. This is the single largest gift from individuals to an Historically Black
College or University.
The Road to Spelman
Dr. Cole entered Fisk University in an early admission program at the age of 15, completed her
undergraduate degree at Oberlin College and earned an M.A., and Ph.D. in anthropology from
Northwestern University.
During her thirty-year career as an anthropologist, professor, administrator, author. researcher
and lecturer, Dr. Cole has been an advocate for people of color and women everywhere.
Her two textbooks are used in classrooms throughout the United States and some of her many
published articles are reprinted in academic and popular journals. Her most recent book is
Conversations, published in 1993. In this work, Dr. Cole speaks directly to African American Women.
She sits on diverse boards and belongs to & number of professional and socially active organizations. She
has received an honorary degree from 30 Institutions of higher education.
Dr. Cole's teaching career has taken her from her first teaching post at Washington State
University, where she was named Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year, to the University of
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Massachusetts at Amherst. There she became a full professor of Afro-American Studies and
Anthropology, and for two years, served as Associate Provost of Undergraduate Education. In 1983, she
was appointed Russell Sage Visiting Professor at Hunter College. In 1984, she joined the faculty as a
Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program. In 1986,
Dr. Cole was appointed to the graduate faculty of the City University of New York. She held both
positions until her appointment at Spelman.
Leadership Through Service
In December of 1992, Dr. Cole was appointed as a member of President-Elect Bill Clinton's Transition
Team as Cluster Coordinator for Education, Labor and the Arts and Humanities. Currently, she chairs
the Board of the Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education
(FIPSE). Dr. Cole is in the second of a two year term as the chair of the Presidents of the 41 member
institutions of the College Fund/UNCF. She was appointed by President Bush to serve as a Founding
Director of the Points of Light Foundation and continues to serve on that Board. She serves as a member
of the Georgia Board of Directors for NationsBank, the Board of Directors for the Management &
Training Corporation, and the Board of Directors for Merck & Co., Inc and The Home Depot. She is
the first woman elected to the Coca-Cola Enterprises Board of Directors. She is a trustee of the
Rockefeller Foundation.
Her other board services include:
Atlanta Women's Network, Inc.
Center for Women's Policy Studies
Leadership America
Sisterhood in Support of Sisters in South Africa (SISA)
The Feminist Press
The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Change Advisory Board
The Project Interchange Seminars in Israel Advisory Council
Wellesley College Board of Trustees
Among the organizations in which Dr. Cole is a member are the following:
Atlanta Rotary Club
Coalition of 100 Black Women
Council On Foreign Relations
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority
The Links, Inc.
The National Council of Negro Women
The National Political Congress of Black Women
The Utopian Literary Club
2
JAN-03-96 16:27 FROMU NCF
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7/8
Women's Forum of Georgia, Inc.
Dr. Cole is also:
A fellow of the American Anthropological Association
An advisory and contributing editor for The Black Scholur
On the editorial board of she Journal for Higher Education Management
She is included in:
Who's Who in Black America 1980, and Who's Who of American Women 1986 and 1992
Honors and Awards
Her numerous awards and honors include:
American Anthropological Association Distinguished Award 1995
Sheila Award of the Tubman African American Museum: Macon, GA 1995
Tree of Life Award of The Jewish National Fund 1994
Outstanding Contribution to Higher Education Award from National Association of Student
Personnel Administrators 1994
Martin Lather King Distinguished Service Award from the Geurgla State Holiday
Commission 1994
The YWCA Woman First Award 1993
The American Anthropological Association Distinguished Service Award 1993
Jeannette Rankin Foundation Citation 1993
Bank Street College of Education President's Medal 1993
Sura Lee Corporation Frontrunner Award in the Humanities 1992
Distinguished Public Relations award from the Public Relations Society of America, Georgia
Chapter 1992
Key Honorec, Legal Defense Fund's Black Women of Achievement Awards 1992
Columbia's Teacher College Medal for Distinguished Service 1992
General Assembly Leadership Proclamation from the Georgia Legislature 1992
Glamour magazine's Ten Women of the Year 1991
Working Women magazine's 10 Women to Watch of University Women 1991
The Achievement Award form the American Association of University Women 1991
Northwestern University Alumni Merit Award 1991
Outstanding Citizen of the State of Georgia Resolution from the Georgia State Senate 1991
The American Woman Award from the Women's Research and Education Institute 1990
The Clairol Mentor Award In Education 1990
The YWCA Atlanta Women In Achievement Award 1990
The WISE Wontan Award from the Center for Women's Policy Studies 1990
3
JAN-03-96 16:28 FROM:U NC F
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The Essence magazine Award in Education 1989
Induction into the Working Woman magazine Hall of Fame 1989
The Elizabeth Boyer Award from the Women's Education Action Leasue (WEAL) 1988
The Conduce Award in Education from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women 1988
The Woman of the Decade Award from The Women's Leadership Institute of Avila College
1988
Outstanding Faculty member of the year, Washington State University 1969-1970
She has received honorary degrees from Albion College, Bates College, Berea College, Brown
University, Columbia University, Davidson College, Denison University, Fisk University, Grinnell College,
Lafayette College, Kalamazoo College, Macalester College, Marygrove College, The College of New
Rochelle, New York University, Northwestern University, Notre Dame University, Oberlin College,
Princeton University, Queens College (NC), Skidmore College, South Carolina State University,
Southeastern Massachusetts University, Southwestern University, St. Mary's College, State University of
New York-Binghampton, The College of Wooster, University of the District of Columbia, University of
Florida, University of Massachusetts, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Washington College.
Wesleyan University, Williams College and Yale University.
Dr. Cole has been included in the acclaimed photography exhibit and book, "I Dream a World:
Portraits of Black Women Who Have Changed America," honored as a Woman of Distinction by the
National Association for Black Women Deans, Administrators and Counselors, and named are of the 100
most influential people in Georgia. She was named one of America's most outstanding African Americans
in the 20th anniversary issues of both Essence magazine and Black Enterprise magazine (where she was
pictured on the cover).
Her major medius appearances include WSB-TV (Atlanta) "Women of Power" Special, "CBS
Sunday Morning with Charles Kurault," "Good Morning America," the premier of "Saturday Night With
Connie Chung," "All Things Considered," and "Eyes on the Prive, II."
Dr. Cole is married to Arthur J. Robinson, Jr., the mother of three sons and two stepsons and
the surrogate mother of the 1,900 water currently enrolled at Spelman College.
revised 05/22/95
4
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
BLACK TIE RECEPTION FOR THE UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND
DATE:
January 4, 1995
LOCATION:
State Floor
TIME:
7:00 PM
FROM:
Alexis Herman
Ben Johnson
I.
PURPOSE
To honor and support the work of the United Negro College Fund as they
celebrate 51 years of service to private black colleges.
II.
BACKGROUND
The United Negro College Fund is a consortium of 41 private, historically
black colleges and universities. Since the organization began 51 years ago,
over 300,000 men and women have graduated from its member schools.
In addition to financial aid to these institutions, the UNCF has provided
scholarships for disadvantaged students and technical assistance to
strengthen these schools.
Former Congressman Bill Gray is the current UNCF President. The Chairman
of the UNCF Board is Michael H. Jordan, Chairman and CEO of
Westinghouse. Johnnetta B. Cole of Spellman College is Chairman of the
Presidents of the Member Institutions.
Every American President since Franklin Roosevelt has held an event at the
White House to support and recognize the work of the UNCF.
Prominent alumni of UNCF colleges include Olympic track star Edwin Moses,
former UN Ambassador Andrew Young, former Virginia Governor Doug
Wilder, Spike Lee and Chappie James, the first black four-star general in the
U.S. Air force. UNCF graduates serving in your administration include Hazel
O'leary, Alexis Herman and Dr. David Satcher, the director of the Center for
Disease Control.
The UNCF receives tremendous support from corporate America and many
of the corporate guests have contributed over one million dollars each to
support the organization. Walter Annenberg, started the celebrated
Campaign 2000 (the latest UNCF fund raising project) with a $50 million
challenge grant. The Kresge Foundation contributed another $15 million.
The corporate sponsors raised $280 million dollars during Campaign 2000.
The audience will include two former UNCF Presidents, Vernon Jordan and
Christopher Edley Sr., as well as Jonathan Bush, former President Bush's
son, and a former UNCF Chairman. In addition Ret. General Colin Powell will
attend. (A full list of participants is attached.)
III.
PARTICIPANTS
Members of UNCF Board of Directors
Black College Presidents
Corporate Donors to UNCF
Invited Guests
Members of the Clinton administration
IV.
PRESS PLAN
Closed Press
V.
SEQUENCE
You proceed to the Green Room where you will meet Bill Gray,
Michael Jordan and Johnnetta Cole.
WHCA will announce Bill Gray, Michael Jordan and Johnnetta Cole.
WHCA will announce you and the First Lady.
The First Lady will make brief remarks and introduce Bill Gray.
Bill Gray will make brief remarks and introduce you.
You make remarks.
You and the First Lady proceed to the Diplomatic Reception Room for
a receiving line.
You depart.
VI.
REMARKS
Talking Points attached
POTUS
TALKING POINTS
RECEPTION FOR THE UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND
JANUARY 4, 1996
Ladies and Gentlemen, Hillary and I take great pleasure in welcoming
the UNCF family to the White House in celebration of 51 years of
outstanding service to the nation. Chairman Michael Jordan, Members
of the Board, and to my good friends Bill Gray and Johnnetta Cole, you
are to be commended for providing such outstanding leadership to an
organization that is dear to all Americans. We are truly proud of the
UNCF and thanks to the generosity of many of you in this room, over
$280 million has been raised for new scholarships, libraries,
dormitories and other essential needs. Special thanks go to
Ambassador Walter Annenberg, who started campaign 2000 with a
$50 million UNCF challenge grant, and to the Kresge Foundation for its
$15 million contribution. I also applaud the UNCF corporate sponsors
for recently completing the largest fundraising effort in the history of
African American colleges.
I am proud to join with every one of my predecessors since Franklin
Roosevelt in honoring and supporting the work of the College Fund
because for 51 years you have symbolized hope and opportunity for
millions of Americans and for this we are truly grateful. I strongly
support the UNCF's work, which is why in 1993, I issued the
strongest Executive Order that any President has issued in support of
these institutions. Through the leadership of Secretary of Education
Dick Riley, Catherine LeBlanc, who heads the White House Initiative on
Historical Black Colleges, and Vic Hackley, who chairs my board of
advisors on black colleges, my administration has made substantial
progress in increasing federal funding to black colleges by over one
hundred million dollars.
I am proud to note that your hard work over the years has enabled
member colleges to graduate nearly 300,000 people to be teachers,
doctors, lawyers, military leaders, and public servants. The UNCF
colleges have given America its first African American four star
General, Chappie James. You gave us Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,
Spike Lee, Governor Doug Wilder, track star Edwin Moses, former
Ambassador Andrew Young and a host of other great Americans.... and
the good thing about the College Fund is that you continue to produce
new leaders for this great country of ours. I am pleased that this
administration has benefited directly from the UNCF because member
colleges have given us Hazel O'leary, the Secretary of Energy, Alexis
Herman, my Assistant and Director of the White House Office of Public
Liaison and Dr. David Satcher, director of the Center for Disease
Control to name a few.
This type of investment is what this budget fight has been all about.
We are seeking to increase the nation's investment in Education at a
time when all of us should recognize the crucial role that advanced
knowledge and training will play in the continuing vitality of our
nation's economy. There are those who would have us roll back
America's traditionally strong support of education, but I will not stand
for it.
Bill Gray the nation owes you a debt of gratitude for taking time away
from this marvelous organization to serve as my special envoy to Haiti.
Thanks to your hard work we restored democracy to Haiti. I want to
publicly applaud your outstanding service to this nation. We will
forever be grateful.
Thank you my friend.
Page 3
42ND REFERENCE of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1992 Gale Research Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Contemporary Black Biography
October, 1992; Volume 3
LENGTH: 2934 words
NAME: William H. Gray III
PERSONAL:
Born August 20, 1941, in Baton Rouge, LA; son of William H. (a minister and
college president) and Hazel (maiden name, Yates; a high school teacher) Gray,
Jr.; married Andrea Dash, April 17, 1971; children: William H. Gray IV, Justin
Yates, Andrew Dash.
OCCUPATION: Clergyman, foundation executive, former congressman
ADDRESSES: Office--United Negro College Fund, 500 East 62nd St., New York, NY
10021.
EDUCATION: Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA., B.A., 1963; attended
Drew Theological School, University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Oxford
University, and Princeton Theological Seminary; earned master of divinity, 1966,
and master of theology, 1970.
CAREER:
Union Baptist Church, Montclair, NJ, assistant pastor, 1964-66, senior pastor
1966-72; St. Peter's College, Jersey City, NJ, assistant professor and director,
1970-74; Bright Hope Baptist Church, Philadelphia, PA, pastor, 1972--; U.S.
Congressman, 1978-91; vice-chair of Congressional Black Caucus; president of
United Negro College Fund (UNCF), 1991--. Lecturer at Jersey City State College,
Montclair State College, and Rutgers University.
SIDELITES:
William H. Gray, III, a Baptist minister, was elected to Congress in 1978 and
served for 13 years in the U.S. government before leaving to head the United
Negro College Fund (UNCF). Despite some speculation in the media about Gray's
having been involved in shady financial dealings--speculation that led to no
formal charges--Gray's reputation with government figures in both the Democratic
and Republican parties, as well as public interest groups and voters, remained
very positive. His colleagues praised both his integrity and his cordiality.
When he was the majority whip in the U.S. House of Representatives, his ability
to forge coalitions and persuade other members to vote for measures he supported
made him, according to Ebony' S Laura B. Randolph, "the highest-ranking Black
in the history of the House of Representatives."
"Gray's dignified, intellectual style is very different from the kind of
fiery personality usually associated with someone who is the minister of a large
and influential Baptist church," a Black Enterprise correspondent reported in
a 1989 profile. But this style has apparently been an important factor in Gray's
success; even such House conservatives as Republican Jack Kemp have sung his
Page 4
Contemporary Black Biography, October, 1992
praises. "He's got integrity," Kemp told Fortune's Nancy J. Perry. "You can
trust him."
As chair of the House Budget Committee, Gray oversaw the first trillion
dollar budget in U.S. history, managing to avoid some cuts in social spending
sponsored by the administration of President Ronald Reagan. He was also a strong
voice in Congress for sanctions against the racially discriminatory apartheid
government of South Africa. He worked with the Congressional Black Caucus to
fight what he perceived were assaults on civil rights and equal opportunities.
As head of the UNCF, he vowed to bring the same resolve to his work on behalf of
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
Gray was born in 1941 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His father, Dr. William H.
Gray, Jr., was a minister and college president; his mother, Hazel Yates Gray,
taught high school. Shortly after William III's birth, the family--which also
included William's sister Marion--moved to St. Augustine, Florida, where the
elder Dr. Gray took over the presidency of Florida Normal and Industrial
College. He later moved on to head Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College
in Tallahassee. In 1949, Gray's father became pastor of Philadelphia's Bright
Hope Baptist Church. It was here that William Gray III would come to maturity.
He graduated from high school in 1959 and attended Franklin and Marshall College
in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, earning a bachelor's degree in sociology in 1963.
During his senior year, Gray served as an intern for Pennsylvania Congressman
Robert N. C. Nix, but politics would not, for the moment, be his career.
After graduating from Franklin and Marshall, Gray became assistant pastor of
Union Baptist Church in Montclair, New Jersey; he also attended New Jersey's
Drew Theological School, earning a master of divinity degree in 1966. That same
year civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr., appointed Gray senior
minister of Union Baptist. Gray did further graduate study in theology at the
University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Oxford University, and Princeton
Theological Seminary. The latter institution conferred on him a master of
theology degree in 1970.
As pastor of Union Baptist, Gray was active in working toward civil rights,
assisting in the establishment of housing projects for blacks in the community
as well as in other struggles. In 1970 he sued a landlord in Montclair who, Gray
contended, had denied him an apartment because Gray was black. Eventually
winning the case in the New Jersey Superior Court, Gray received financial
damages and set an important precedent. Two years later, after his father's
death, Gray became pastor at Bright Hope, using his position to advocate
improved housing conditions for Philadelphia's poor. During this time he was
also a lecturer at Rutgers University and several other academic institutions
and served as assistant professor and director of New Jersey's St. Peter's
College.
In 1971, Gray married Andrea Dash, a marketing consultant, with whom he would
have three sons, William H. IV, Justin Yates, and Andrew Dash. Throughout his
career he would always regret not having enough time for his family. When Ebony
asked him in 1987 for his most "embarrassing moment," Gray related an anecdote
about a disastrous family vacation: he and his wife received nearly identical
leg injuries on the same day in separate accidents. "Friends who came to visit
teased us about having had a violent confrontation," Gray recalled, adding, "I
learned that when you neglect your family because of your busy schedule, getting
together can be cataclysmic and injurious to your health. I also learned that I
Page 5
Contemporary Black Biography, October, 1992
am to spend more time with my wife so that people will not think that when we
do get together the meeting is a violent one."
In 1976 Gray moved into the political arena, challenging Nix for his
congressional seat. He lost by a close vote and was encouraged to make a second
try. An Ebony profile noted that Gray accused the veteran congressman of
"exerting no real leadership" while his district suffered high unemployment and
poor housing. In the 1978 primary he unseated Nix--a move that some black
political figures saw as damaging to unity--and ran as the second congressional
district's Democratic nominee, trouncing Republican Roland Atkins in the
November election.
Seated in January of 1979, Gray decided to commute from his district rather
than take up residence in Washington, D.C. He was appointed to several
committees, including Foreign Affairs and his party's Steering and Policy
Committee. He would eventually make headlines for his service on the Budget
Committee, but he found his first term there deeply frustrating and often voted
against his own committee's recommendations. In 1981, after the political shift
brought about by the election of Republican President Ronald Reagan, Gray
resigned from the Budget Committee.
Gray also became vice-chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, and during
Reagan's two terms he worked to fight the conservative administration's social
agenda. He returned to the Budget Committee in 1983 and gained notice for his
political acumen and personal integrity. In 1985 he took on the role of
committee chair. Republicans and Democrats alike praised Gray for his ability to
bring opponents together to achieve consensus. He was particularly careful to
court the approval of southern conservatives of both parties, reflecting in the
New York Times that his experiences as a youth in Louisiana helped him to do
this. Gray attributed his overall committee success to previous experience: "Any
time you pastor a Black church," he remarked in Jet, "you learn the ropes--how
to persuade, prod, negotiate, keep the peace and lead. This House job is no
harder."
Gray felt the same way about the budgetary wisdom pundits predicted he
wouldn't have; when a Fortune correspondent inquired about the source of his
"financial training," Gray asked rhetorically: "Did you ever try to run a
Baptist church?" Scholar Cornel West told Black Enterprise that Gray was "one
of the new breed of sophisticated black clergy who can effectively work within
the political system without losing their moral direction."
Perhaps Gray's cause celebre --and certainly his greatest foreign policy
concern--was fighting the apartheid government of South Africa, which, prior to
its dismantlement in the spring of 1992, denied political rights to the
country's black majority. "The President of South Africa P. W. Botha said 'Every
new investment is a brick in our continued existence, ⑉ Gray declared in
Fortune in 1987. "So why should the U.S. be shipping bricks? You don't stop
Communism by getting in bed with racism." Gray and Texas Congressman Mickey
Leland led the charge in the House for sanctions against Botha's regime. Despite
the Reagan administration's stated policy of "constructive engagement" with
South Africa's white minority government, Gray and his antiapartheid colleagues
succeeded in pushing through sanctions in 1985 and 1986.
Also in 1986 Gray spoke out against the repeal of the Clark Amendment, which
had banned U.S. covert action in Angola. "I do not want to see communism expand
Page 6
Contemporary Black Biography, October, 1992
in southern Africa," he told Congress. "I have been there. I have been to each
one of those front-line states. Every time the United States of America is
perceived as siding with apartheid, what we do is strengthen the possibility
of the expansion of communism." Even so, he continued, Communist expansion "is
not the issue." The real matter "is majority rule, and freedom, and independence
for people who are enslaved." That year Gray and Leland attacked a remark by
Reagan's chief of staff, Donald Regan, who had asked whether American women were
"prepared to give up all their jewelry" if U.S. sanctions affected South African
diamond exportation. Gray called Regan's question a "new level in sexism,"
according to the New York Times. "I don't think American women want to enslave
28 million other human beings just to have their diamonds," he added.
In 1987, however, Gray and Leland took opposite sides on a Republican
party-sponsored bill to punish the Communist government of Ethiopia economically
because of its poor human rights record. While Leland, according to Black
Enterprise, found the bill "scurrilous and absurd," Gray supported it,
demonstrating to his Republican opponents that his anticommunist remarks would
be backed up with action. Leland, on the other hand, suggested that the bill was
mere ideological bullying by the United States. Nevertheless, Gray consistently
pressed for aid to independent African states and was one of the U.S.
representatives at the celebration of Zimbabwean independence in 1980, an event
he recalled with exuberance years later.
By 1987 Gray was one of the most visible House Democrats. "As glowing careers
of other Democrats explode and fade around him like supernovas," observed Perry
in Fortune, "Bill Gray has become one of the party's fastest-rising stars."
The article even noted Gray's slightly amused speculations about higher office:
"Sure, Bill Gray would not mind being President of the U.S. at all," commented
the congressman. "But is that his goal? No." A Business Week correspondent
emphasized Gray's "remarkable ability to adjust his style to the situation at
hand. He can sound like a technocrat one minute and a Bible-thumping preacher
the next." Gray "is described by his colleagues as a superb politician," the
New York Times reported, "adept at building coalitions and unafraid to risk
rejection." He maintained this reputation throughout the decade--despite some
criticism of his "glibness" by 1989 Black Enterprise predicted that
"William H. Gray III will definitely be a force to be reckoned with in the
1990s."
Perhaps no one reckoned with the possibility that Gray would soon leave
politics. In 1989 rumors of financial wrongdoing surfaced, fueled by a report by
Rita Braver of CBS that unnamed Justice Department sources had begun a criminal
investigation, with which Gray was not cooperating. Terry Eastland noted in
American Spectator that the leak--neither confirmed nor denied by Justice
Department officials until pressed by Gray into admitting he was not the target
of the investigation--might have served the political agenda of President George
Bush's administration. Loyalists of Bush's Attorney General Dick Thornburgh,
Eastland wrote, "realized that if the talented Gray were Democratic whip, House
Republicans would have a more difficult time challenging the Democratic
majority."
Though formal charges were never made, Gray's political standing seemed to
have been affected. He remained in Congress for some time afterward, pursuing
his now-familiar agendas. In February of 1990 he spoke on behalf of the National
Voter Registration Act, reminding those in favor of political caution that
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Contemporary Black Biography, October, 1992
"making history is always risky business. But greatness is won in the margin of
risk." In the speech Gray also commented that "We hear even in South Africa the
first sound, however faint, of the end of apartheid." By 1992 the sound would
become clearly audible as a white-only vote continued the reform efforts of
South African president F. W. de Klerk.
Gray remained in Congress until June of 1991, when he announced his intention
to give up his seat to head the UNCF. Time noted the rumors surrounding his
resignation--that unspecified "investigations" might reveal wrongdoing--but
conjectured that "the more plausible explanation is financial: leaving Congress
will enable Gray to become a member of corporate boards and greatly increase his
income."
Kitty Dumas of Black Enterprise pointed out that Gray's departure "left not
only a void in the Democratic party leadership in the House of Representatives,
but also in the Congressional Black Caucus." Dumas further commented that Gray
might well have been "elected by his peers to serve as speaker by the year 2000.
His departure dashed the hopes of many in the black community that one of their
own might control the House by the turn of the century." Gray, however, was
quoted in Black Enterprise as saying that the UNCF post was "a higher calling"
and "a step up in public service." In an interview with the magazine a few
months later, he said he wanted to make "a more focused contribution to the
public policy by helping the education of African-American people at 41
Historically Black Colleges and Universities."
Gray immediately set high goals upon his acceptance of the UNCF position,
aiming to "double the organization's annual contributions to the 41 HBCUs ,"
meet donor Walter Annenberg's challenge gift by raising an additional $ 200
million, and "work with HBCUs to develop special projects that will enrich their
curriculum, improve their academic standing and their ability to attract the
best students," he told a Black Enterprise correspondent.
In addition, Gray stressed the need for the UNCF to function as "an advocacy
group for higher education, but also to look at all the educational questions
that African-Americans face." Gray emphasized that the UNCF could help respond
to the scapegoating of Affirmative Action and other programs by = articulating
real solutions to real problems in this society" and by helping to "develop a
new generation of leaders out of the underprivileged and the underclass." UNCF
board chairman Joseph D. Williams predicted that Gray would "be a major force in
furthering the critical role of our traditionally black colleges and
universities," as quoted in Black Enterprise.
In April of 1992, at a Michigan dinner for the Urban League, Gray reminded
the guests that the struggle for equality was not over and that they must not be
"lulled to sleep" by the success of some black politicians. "This will be the
most pluralistic and diverse society in the westernized world," Gray remarked,
according to the Oakland Press. "But if we don't get over problems of racism
and see the real issues, the U.S. won't have a strong economy in the 21st
century." For this minister-educator-politician, the struggles of his lifetime
had not changed: religious morality, education and political change remained
inseparable strands. And he continued to view his past experience as providing
indelible lessons; "Life belongs to those who are always climbing," he told the
Urban League, as cited in the Oakland Press. He went on to quote his
grandmother, who once said, "Life for me ain't been crystal stairs and I'm
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Contemporary Black Biography, October, 1992
still climbing."
SOURCES: American Spectator, September 1989.
Black Enterprise, July 1987; January 1989; September 1991;
November 1991; February 1992.
Business Week, September 7, 1987.
Congressional Digest, April 1986; April 1990.
Ebony, March 1979; September 1987; December 1989.
Fortune, November 9, 1987.
Jet, August 11, 1986; July 13, 1987; June 19, 1989.
New York Times, January 5, 1985.
Oakland Press, (Oakland County, MI), April 12, 1992.
Time, July 1, 1991.
--Simon Glickman
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: September 29, 1992