WHEREAS, William H. Gray, III has been pastor of the 5,000 member Bright Hope Baptist Church in Philadelphia for 30 years, as were his father and grandfather before him. He has been in the church ministry since 1964, when he pastored his first church, Union Baptist Church of Montclair, New Jersey; and
WHEREAS, William H. Gray, III has been President and Chief Executive Officer of the United Negro 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 UNCF to new fundraising records, while cutting costs and expanding programs and services. During his tenure, Mr. Gray has raised $1.1 billion of the $1.8 billion raised by UNCF in its 57-year history; and
WHEREAS, Prior to his selection as President of UNCF, Mr. Gray served in the U.S. Congress and was a staunch supporter of education. As the first African-American to chair the House Budget Committee, Mr. Gray was a leading advocate for strengthening America’s educational systems. As Chairman of the Democratic Caucus and later as Majority Whip, Mr. Gray was the highest ranking African-American ever to serve in Congress; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Gray has also served as special advisor to the President on Haiti from May to September 1994. In that role, Mr. Gray assisted the President in developing and carrying out policy to restore democracy to Haiti. In 1995, Mr. Gray received the Medal of Honor from Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Gray has been a faculty member and professor of history and religion at St. Peter’s College, Jersey City State College, Montclair State College, Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Temple University; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Gray attended Franklin and Marshall College, where he earned a BA in History. He received a master’s degree in Divinity from Drew Theological Seminary, and a master’s degree in Church History from Princeton Theological Seminary; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Gray is the recipient of many awards such as the prestigious Franklin Delano Roosevelt Freedom of Worship Medal, and was listed in the December 1999 issue of
Ebony Magazine
as one of the 100 “Most Important Blacks in the World in the 20th Century.” He has also been awarded more than 65 honorary degrees from America’s leading colleges and universities; now therefore
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby honor William H. Gray, III by also naming the 1600 Block of North 12th Street as “Bill Gray Way.”
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to William H. Gray, III, further evidencing the sincere appreciation of this legislative body.
End