A Politician and Fund Raiser Returns to the Ministry

When William H. Gray III left his job as Democratic majority whip in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1991, many black leaders shook their heads. He was, after all, a rarity in national politics — a black man who had risen up the ranks to become one of the most powerful leaders in the country.

But a desire to “give back,” as he put it at the time, led Mr. Gray to the presidency of the United Negro College Fund, an organization founded in 1944 to raise money to send poor black students to colleges and universities, as well as to support traditionally black institutions of higher learning.

Now, after spending the bulk of his 12 years at the college fund raising a total of more than $1.5-billion, Mr. Gray, 62, has decided to step down as the organization’s chief. Citing a desire to spend more time with his wife and preaching to members of Bright Hope Baptist Church, in Philadelphia, where he serves as senior minister, Mr. Gray has announced that in March he will leave the job that now pays him $404,000. “I’m going to go and drive my wife crazy,” says Mr. Gray, whose successor at the fund has not yet been appointed.

Now that Mr. Gray has said he is stepping down, some political leaders have been speculating that he might be considering whether to run for the U.S. Senate in 2006 to replace the Republican Rick Santorum. Through a United Negro College Fund spokesman, Mr. Gray denied that he is considering a return to Capitol Hill.

Mr. Gray’s tenure at the college fund has been marked by major grants from corporations and foundations. The organization now ranks 95th on The Chronicle’s list of the top 400 fund-raising groups. Mr. Gray’s work helped 65,000 students attend college last year, as well as to fill the coffers of the 39 private, historically black colleges and universities supported by the fund. When Mr. Gray was hired in 1991, the organization provided $51-million to those institutions; in 2002, it provided them with $75-million.

His most significant accomplishment, however, was a philanthropic commitment larger than any previously benefiting higher education: He helped persuade Bill and Melinda Gates to provide $1-billion for a scholarship fund that the United Negro College Fund manages along with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, in San Francisco, and the American Indian College Fund, in Denver.

Mr. Gray reflected on his career in an interview with The Chronicle:

Before you started at UNCF, dollars were harder to come by. What has changed?

I’m not sure. I was fairly well known nationally because I had been a majority whip in Congress. The business community knew me because I was chairman of the Budget Committee. I gave a lot of talks to corporations about fiscal policy. So, I was known personally to some corporate people and that opened some doors. My job was to put together a message as to why these black colleges are important in the post-civil-rights era. Many who had given before gave because those schools were the only ones blacks could go to until about 1965. I tried to shape a message as to why black colleges are still very important in the 1990s — that they graduate a higher percentage of black students than nonblack colleges, that they transform poor minority students into exceptional people, and that they are havens for excellence. About 65 percent of all black doctors did their undergraduate work in historically black colleges and universities. The figure for black engineers is 70 percent. People with money are impressed when they hear those numbers.

How did the Gates gift come about, and what difference has it made?

I first met Bill Gates eight or nine years ago when I was talking to people about the digital divide between blacks and whites. There were some workers from Microsoft who heard me urging black young people to choose technology, science, and engineering, that they were the keys to industrial society in the future. So an organization called Blacks at Microsoft asked me to speak to minority students. I came out to speak, and Gates was there. I told him money was the biggest barrier to kids going to college. I advised him that, if he wanted to support our efforts, not to do it for a short period. They told me to sit down when they announced it — that they wanted to do $1-billion. Then I sat down. They asked me to manage it. It’s made a big difference.

How has the improved health of UNCF helped black colleges and universities?

One of our major roles is to provide operational assistance and raise money for black private colleges. We’ve doubled the amount of unrestricted gifts we’ve made during that time.

Do you believe that scholarships are help enough for minority students? Should philanthropy also focus on getting needy students prepared for college?

We ought to do both. There’s a lot being done on the front end, but that’s largely a public-sector responsibility. My concern is that if you push philanthropy in there, then you let the public sector off the hook. All the philanthropy in the world can’t do anything to make up for the public K-through-12 programs we have here. Philanthropy can support model and experimental programs that spur innovation and change. But we’ve got to get the public sector up to the plate to deal with preschool and K through 12. They have to do a better job. We have to keep arguing for that. I believe philanthropy should deal with higher education. A lot of kids have done everything we’ve asked them to do. They’ve stayed in school. They haven’t gotten on drugs or into gangs. They haven’t gotten pregnant. The only thing wrong with them is they’re poor. What are we saying when we tell them they can’t go to school? There are literally tens of thousands of kids like that in minority communities. Twenty-five percent of high-achieving minority students never go to college. It’s a question of money. That’s where philanthropy comes in.

What has changed for black students since 1991?

Things have gotten a lot better in many ways. In 1970, 500,000 African-Americans were going to college. By 1990, that number was up to 1.4 million. Now, we’re over two million. The rate of minority kids in college goes up every year. Unfortunately, people choose to believe in stereotypes, such as there are more blacks in prison than in college. But that’s not true.

Your salary has gone from $175,000 in 2000 to more than $400,000 this year. Do you think such a raise is justifiable?

I will have no comment on my salary.

Will you remain active in philanthropy?

What do you think a Baptist church is? My first love is the church. That is the most thrilling job I’ve had in my life. I serve at the church where I grew up and where my father and grandfather served as ministers. I get the privilege of preaching to the people who raised me. Nothing tops that.

ABOUT WILLIAM H. GRAY III, OUTGOING PRESIDENT, UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND

Education: Earned his bachelor’s degree from Franklin & Marshall College, in Lancaster, Pa., a master’s degree in divinity from Drew Theological School, in Madison, N.J., and a master’s degree in theology from Princeton Theological Seminary, in Princeton, N.J.

Previous employment: Was minister at Union Baptist Church, in Montclair, N.J., from 1964 to 1971, and minister at Bright Hope Baptist Church, in Philadelphia, from 1972 to the present; served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1979 to 1991, and as the Democratic majority whip from 1987 to 1991.

Charitable interests: Besides running his church, Mr. Gray sits on the board of the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville. He has endowed scholarships in the name of his father, William H. Gray Jr., at Franklin & Marshall College and at Drew Theological School. He has also donated money to 50 colleges and universities, and numerous charities.

Tip for nonprofit leaders who aren’t retiring: “Enjoy the mission. You have to get fired up every day to raise money, and it’s imperative that you believe in the mission so you can do that.”