UNCF Gray's Way

Black Issues in Higher Education, Sept 30, 1999 by Ronald Roach

Steven L. Pruitt, executive vice president for operations at The College Fund first met and worked with Gray when the former congressman chaired the House Budget Committee. Pruitt recently joined his former boss to help reinvigorate UNCF.

Pruitt contends it is Gray's compassion for the people around him and the UNCF constituency that is at the root of the work he performs. That compassion, he says, the key Gray's success as a leader. Still, he says he believes Gray doesn't get credit for that quality.

Several UNCF member institution presidents contacted by Black Issues expressed satisfaction with the organization and Gray's performance overall.

Gray is "in that tradition of great Black leadership that dates back to the 19th century," says Dr. Michael Lomax, president of Dillard University. "I refuse to be critical of what he has done."

"He's very collegial. He's a tremendous guy," says Shakir, the former president of Tougaloo College who currently spearheads a UNCF initiative called FASTAP, which stands for "the Fiscal and Strategic Technical Assistance Program."

That initiative, headquartered at a private consulting firm in Washington, D.C., provides UNCF member schools with fiscal management and planning assistance and helps them retain their accreditation.

Cole says Gray's imperfections should be evaluated in the same context as those of any leader.

"I am here to testify that Bill Gray is not a perfect person," she says. "I'm still looking for a perfect person. And when I find that person I'm gonna done that person. I think any assessment of any leader must begin there. And secondly, whatever are the weakness -- and surely there are those who can tell you of Johnnetta Cole's weaknesses -- it must be balanced with the strengths."

Others, like Yancy, worry about the day when Gray won't be at the helm of UNCE "Where do you go after Bill Gray? When you have a leader as charismatic as Gray, to succeed him? There is no grooming of leadership development. The bench isn't that deep."

UNCF MEMBER SCHOOLS

College:                                           Location:

Barber-Scotia College                          Concord, N.C.
Benedict College                              Columbia, S.C.
Bennett College                             Greensboro, N.C.
Bethune-Cookman College                  Daytona Beach, Fla.
Claflin College                             Orangeburg, S.C.
Clark Atlanta University                         Atlanta, Ga
Dillard University                               New Orleans
Edward Waters College                     Jacksonville, Fla.
Fisk University                             Nashville, Tenn.
Florida Memorial College                               Miami
Huston-Tillotson College                       Austin, Texas
Interdenominational Theological Center        Atlanta Jarvis
Christian College                             Hawkins, Texas
Johnson C. Smith University                  Charlotte, N.C.
Lane College                                  Jackson, Tenn.
LeMoyne-Owen College                          Memphis, Tenn.
Livingstone College                          Salisbury, N.C.
Miles College                               Birmingham, Ala.
Morehouse College                                    Atlanta
Morris Brown College                                 Atlanta
Morris College                                  Sumter, S.C.
Oakwood College                             Huntsville, Ala.
Paine Colleoe                                   Augusta, Ga.
Paul Quinn College                                    Dallas
Philander Smith College                    Little Rock, Ark.
Rust College Holly                            Springs, Miss.
St. Augustine's College                        Raleigh, N.C.
St. Paul's College                        Lawrenceville, Va.
Shaw University                                Raleigh, N.C.
Spelman College                                      Atlanta
Stillman College                            Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Talladega College                            Talladega, Ala.
Tougaloo College                             Tougaloo, Miss.
Tuskegee University                           Tuskegee, Ala.
Virginia Union University                      Richmond, Va.
Voorhees College                               Denmark, S.C.
Wilberforce University                     Wilberforce, Ohio
Wiley College                                Marshall, Texas
Xavier University                                New Orleans