Former U.S. representative Gray to speak

According to Gray's son, College sophomore William Gray IV, Gray will speak about race and America in the 21st century starting at 8 p.m. in Stitler Hall room B-6. The entire program will include Gray's speech followed by a question and answer period and is expected to last about two hours. Gray, who served as the Democrat's majority whip of the House of Representatives until he stepped down this summer, was considered by many political experts as being only a few years away from becoming the first black Speaker of the House or even President until his resignation. The younger Gray, who is also the president of the University's new chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored people, said the NAACP is the primary sponsor of the event, but many other groups, including the Black Student League and Academic Support Services, helped to bring the senior Gray to the University. "It was mine and the BSL's idea to try and bring him last year, but we ran out of time," the younger Gray said. "His schedule is very tight because he just started in the new position." Harold Ford, editor of The Vision, said he thinks Gray's visit is important because Gray stepped down from a high-ranking congressional position to battle America's declining education system. "I think it is important to view the whole event as sort of an American event because education is going to be the issue along with health care in the 1992 presidential election," Ford said. "I think he is a dynamic individual." Gray said the NAACP as well as other minority organizations on campus are also trying to establish a multicultural unity with events such as tonight's speech. "We are trying to bring about a large African-American as well as multicultural unity in events that help educate and entertain intellectuals," College sophomore Gray said. "Hopefully in future we will see more groupings together of the NAACP, the Black Student League, the United Minorities Council and other groups."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.