Miles College President Dr. George T. French, Jr., will be the keynote speaker on Sunday, October 11, at the 2015 National Connectional Lay Day celebration of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. The 3:30 p.m. celebration will take place at Lewis Metropolitan CME, 4900 S. Western Ave., in Los Angeles.
For more than 100 years, Miles College, located in Birmingham, Alabama has continued its mission of educating future local, national, and global leaders. Dr. French is the institution’s 14th president.
“We are indeed fortunate to have an opportunity to hear directly from the president of Miles, one of the oldest and most prestigious Historically Black Colleges and Universities,” said Shannon Faulk, Ninth Episcopal District Southern California Region Lay Leader.
“Although the majority of these institutions are not located here, a large HBCU Alumni community exists in Southern California. An address from a current HBCU president is rare for this region.
“We encourage the entire community to attend and support Dr. French with a standing room only audience,” added Faulk.
As president, Dr. French led the largest Capital Campaign Fund Drive in the history of the College. As a result, Miles has achieved an unprecedented financial composite score rating of 7.0, and positioning the College among the most fiscally sound institutions in the nation. The College has successfully been reaffirmed by the Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools Commission on Colleges through 2023. Also, under his leadership, Miles is rated in the top three most underrated historically black colleges and universities, according to HBCU Digest.
Dr. French also has won numerous awards, including the Birmingham Spotlight “Man of the Year” award. In 2011, he was appointed the treasurer of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.
He has been invited to the White House to meet with President Barack Obama and members of his Cabinet. In addition, he was appointed by the United States Congress, at the recommendation of Majority Leader John Boehner, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and Congresswoman Terri Sewell, as one of 18 appointees in the country, to serve on the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), which advises the Secretary of Education in two key areas. First, on the establishment and enforcement of the standards of academic accreditation and, second, on the eligibility and certification process for institutions of education. He was also appointed by Congress to serve on the U.S. Department of Education Negotiated Rule Making Committee in support of student aid and access to affordable post secondary education.
A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Dr. French earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with an emphasis in Policy Analysis. He now holds both Ph.D. and J.D. Degrees and is pursuing a second doctorate, for which he is completing his dissertation on the topic, “21st Century Challenges in Higher Education and the Use of Transformational and Transactional Leadership as Solutions.”
For more information on 2015 National Lay Day in the C.M.E. Church or the keynote speaker, call Shannon Faulk at (310) 902-6836 or Richard E. Lee, Los Angeles-San Diego District Lay Leader, at (323) 514-4412.