[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 49 (Thursday, March 16, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E611]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                    A ``ROAST'' IN HONOR OF ROY EPPS

                                 ______


                        HON. FRANK PALLONE, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 15, 1995
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, on Friday, March 17, 1995, Mr. C. Roy Epps 
of New Brunswick, NJ, will be honored for his 25 years of community 
service. The occasion will be a ``roast'' in honor of Mr. Epps at the 
Hyatt Regency. The idea of having a celebrity roast is obviously 
intended to avoid too much sentimentality about the honoree. But behind 
the jokes and the kidding, there is a deep reservoir of affection, 
appreciation, and gratitude for Mr. Epps for all the exceptional work 
he has done for the people of New Brunswick, the State of New Jersey, 
and the United States.
  Mr. Speaker, first, a few basic facts about the life and career of 
Roy Epps. He was born in 1941 and attended public schools in New York 
City. He received a B.A. from Wilberforce University in Ohio in 1963, 
majoring in biology. After pursuing a career in research with Johnson & 
Johnson, the U.S. Army, and Colgate-Palmolive, Mr. Epps concluded that 
his real interest was social planning and the fulfillment of social 
needs. He acquired an M.S. degree in urban and regional planning in 
1970 from Rutgers University, and later completed a fellowship in urban 
and regional planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 
In the spring of 1994, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law degree 
from Upsala College in East Orange, NJ.
  Mr. Epps began to truly make his mark in community issues in 1967 as 
assistant executive director of the Urban League of Greater New 
Brunswick, becoming the league's executive director in 1970. He would 
go on to serve as president of the New Jersey Council of Urban Leagues, 
the league's Eastern Regional Council of Executive Directors, and the 
National Urban League's Executive Directors' Council. IN 1983, his 
organization disaffiliated from the National Urban League and became 
the Civil League of Greater New Brunswick, with Mr. Epps as its 
president. Mr. Epps also serves as vice chairman of the Board of New 
Brunswick Tomorrow, the planning corporation for revitalization of the 
city, a member of the board of the New Brunswick Development 
Corporation, and was formerly a member and past president of the New 
Brunswick Board of Education. Among the many other boards and 
committees on which he serves are the Greater Raritan Private Industry 
Council, United Jersey Bank's Community Reinvestment Advisory Board, 
and the Eric B. Chandler Community Health Center.
  Among its many services to the disadvantaged in the community, with a 
focus on the needs of black youth, the Civil League has directed much 
of its effort into the promotion of low-income housing. Mr. Epps helped 
to establish and became president of the league's nonprofit housing 
affiliate, the Community Investment Corporation--COINCO--in 1974. This 
organization had built, rehabilitated, and managed over 40 housing 
units in the neighborhood of the Civic League's facility.
  Among the many projects that have benefited from Mr. Epps' leadership 
is the Civil League's Project 2000 Program, which has been operating 
for the past 4 years as a partnership between male volunteers from the 
corporate sector and the New Brunswick school system. Sixty-three men 
from diverse backgrounds serve as teacher-assistants a half-day per 
week in the primary grades at three elementary schools. The program, 
which reaches some 700 youngsters, represents an attempt to prevent the 
development of negative attitudes toward the school environment and 
academic achievement among inner-city boys, as well as girls, early in 
their school experience through interaction with positive adult role 
models. The New Brunswick Project 2000 is currently the only corporate 
model in the United States, but is being assessed for use in other 
small urban school districts.
  Another excellent initiative under Mr. Epps' leadership is the Middle 
School Development Program, also a partnership between the corporate 
community and the public education system in New Brunswick. Selected 
volunteers--men and women--from area companies are placed in local 
schools to mentor in the fifth and sixth grade classrooms in a variety 
of areas which not always sufficiently addressed during the school day, 
but which are extremely important to the personal, intellectual, and 
professional growth of the students.
  Mr. Speaker, it is a great honor to pay tribute to Roy Epps, a 
community leader who has made a real difference. His many friends and 
colleagues will have fun roasting Roy Epps on Friday evening, and I'm 
sure Roy will enjoy it as well. But we all recognize in a very serious 
and profound way the lasting contribution Mr. Epps has made and 
continues to make to the growth and development of the great human 
potential in our community.


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