[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 139 (Tuesday, August 27, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1080]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 TRIBUTE TO THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE AND LEGACY OF DR. GEORGE T. FRENCH, 
                                  JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. TERRI A. SEWELL

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, August 27, 2019

  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Dr. 
George T. French, Jr., the 14th President of Miles College, on his 
twenty-three years of exemplary service to Miles College and his recent 
appointment as President of Clark Atlanta University. Under the 
impressive leadership and oversight of Dr. French as President since 
2005, Miles College has met unprecedented fundraising goals, has more 
than doubled its existing campus size through land acquisition and, 
most importantly, has continued to fight for and implement the values 
upon which it was founded--providing its students with quality, first-
class higher education. A man of steadfast and unwavering faith, Dr. 
French's experience as a pastor in the Christian Methodist Episcopal 
Church has lent him strength and purpose as he has navigated his 
impressive career.
  Miles College was established over one hundred years ago in 1898 in 
Fairfield, Alabama. The college is a historically black college, whose 
mission has always been to provide top-tier higher education to the 
African American community and to educate the minds of future local, 
national and global leaders. Miles College has deep roots in the 
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, whose guiding principles helped 
to shape the school's mission and curriculum. Miles College also played 
a major role in Birmingham's struggle for civil rights. When the 
Southern Christian Leadership Conference was scouting a city in which 
to test methods of peaceful protest, Birmingham was decided upon in 
large part because members of Miles College were already engaging in 
activism.
  A native of Louisville, KY, Dr. French joined Miles College with a 
strong educational background, having earned his Bachelor of Arts in 
Political Science from the University of Louisville. He was then 
competitively accepted to the University of Richmond Law School before 
being recruited by Miles Colleges' former President Albert Sloan to 
join Miles College as the Director of Development. Dr. French completed 
his final year of law school at Miles Law School where he earned his 
Juris Doctor. He received his Ph.D. in Higher Education from Jackson 
State University in 2018.
  As Director of Institutional Planning and Development at Miles 
College, Dr. French oversaw the offices of Alumni Affairs, Federal 
Contracts and Grants, Title III, Institutional Research and 
Effectiveness, Congressional Relations and Public Relations. He was 
also primarily responsible for fundraising, a task he met handily. As 
part of the Capital Campaign Fund Drive, Dr. French raised twelve 
million dollars, making it the largest drive in the history of Miles 
College.
  During his fourteen-year tenure as President of Miles College, Dr. 
French has worked to strengthen the college's academic standing and 
offerings. Under his direction, faculty has secured some of the largest 
grants in the college's history, and the initiative of ``culture, class 
and civility'' has been put into action, in the classroom and 
throughout all other initiatives. During his presidency, Miles College 
received a federal grant to become a Center for Academic Excellence in 
Intelligence. As a senior member of the House Permanent Select 
Committee on Intelligence, I am especially proud of the work of Miles 
College within the Intelligence Community. During visits from the 
Director of the Office of National Intelligence to campus presentations 
before two Directors of the Defense Intelligence Agency, the students 
and professors at Miles College brilliantly personified why diversity 
in the Intelligence Community is so important. In addition, Miles 
College was rated by HBCU Digest as one of the ``Top Three Most 
Underrated Historically Black Colleges and Universities.''
  Under his impressive leadership, Dr. French has also increased Miles 
College's allocation to education and educational support services by 
11.03 percent. The school's total operating budget has increased 
significantly as a result of Dr. French's superior fundraising 
abilities and has realized a 32.28 percent increase in operating 
revenue thanks to state and federal grants and contracts aimed at 
reducing student debt. Dr. French's administration has also worked to 
progressively increase student access to education funding through a 
54.31 percent increase in awarded Pell Grants.
  Dr. French has also kept an eye to the future, acquiring the North 
Campus, a forty-one-acre site whose inclusion doubles the size of Miles 
College's existing campus. He has seen the college successfully 
accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools 
Commission on Colleges, an affirmation that will stand through 2023.
  In addition to his exemplary work at Miles College, Dr. French has 
been a true servant leader within the broader Birmingham community, 
boasting numerous awards and accomplishments. In 2011, Dr. French was 
appointed Treasurer of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, and in 
2013 he was named the Birmingham Spotlight ``Man of the Year.'' He 
currently serves on the Regions Financial Diversity Advisory Council 
and as an officer of the Birmingham Business Alliance Executive 
Committee. Dr. French was invited by former President Barack Obama to a 
meeting at the White House and, per the recommendation of U.S. 
Congressional leaders including Reps. Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner and 
Terri Sewell, was appointed to serve on the National Advisory Committee 
on Institutional Quality and Integrity, an entity which serves to 
advise the Secretary of Education. Dr. French was also appointed by the 
U.S. Congress to serve on the U.S. Department of Education Negotiated 
Rulemaking Committee, which was established ahead of proposed 
regulations for the Federal Student Aid programs authorized under title 
IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.
  On a personal note, I have had the great honor of knowing and working 
with Dr. French for over a decade. He has been an exemplary President 
of Miles College, an outstanding mentor and a dear friend. I know that 
Miles College stands tall today as one of the ``Crown Jewels of 
Alabama's 7th Congressional District'' because of Dr. French's 
visionary leadership, fundraising prowess and inspiring and infectious 
charisma. Thank you for your twenty-three years of supreme service to 
Miles College and congratulations to you for the outstanding legacy 
that you will leave here. I am forever grateful for our friendship and 
for the amazing partnership that my congressional office has enjoyed 
with Miles College. From growing the college financially and literally 
to all of the outstanding academic programs and athletic events, you 
will leave this institution a stronger and better place. For that I 
say, ``Well done,'' my friend. I know that your brilliance, love of 
learning, faith and determination has and will continue to serve you 
well in your new endeavor as the incoming President of Clark Atlanta 
University.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me, the Miles College 
family, the Birmingham community and the State of Alabama, in paying 
tribute to the extraordinary life and legacy of Dr. George T. French, 
Jr., the beloved 14th President of Miles College.

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