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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 4, 2012)
Happy Independence Day! Waterfront Blues .. NW Festival marks 25 years of fighting hunger C ollege C areers inside, page 3 sp e c ia l ed e d itio n rWT* <4anrnanvwb5etXier43 Community Leader Dies ‘City o] Roses' VolumeXXXXI Number 25 jf c J ^31 w w w .portlandobserver.com Ifl L3 Wednesday • July 4, 2012 . Established in in 1970 1970 Established Committed to Cultural Diversity Committed to Cultural Diversity i ✓ ? xy o Oj V ^ M 'i ''community service Harold Williams served with distinction by J ames H ill Harold W illiams, a Portland C om m unity C ollege B oard o f D irector since 1990 and noted com m unity leader, passed aw ay on Sunday, July 1. H e w as 69. T he college w ill celebrate W ill ia m s’ m ore than 50 years o f service to the com m unity w ith a m em orial celebration at 11 a.m ., T hursday, July 12 in the gym nasium on the PC C C asc ad e C am p u s, 705 N. K illingsw orth St. The public is in vited to share their recollections and stories. “T his is a sad tim e for us all, ” said P C C D istric t P resid e n t P resto n Pulliams. “In the com m unity, Harold w as know n for his eloquence and w as sought after to speak at confer ences and other occasions. M any people know about Portland C o m m unity C ollege because o f a pre sentation that H arold has given, and m any have been m oved to do nate, volunteer, or enroll in the co l lege because o f his outreach. W e have lost a m an w idely regarded as a pioneer, advocate and m entor for o u r com m unities.” W illiam s w as appointed in 1990 to represent Z one 2, w hich en co m passes N orth Portland and portions o f C olum bia C ounty. He was elected in 1991 and re-elected in 1995,1999, 2 0 0 3 ,2 0 0 7 and 2011. H e w as presi dent o f contracting firm C H 2A A s sociates and a m em ber o f the B lack L eadership C onference, as w ell as T he U rban League. A past c hair o f the C oalition o f B lack M en, W ill iam s also served on the board o f the O regon C om m unity C ollege A sso ciation. H e held b a c h e lo r’s and m aster’s degrees from Portland State U niversity and lived in northeast Portland. W illiam s had a long record o f ser- Harold William (left) is congratulated by Portland Community College President Preston Pulliams for winning the Pacific Region Trustee Leadership Award in 2010. A long-time community leader, Williams died Sunday at the age o f 69. vice to the com m unity and extensive background in civil rights, affirm a tive action, education and justice. He served as A ffirm ative A ction D irec tor and Equal O pportunity C oordina tor to form erOregon Gov. Bob Straub. H e w as Labor Relations M anager for the State o f O regon Executive D e- partmentfrom 1979to 1984and served as a consultant to the O regon Y outh A uthority from 1995 to 2006. From 1969 to 1973,he served as D irector o f the Educational C enter at Portland State University. He taught at Linfield C ollege w here he m entored students. H e w as p re s id e n t o f the P o rt- land-area A frican A m erican C h am b e r o f C o m m e rc e , c h a ir o f th e A f rican A m erican C om m ittee o f C o m m u n ity C o lle g e T ru ste e s, an d a w id e ly k n o w n m o t i v a t i o n a l sp e a k e r. H e se rv e d on P o rtla n d M a y o r T o m P o tte r’s C h a rte r R e v iew C o m m issio n an d a c te d as a c o n su lta n t to th e P o rtla n d D e v e l o p m e n t C o m m issio n in th e ir e f fo r ts to e x p a n d m in o r ity a n d w o m e n - o w n e d b u s in e s s c o n tra c ts . H e has served on m any advisory co m m ittees and has v o lu n teered hundreds o f hours o f tim e to civic, re lig io u s and cu ltu ra l activ itie s. W illiam s also served on the B oard o f D irectors for St. M ary ’s School for B oys, on the A dvisory B oard for th e O r e g o n C o n v e n tio n a n d V isito r’s Services, and chaired the N A A C P Y outh C om m ittee. W illiam s’ m ost significant co n tribution to Portland C om m unity C ollege w as his w ork in bringing co m m u n ity college services to all parts o f the college district. W hen P C C ’s first bond m easure passed in 1992, he led the effort to expand the PC C cam pus in north Portland so that students w ho lived in that poor area o f tow n co u ld enroll in courses th e y n e e d e d to c o m p le te an a sso c iate ’s degree w ithout having to travel to oth er PC C locations. W hen the college passed another bond m easure in 2000, he w as the driving force behind a m ajor e x p a n sion o f college services in an o th er under-served part o f the co m m u nity. A nd W illiam s w as in stru m en tal in pushing for a college policy that w ould ensure that college c o n struction contracts w ould m eet m i nority-contracting goals. In addition, he was know n fo r his prom otion o f alternative program s for at-risk students. H e w as su c c essfu l in e x p an d in g c la ssro o m space for m entorship program s for students o f all ages. A n ex am p le o f this w ork is W illiam s’ “ S uccess A cadem y,” w here spiritual and cul continued on page 7
