By Nathan Guttman September 13, 2010

The September 14 Democratic mayoral primary in Washington D.C. is drawing national attention, with the capital’s current mayor, Adrian Fenty locked in a tight race with challenger Vincent Gray.

At issue are the future of the city’s education reform and Fenty’s style of governing; but as always there is also a Jewish angle.

Vincent Gray, the city council chairman who is running neck to neck with Fenty, has somewhat of a Jewish background. It turns out, as Gray’s supporters in the city’s Jewish community point out, that Gray was a member a Jewish fraternity during his years at George Washington University. In fact, he was elected president of the fraternity for two consecutive terms.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

What led the African-American Roman Catholic young student to the predominantly Jewish Tau Epsilon Phi? Back in 1963 GWU’s Greek system did not accept Blacks to fraternities, so Gray turned to TEP, which was formed in 1910 by Jewish students who faced a similar problem. The Jewish fraternity was the first to break the ban on allowing black students to take the pledge and Gray became a proud member, and later president, of TEP.

Now, days before the primary, Gray’s old friends from the fraternity house bought a full-page ad in the Washington Jewish Week, telling the story and endorsing his candidacy. “Yesher Koach, brother Vince,” they conclude in the ad. Both Gray and Fenty took some time to woo Jewish DC voters. They both participated in a debate at the city’s Sixth and I Historic Synagogue and answered a questionnaire prepared by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington.

There are few, if any, Jewish-related issues in the campaign. Some in the community have criticized Mayor Fenty in the past for attending a February 2009 tennis championship in Dubai that refused to allow Israeli player Shahar Pe’er to compete. Fenty later said he did not now Israelis were banned from the tournament.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount