High Point Gets A New Human Relations Manager

The City of High Point just named a brand new city manager earlier this week, and, on Wednesday, May 5, it announced a new Human Relations manager. 

City employee Rase McCray was offered and has accepted the position.

The city’s Human Relations Division does things like handle citizen complaints of discrimination and address fair housing issues.  The division also conducts diversity training and works with city partners to raise awareness in High Point residents of – and create respect in them for – human rights pertaining to age, gender, racial, religious and cultural differences.

As the manager of Human Relations for High Point, McCray will be responsible for a lot of diversity and fairness efforts, including, “the promotion of equality of opportunity among citizens, implementing strategies to promote positive dialogue among the community’s various cultures and races, assisting members of the community with resolutions to relevant issues dealing with housing and employment and promoting the City’s goals and community objectives in accordance with the City of High Point Human Relations Ordinance.”

McCray has a decade and a half of experience in program development and also has experience in large-scale event planning.

 He recently worked at the High Point Public Library, where he focused on community outreach and engagement.  McCray also managed the library’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Before he joined High Point government, McCray had a varied background that included teaching writing and teaching biomedical ethics at Jefferson College of Health Sciences in Roanoke, Virginia. Later, he served as the “Director of News” for the Yale School of Engineering. In that job, McCray helped publicly promote scientific breakthroughs.

McCray currently works with students when not doing the city’s work.  He leads a creative writing club at a local middle school.

In the past, he has organized the city’s “Summer Jubilee” school supplies giveaway.

When the library building closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, McCray led the library’s shift to virtual and video-based programming and he also created a viral music video that promoted the city’s Summer reading programs.