University of Pennsylvania
The Reverend William C. Gipson is an ordained Baptist minister and has served in both congregational and higher education capacities throughout his ministerial vocation. He currently serves as an associate minister at the Triumph Baptist Church in Philadelphia PA and as Special Advisor to the Vice President for Social Equity and Community at the University of Pennsylvania. Over his nearly three decades at Penn Rev Gipson has served and given leadership in a number of roles-some concurrently-that include University Chaplain and Special Advisor to the University President; Adjunct Assistant Professor of Religion; Faculty Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois College House; and Associate Vice Provost for Equity and Access.
Prior to his tenure at Penn, Rev. Gipson was Princeton University’s Associate Dean of Religious Life and of the Chapel.
Rev. Gipson served as interim pastor of the First Baptist Church (Princeton, NJ), 2000-2001 and at the New Salem Baptist Church (Trenton, NJ) 2001-2002, both while fulfilling his assignment to the University of Pennsylvania as University Chaplain. In addition, Gipson was the summer pastor for the Grindstone United Methodist Church in 1991, serving the parishioners on this vacation island on the St. Lawrence River. He also served as interim pastor of the Metropolitan AME Zion Church in Buffalo, NY (1986) and as assistant pastor of the historic Memorial AME Zion Church (Rochester, NY), 1987-1990.
Gipson is active in organizations devoted to educating and empowering urban youth; increasing understanding across racial, ethnic, and socio-economic divisions; and has led international interfaith trips for students. Gipson is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc and has served as chaplain, Rho Chapter (a Philadelphia alumni chapter); chaplain, Pennsylvania Association of Alpha Chapters; and associate chaplain, Alpha Eastern Region.
Rev. Gipson’s early life was in the segregated South, primarily in nortth Louisiana, where he and his siblings flourished in the cultural, spiritual, and educational richness of a strong Black community. Following in the civic engagement commitments and civil rights activist heritage of his parents, Gipson holds a life membership in the NAACP.
Rev. Gipson’s board service has included the Princeton Regional School Board; Smith College (Northampton, MA); the Association for Religion and Intellectual Life/Cross Currents (NY, NY); and the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations. In addition, he was a founding member of both Good Schools Pennsylvania and The Interfaith Center of Philadelphia and Vicinity.
For over two decades Gipson was co-chaplain in residence for the Children’s Defense Fund for its annual summer institute on child advocacy ministry at the CDF-Alex Haley Farm, Clinton, TN.
Rev. Gipson earned a B.A. in journalism from the University of Louisiana at Monroe and a master of divinity degree from the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School.
Rev Gipson is honored and blessed to be the father of two wonderful adult daughters and “Pop Pop” to two joy-intoxicating grandchildren. He is a proud native son of Monroe, Louisiana.
