Hempstead High auditorium named for former school board president
David Gates at the Hempstead School District office in March of 2016. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Hempstead school district officials on Saturday officially renamed the Hempstead High School auditorium in honor of former school board president David Gates, known for his passion for education and a man described as having “a conviction to achieve.”
He died at the age of 56 in March 2020 from the coronavirus. He was a 1983 graduate of Hempstead High School, and 40 years ago, performed as the cowardly lion in his high school production of “The Wiz,” which the school's current students performed Saturday evening. During the renaming ceremony held before the show, officials showed a video of Gates’ performance as the singing lion. Jacqueline Gates, his sister, described Saturday as “a full-circle moment.”
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman declared April 30 as Dr. Gates Day. Village Mayor Waylon Hobbs said he plans to do the same next year on April 30.
Gates, a lifelong Hempstead resident, was a faith leader at Miracle Christian Center in the village, which he founded in 1997 alongside his mother, Phyllis Young. He was a civil rights activist and Hempstead NAACP president. He served as the executive assistant to Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin.
But it was his passion for public education that Gates was best known for, his sister said. Growing up in a single-parent household ignited a fire in Gates that fueled his devotion to education. Throughout his life, he handed out thousands of backpacks filled with school supplies for free to local students, she said.
“I want people to know, no matter what walk of life, no matter what your economic status is, if you dream about it, you can accomplish it,” his sister told Newsday, a belief Gates also championed.
Hempstead Village in March 2021 dedicated a street in Gates’ honor as "Bishop David B. Gates II Way,” a move which his sister said means “his contributions are still resonating.” The renaming of the high school auditorium means that people will ask who Gates was, keeping his memory alive for future generations, she said.
“Everything is coming full circle,” his sister said. “So his name is never dying.”
Hempstead schools Superintendent Regina Armstrong said the school board knew they wanted to honor Gates, and the auditorium was fitting. Gates, who loved the arts and theater, was instrumental in ensuring the auditorium had the lighting and sound systems it needed for students to perform, she said.
“He was just determined to make a difference in the lives of the students, as well as the adults in the Hempstead School District,” Armstrong told Newsday. “He was committed.”
Jacqueline Gates said her family was deeply moved upon learning of the education board’s April 13 decision to rename the auditorium in honor of her big brother.
“We’re very touched,” she said. “It brings healing to us in a way that no one will ever understand.”
Brinley Hineman covers the Town of Hempstead and the City of Long Beach for Newsday. She previously was a reporter in Nashville, Tennessee, and is a West Virginia native.
