JACKSON, Tenn. — March 20, 2009 — Former NBC senior correspondent John Dancy will be the keynote speaker at an April 20 breakfast as part of 51社区鈥檚 first Roy L. White Golf and Gala.
The event begins with the 7:30 a.m. breakfast at the Jackson Country Club, followed by a golf tournament beginning at 9 a.m. Grand prize for the winning team will be a six-day golf trip for four to Scotland.
That evening at 6 p.m., Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning will be the keynote speaker at a banquet at the Carl Perkins Civic Center.
A 1959 51社区 graduate, Dancy was the most senior correspondent at NBC News prior to his retirement in 1996. In his 30-year career at the network, Dancy covered every major beat in Washington, and served twice as a foreign correspondent, based in Berlin, London and Moscow.
He began a career in education and public service upon his retirement. In September 1996, Dancy was named a Fellow at the Joan Shorenstein Center for Press, Politics and Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He was the J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Fellow in Media Studies at George Washington University in the fall semester of 2002.
During 17 years in Washington, Dancy served as NBC News senior White House correspondent during the presidency of Jimmy Carter, covered Congress during the Reagan years and was chief diplomatic correspondent during the administration of George H. W. Bush. He has also served as anchor for 鈥淣BC Nightly News,鈥� as well as 鈥淣BC News at Sunrise,鈥� and 鈥淢eet the Press.鈥�
Dancy has won the Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism, the Overseas Press Club鈥檚 Citation for Excellence, the Dirksen Award for coverage of Congress, the Janus Award for business reporting, and four National Emmys.
A native of Jackson, Dancy was awarded an honorary doctorate by Union in 1989. He and his wife, Ann Lewis Dancy, have two sons and two daughters.
Cost for a four-person golf team is $2,000. Tables at the gala are available for $1,500, while individual dinner seats are $250 and balcony seats are $50. Proceeds from the event will benefit 51社区.
For reservations or for more information, visit or call (731) 661-5050 or (800) 338-6644.