KNOXVILLE — Supporters of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, will have the chance to play golf this weekend while raising money for scholarships benefiting African American students.
The eighth annual Alex Haley Scholarship Benefit Auction & Celebrity Golf Tournament takes place Sunday and Monday, May 15 and 16.
The auction will take place from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Knoxville. Former Olympian and UT staff member Ralph Boston, will preside as master of ceremonies, and UT’s assistant athletic director, Condredge Holloway will speak. Items to be auctioned include autographed basketballs form coaches Pat Summitt and Cuonzo Martin, footballs from Coach Derek Dooley, Hartmann luggage, four weekly passes to the Professional Golf Association Senior Championship at Valhalla in Louisville, Kentucky, two round-trip tickets on Continental Airlines, and more. Tickets are still available for the auction. The cost for a reserved table is $500; individual seats are $50. For more information about attending the auction, call 865-974-2425.
Monday’s tee time at Gettysvue Polo, Golf, & Country Club in Knoxville is set for 9:00 a.m. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. Members of the UT administration will be joined by former UT football coaches Phil Fulmer and Johnny Majors. Registration for the golf tournament is full.
The Alex Haley Scholarships were created to benefit current and incoming African American undergraduate students at UT. The scholarships were named for Haley because of his close ties to UT.
Haley, best known for his novel Roots, served as an adjunct faculty member in UT’s College of Communication and Information in 1991 and donated his notes, manuscripts, videotapes, and mementoes to UT’s Special Collections Library. While at UT, Haley presented lectures that attracted large campus and community audiences. He lived in Norris, Tennessee, just outside Knoxville, and died in 1992.
The two-day event is sponsored by the UT Millennium Focus Group, the UT Office of Alumni Affairs, and the Division of Student Affairs. The Millennium Focus Group was formed in 2002 to assist with fundraising efforts and includes alumni from Tennessee and beyond. Former Tennessee football star and professional football player Stanley Morgan and his wife, Rholedia, chair the committee that began the Alex Haley Scholarship Benefit Auction & Celebrity Golf Tournament in 2004 to increase awareness for these efforts and involve a larger public. The tournament is part of this year’s celebration of fifty years of African American achievement. For more information on the year of events, visit achieve.utk.edu.
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CONTACT:
Charles Houston, Alumni Affairs, (865-974-2425, chousto3@utk.edu)