scholarship dinner
A Night to Remember By Deacon Forrest Wallace
A Keynote speaker and Wall Street Journal columnist Bill McGurn.
ve Maria University’s First Annual Scholarship Dinner was the occasion for the announcement of the Thomas S. Monaghan Catholic Leaders Scholarship Fund, a promis ing source of support for future Ave Maria scholars. The dinner, held on the 1st of February, will likely be remembered as a night filled with surprises and majesty. As it turned out, the man who was honored that night was not surprised simply by the nearly $500,000 raised during the event. Tom Monaghan and his wife Marge were just settling down for dinner when AMU president Jim Towey picked up a phone at the podium. He dialed Gyrene Burger, Tom’s new business venture, and ordered the University’s founder and chancellor one of his favorite meals – a Classic hamburger. Towey explained that he wanted to see if Tom’s legendary take-out service worked or not. No sooner had he hung up than a camouflage-wearing Gyrene Burger delivery
cadet sprinted into the Ritz-Carlton’s largest ballroom and delivered a bag containing a Classic Gyrene Burger to the Monaghan’s table. Once the laughter and applause subsided, the Ritz brought out the planned dinner of surf and turf to all of the guests, including Tom and Marge Monaghan. But the surprises were not over. Without any advance notice to the audience, Broadway legend Franc D’Ambrosio, best known for his portrayal of the “Phantom” in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tony Award winning Musical The Phantom Of The Opera, took the stage later in the program. D’Ambrosio serenaded the audience, which included Honorary co-chairs John F. and Rhodora J. Donahue and other members of the Ave Maria University Board of Trustees and sponsors, with a medley of hits from The Phantom, as well as the song “Bring Him Home” from Les Miserables. The surprise appearance was arranged by Brian and Denise Cobb, members of the Ave Maria University President’s Council. This breath-taking performance followed the evening’s keynote speaker.
Broadway legend Franc D’Ambrosio.
To anyone in the audience familiar with the wit and intelligence of the former chief speechwriter for President George W. Bush, it came as no surprise that the remarks by Bill McGurn, now Wall Street Journal columnist and Vice President at News Corporation, would leave the audience just as captured.
avemaria.edu | spring 2012 |
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