Monday, October 02, 2000

WILMINGTON, NC -- The inaugural "Tee Off for Education" Jay Robinson Memorial Golf Tournament is scheduled for 11 a.m., Friday, Oct. 20 at the Echo Farms Country Club. Dean Smith, former head coach of UNC-Chapel Hill men's basketball team, is honorary chair.

Proceeds from this tournament, which is expected to become an annual event, will benefit the Jay Robinson Endowed Scholarship Fund in the Watson School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Robinson, former chair of the N.C. State Board of Education and leading exponent of the accountability movement in public education, died in April. He was a member of the UNC Wilmington Board of Trustees.

"I was privileged to know Jay over many years. He was a fine coach and an excellent administrator. It is a great honor to serve as the honorary chair of this first tournament," said Smith in a written statement.

The tournament organizers, Bill Jump, Bill O'Kane and Joel McKean, were golfing buddies with Robinson and played regularly as a foursome.

This benefit tournament will be a scrambler format where golfers can form their own four-person team. Teams will be handicapped by the Echo Farms club professional. Entry is $125 per golfer and includes a buffet lunch, welcome package, 18 holes of golf, including cart, and a post-game pig roast.

"The Watson School of Education is extremely excited about this tournament," said Dr. Cathy Barlow. "Scholarship recipients would be needy students who show great promise as teachers."

Providing additional resources for prospective teachers is particularly important, said Barlow. Southeastern North Carolina is facing a teaching shortage, and construction of a new facility to house the Watson School of Education is the university's top priority.

"The Watson School of Education graduates approximately 300 teachers annually, but with completion of the proposed facility, UNCW could provide the region almost twice that many teachers," said Barlow.

Funding for the new Watson School of Education and Regional Education Resource Center is part of the $108 million UNCW anticipates receiving if North Carolina voters approve the $3.1 billion bond referendum on Nov. 7.

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For more information on the tournament, contact Bill Jump at 910/256-8079, Bill O'Kane at 910/392-2419 or Joel McKean at 910/452-7126.

For more information on the Jay Robinson Endowed Scholarship Fund, contact Marla Rice-Evans at 910/962-7055.

File photos of Dean Smith are available. To request a photo via e-mail, contact Phillip Brown, UNCW university relations, at 910/962-7223 or e-mail brownp@uncwil.edu.