RSS FeedFor immediate release
Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration to feature Dominique Dawes
Jackson Community College will welcome Olympic Gold Medal gymnast Dominique Dawes to the Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2007 in the Victor Cuiss Fieldhouse on main campus. Dawes will present a keynote address on “Inspiring the Olympian Within You.”
JCC’s Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration will also feature the presentation of the King Medal of Service Awards. This year’s recipients are Rev. Jay Cummings, and Charles and Patricia Anderson of Jackson. Social hour begins at 5:30 p.m., and dinner at 6 p.m. Tickets for the event are $20 for adults or $12 for students and are available at the JCC box office, 517.796.8600. For more information, call the Office of Multicultural Relations at 517.796.8470.
Dominique Dawes started in gymnastics at the age of 6 and began competing at age 10. She burst into the international spotlight in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. She was the first African American gymnast to ever qualify and compete in an Olympic Games. At these Games she and her teammates captured a bronze medal. Since then Dominique has won more National Championship medals than any other athlete, male or female, since 1963, as well as numerous World Championship medals. One of Dominique’s greatest feats came when she swept all four events and won the All Around title at the 1994 National Championships.
At the 1996 Olympic Games Dominique and the U.S. Gymnastics team made history and stole the hearts of Americans with their team gold medal. At those same Games, she became the first African-American to win an individual gymnastics medal with her bronze on the floor.
