Nick Saban to be Faulkner University’s Benefit Dinner Speaker
Alabama head coach Nick Saban speaks during NCAA college football Southeastern Conference Media Days Tuesday, July 19, 2022, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Former University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban will be the speaker at Faulkner University’s annual benefit dinner, the university has announced.
The dinner will be Thursday, October 3, at the Renaissance Hotel and Montgomery Convention Center downtown.
Faulkner University President Mitch Henry said that the theme for this year is to celebrate the heroes of adoption and foster care who are meeting a critical need in the state of Alabama.
“This year’s keynote speaker, along with his wife Terry, founded an organization that has gone above and beyond to care for and support organizations that not only support adopted children and foster care children, but any child who is in critical need. They have supported education organizations as well as those who provide direct services to the most vulnerable children in this state and other states. The name of that charity is Nick’s Kids and our speaker is none other than Nick Saban.”
Saban’s legendary record as a football coach is well known. Faulkner University said it is Saban’s charitable work that caught the attention of university leadership in deciding this year’s keynote speaker.
In his stint at Michigan State as head coach, Saban and his wife Terry started the Nick’s Kids Foundation, which they continued in Tuscaloosa. Nearly $6 million has been distributed to students, teachers and children’s causes at over 150 charities through the Nick’s Kids Foundation.
They have played a big role in tornado relief efforts in Tuscaloosa and the surrounding areas. Immediately following the devastating storm on April 27, 2011, the Sabans visited shelters where they paid for and served meals to those in need. Through Nick’s Kids, the Sabans joined with Project Team Up and Habitat for Humanity in helping to rebuild 15 homes lost in the tornado.
In June of 2008, the Sabans announced a $1 million gift to benefit Alabama’s first-generation scholarship program. The gift has a special meaning to the Sabans, as both Nick and Terry were first-generation graduates.
Ticket prices for the benefit dinner start at $200 and rise to $40,000 for an underwriter sponsorship. The money goes toward student scholarships.
In the past, Faulkner has brought in annual benefit dinner speakers such as former NFL quarterback Drew Brees, former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, former President George W. Bush, former Ambassador Nikki Haley, Dr. Ben Carson, Tom Brokaw, Donald Trump, Jr., and former Vice President Mike Pence.
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