WASHINGTON (ABP) — A family relationship fostered under extraordinary circumstances more than 50 years ago has led two stalwarts of religious liberty, James and Marilyn Dunn, to establish a scholar program in honor of their friends, Bill and Judith Moyers.
Beginning in the spring of 2006, graduate students at Wake Forest University Divinity School in Winston-Salem, N.C., may apply for the Moyers Scholar program, which entitles one recipient per year to a semester internship at the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty in Washington, D.C. The BJC is a 70-year-old organization whose mission is to defend and extend religious liberty for all.
The Dunns donated $100,000 to the endowment fund, which will be managed by the divinity school at Wake Forest University with the proceeds going to the scholar program at the BJC.
“The name 'Moyers' has become a part of speech for all aware Americans,” James Dunn said. “To suggest that someone is a 'Moyers' means that he or she is informed on theology, infused with integrity, and in speaking truth to power, fortified with courage.”
In 1958, while standing in a hospital waiting room after having just learned that his fiancée, Marilyn, had survived a car accident where her step-sister was killed, James Dunn was approached by Ruby Moyers.
“The lady said, 'You're staying at my house tonight,'” James Dunn recalled. In fact, Dunn stayed at the Moyers' house two or three nights while visiting Marilyn in the hospital in Marshall, Texas, which was three hours from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, where he was in school.
At the time, Ruby's son, Bill Moyers, was a fellow student at Southwestern. Thus, a friendship with Moyers that had begun a few years earlier was solidified that day and has now lasted more than 50 years.
James Dunn, who served as executive director of the BJC from 1980-1999, is the president of the organization's endowment and a resident professor of Christianity and public policy at Wake Forest Divinity School. Dunn, a recipient of eight honorary degrees, earned a bachelor of arts degree from Texas Wesleyan College and bachelor of divinity and doctor of theology degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Marilyn Dunn is the daughter of Edwin and Polly McNeely, both longtime professors at Southwestern. She is a lyric soprano who participates extensively in various musical events in Winston-Salem and throughout the region.
In his long career in broadcast journalism, Bill Moyers has won more than 30 Emmys, two prestigious Golden Baton awards and nine Peabody awards.
Moyers served as a founding organizer of the Peace Corps and was press secretary for President Lyndon Johnson before becoming the publisher of Newsday in 1967. He served as a reporter and anchor for public television before moving to CBS, where he was senior news analyst for the CBS Evening News.
Moyers earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Texas in 1956 and a bachelor of divinity degree from Southwestern.
Bill and Judith Moyers currently collaborate with Public Affairs Television Inc., an independent production company founded by Bill and headed by Judith. Before their retirement in 2004, Judith Moyers was executive editor and Bill Moyers was managing editor and anchor of Now with Bill Moyers.
Judith Moyers has been recognized for her work as an advocate for children by groups such as the Girl Scouts of America and the National Council of Churches. She has served as a United States Commissioner to UNESCO, a member of the White House Commission on Children and member of the National Governors' Association Task Force on Education and Economic Development.
Born in Dallas, she is a graduate of the University of Texas, earning a bachelor of science.
Bill Leonard, dean of the Wake Forest Divinity School, said the Moyers Scholar program “will forge bonds with the Baptist Joint Committee, help us recruit students interested in pursuing church-state studies and honor two great Americans.
“It is a grand gift from two people who have claimed our hearts and our consciences across the years,” Leonard said.
Brent Walker, James Dunn's successor as executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee, said: “The BJC anticipates a lasting partnership with Wake Forest and looks forward to welcoming our first Moyers Scholar. This gift memorializes an already pervasive Dunn legacy and honors the Moyers' support of the BJC at the same time.”