TFAS will honor Jimmy Lai with the Kenneth Y. Tomlinson Award for Courageous Journalism. Lai is the founder of the now-closed pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. He is currently in prison serving out sentences for charges related to his pro-democracy activism.

Lai has been repeatedly harassed and threatened by the Chinese government for his pro-democracy efforts and opposition to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He is owner and founder of Apple Daily, one of Asia’s top newspapers. Aimed at sharing the truth and advocating for democracy, Apple Daily was one of largest circulating newspapers in Hong Kong before it was shut down by Beijing.

Lai has been arrested repeatedly since 2020 for a variety of alleged crimes against the CCP; currently, he is being detained for organizing illegal protests. Amongst Lai’s entrepreneurial pursuits are founding Next Digital, a Hong Kong media company, and Giordano, an Asian clothing retailer.

Paul Gigot, American Pulitzer Prize–winning conservative political commentator and Vice President of The Wall Street Journal Editorial Pages, will present and accept award on behalf of Jimmy Lai.

Paul Gigot is the editorial page editor and vice president of The Wall Street Journal, a position he has held since September 2001. He is responsible for the Journal’s editorials, op-ed articles and Leisure & Arts criticism and directs the editorial content of its editions globally. He is also the host of a weekly news program, the “Journal Editorial Report,” on the Fox News Channel. 

Gigot joined the Journal in 1980 as a reporter in Chicago, and in 1982 he became the Journal’s Asia correspondent, based in Hong Kong. He won an Overseas Press Club award for his reporting on the Philippines. In 1984, he was named the first editorial page editor of The Asian Wall Street Journal, based in Hong Kong. In 1987, he was assigned to Washington, where he contributed editorials and a weekly column on politics, “Potomac Watch,” which won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for commentary.

William McGurn, an opinion columnist for The Wall Street Journal, will be presented with the Thomas L. Phillips Career Achievement Award for his remarkable career. Author, Former Washington Bureau Chief for National Review and Former Chief Speechwriter for President George W. Bush, McGurn writes the weekly “Main Street” column for The Journal.

Mr. McGurn has served as chief editorial writer for The Wall Street Journal in New York. He spent more than a decade overseas — in Brussels for The Wall Street Journal/Europe and in Hong Kong with both the Asian Wall Street Journal and the Far Eastern Economic Review. And in the mid-1990s, he was Washington Bureau Chief for National Review.

Bill is author of a book on Hong Kong (“Perfidious Albion”) and a monograph on terrorism (“Terrorist or Freedom Fighter”). He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, holds a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Notre Dame and a Master of Science in Communications from Boston University.

American political commentator and author Dana Perino will present the award to McGurn. Perino served as the White House press secretary when McGurn was the assistant to the president for speechwriting during the Bush Administration.

Perino is co-host of Fox News’ The Five, co-anchor of America’s Newsroom w/ Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino, an analyst for Fox News election coverage & specials, and a #1 New York Times bestselling author.

She served for more than seven years in the Bush administration, including at the Department of Justice after the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Perino lives in Manhattan with her husband, Peter McMahon, and their dog, Percy.

The evening will also honor the life and legacy of Joseph Rago, a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial writer for The Wall Street Journal, who died in 2017 at the age of 34. In memory of Joe, TFAS and the Rago family established the Joseph Rago Memorial Fellowship for Excellence in Journalism, providing a nine-month internship with The Wall Street Journal’s editorial team.

Rising star Carine Hajjar will accept the 2022 Rago Fellowship at the dinner.

Benjamin Riley, managing editor of The New Criterion, will share remarks on the legacy of his friend, fraternity brother and colleague, the late Joseph Rago. Paul Rago will speak on behalf of the Rago family to share remarks on their late son, Joseph, and introduce the 2022 Rago Fellow, Carine Hajjar.

TFAS will present our 2022 Robert Novak Journalism Fellowship Awards to the next generation of top writers.

By providing essential support and an extensive network of alumni, Novak Fellowships give promising journalists the resources to undertake career-building and impactful projects. 

Named in honor of renowned columnist Robert D. Novak, the program has funded more than 150 journalists since its founding. 

Honorary Chairs

Members

Marilyn and William Dabaghi

John and Astrid Hajjar

Elliot Kaufman

Stanley Stillman — Paideia Times

Dean Zarras

Friend

Caroline Weil Barnett and Family

Jeffrey J. Carneal

kglobal

Randal and Darlene Teague