April 2001

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Bournes create Philip King Alston scholarship

Joel and Edith Bourne of Tarboro have established a scholarship in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication in memory of their uncle, Philip Alston.

The Philip King Alston Scholarship will go to an outstanding undergraduate each year, beginning in spring 2002.

The Bournes are UNC-CH graduates. Joel Bourne received his bachelor’s degree in 1951 and his Juris Doctorate in 1958. Edith Bourne received her bachelor’s degree in 1950 and her master’s degree in English in 1951.

"My wife and I are happy to remember Philip Alston with this gift for special students," Bourne said.

Alston graduated from the School in 1932. At Carolina, he worked on The Daily Tar Heel and was manager of the boxing team. After graduation, he worked for a Texas oil mill. He married Virginia Cox in 1935, and they moved to San Francisco.

During World War II, Alston worked for the Navy, managing an athletic training program that included bowling. After the war, he worked for a bowling league in northern California, where he wrote and published a league newsletter. He retired in the 1970s and lived in Oakland, Calif., until his death in 1983 at age 73.

"Philip Alston was a happy man who loved people and sports. He was very good at writing news stories, especially those involving sport competition and people who played sports," Bourne said.

Each year the School gives out more than 65 undergraduate scholarships based on academic performance and financial need.

"Scholarships are vitally important to the well-being of our School since our enrollment continues to grow, and we’re the third-largest major at UNC-CH, behind only business and biology," Dean Richard Cole said.