News Release

Photo note: To download photos, see end of release.

CHAPEL HILL – Four alumni and a groundbreaking faculty member of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who have distinguished themselves with their contributions to the university will be honored during an awards dinner at the 24^th annual Black Alumni Reunion on Friday (Oct. 29).

Julius Chambers of Charlotte, Karol Mason of Atlanta and Karen Parker of Winston-Salem will receive the 2004 Harvey E. Beech Outstanding Alumni Award. Law professor Charles Daye of Durham will receive the Harvey E. Beech Outstanding Black Faculty Award. Andrea McAfee, a journalism major from Charlotte, will receive the Harvey E. Beech Outstanding Senior Award.

The event, for which advanced registration is required, will begin with a 6 p.m. reception at the Sheraton Chapel Hill Hotel followed by dinner at 7 p.m.

The General Alumni Association will accept registration by phone through Wednesday (Oct. 27). The cost is $55 for non-GAA members and $40 for members. Contact Anita Walton at 962-3582 to purchase tickets.

Chambers, a 1962 graduate of the UNC School of Law, in 1964 opened what became the state’s first integrated law firm. He launched a $50 million capital campaign for North Carolina Central University during his tenure as chancellor, and is now director of the UNC Center for Civil Rights.

Mason was the first black woman to become partner of the international law firm Alston & Bird, where she concentrates her practice in government and project finance. A 1979 graduate of UNC with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, Mason is a member of the university’s Board of Trustees.

Parker, a 1965 graduate of the school of journalism and mass communication and the first black female undergraduate to earn her degree, has worked for The Los Angeles Times and now is copy editor for The Winston-Salem Journal. During her studies at UNC, she kept a journal that was the inspiration for a character in "The Activist’s Daughter," a book by Ellyn Bache.

Daye was the first black man to serve as law clerk for the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., and later the first black man to hold a tenure-track position on the UNC law faculty. He has degrees from NC Central and Columbia universities.

McAfee serves on the student advisory board for the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History and is the vice president and service chairwoman of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. Active with the Black Student Movement and the Minority Student Recruitment Committee, she chairs the Campus Y Advocates for the Empowerment of Women of Color.

The Harvey E. Beech Outstanding Alumni Award recognizes black alumni who have been instrumental in the support and further development of the Black Alumni Reunion, as well as individuals who have been outstanding leaders in the university community or in their local communities. It is named for UNC’s first black graduate, who completed his law degree in 1952 and went on to a distinguished career. The Outstanding Black Faculty Award recognizes faculty members who have shown outstanding leadership, dedication, innovation and advancement of academic excellence. The Outstanding Senior Award is given to a senior who excels in academics, leadership and as a volunteer who helps strengthen bonds between UNC students and alumni.

The General Alumni Association is a self-governed, nonprofit organization serving alumni and friends of UNC. For more information about the event and this year’s winners, visit www.alumni.unc.edu/reunions.

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Photo URLs:

Julius Chambers: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/alum/blackalumniaward/2004/chambers.jpg
Charles Daye:  http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/alum/blackalumniaward/2004/daye.jpg
Karol Mason:  http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/alum/blackalumniaward/2004/mason.jpg
Andrea McAfee: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/alum/blackalumniaward/2004/mcafee.jpg
Karen Parker: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/alum/blackalumniaward/2004/parker.jpg

General Alumni Association contact: Anita Walton, 962-3582
News Services contacts: Print, Deb Saine, 919-962-8589; broadcast, Karen Moon, 919-962-9585