MORRIS L. WALKER ’08 1986–2009
Former Covenant Scholar Killed by Roadside Bomb in Afghanistan
A23-year-old former Carolina Covenant Scholar is the first UNC alumnus killed
in the 8-year-old war in Afghanistan.
someone who mixed easily
among various social groups.
Army Pfc. Morris L. Walker ’08, an Army
paratrooper, was one of two U.S. soldiers killed
Aug. 18 when his vehicle was destroyed by a
roadside bomb.
In May, Cmdr. Charles Keith Springle ’ 79,
who also received his master’s degree in social
work from Carolina in 1984, became Carolina’s
first alumnus to die in the war in Iraq.
COURTESY WWW.MOWALKERMEMORIALFUND.ORG
“If you got to spend time with Mo Walker,
you remembered it,” Sam Rosenthal ’09 told
The Daily Tar Heel. “He had a charisma and a
warmth that just rubbed off, and also a pride
and a sense about himself. I had never met
anybody with so much confidence and even
borderline arrogance that never rubbed people
the wrong way.”
Walker enrolled at UNC in fall 2004 after
graduating from Fayetteville Academy. He was
treasurer of that school’s student government
association, a member of its community service
group and was a varsity basketball player, a
school official told the The News & Observer of
Another friend, Antwine Jackson ’06, told
the DTH that Walker took his enlistment very
seriously. Jackson said he asked Walker before
his deployment if he was scared.
“He just said, ‘Man, I’m just glad I get a
chance to do something like this, to be a part
of something great.’ ”
Raleigh.
At UNC, Walker most recently was enrolled
in the summer of 2008. He joined the Army
that August and had been assigned to the 1st
The family of Morris L. “Mo” Walker ’08 set up a scholarship for students at his former high school, Fayetteville
Walker’s dedication was even more striking
because it wasn’t always part of his plans,
Rosenthal said.
Academy. Learn more at www.mowalkermemorialfund.org.
Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment,
Zeta Beta Tau at UNC and worked at Ram’s
4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th
“He wasn’t all about ‘I want to go to war.’
... Once he decided to go, he was very aware
of what he was doing,” Rosenthal said.
Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska.
— Carolina Alumni Review staff
Walker, called “Mo” by his friends, joined
Head Recreation Center, where he spent
much of his spare time working out and playing basketball. He was known among friends as
and Daily Tar Heel reports
in
memoriam
; marriages
Emily Caroline Miller (’06 BSBIO, ’08 MPH) and
William Clinton Ray of Chapel Hill. u Brandon
Christian Parker (’06 ABJM) and Torrye Lee Jones
(’07 ABJM) of Beaufort, S.C. u Brian William Strang
(’06 AB) and Rebecca Kay Aubry (’07 AB) of
Durham.
; family addition
Jason Scott Moon (’06 AB) and Tara Cothran Moon
(’ 94 BSBIO, ’ 96 BSCLS) of Chapel Hill; a son, James
Davis Moon, on July 21, 2009.
’07 Delana Rachel Ann Dameron (’07 AB) of New York has published a book of poetry, How God Ends Us. The collection was
selected for the 2008 South Carolina Poetry Book
Prize. Dameron, a member of the Carolina African
American Writers Collective, has published in journals
and anthologies, including Essence and African
American Review magazines and the anthology
Black Poets Lean South. u Ali Colleen Neff (’07 MA)
of Durham has published Let the World Listen Right:
The Mississippi Delta Hip-Hop Story, a study of Delta
music-making from neighborhood juke joints to the
international hip-hop stage. Neff is an instructor in
cultural studies and music at UNC. u Heather Nicole
Reinelt (’07 BSPSY) of Salt Lake City is the new club
leader for the Salt Lake City Carolina Club. u Donna
Felesha Sylver (’07 MBA) of Durham has received
three awards from the Greater Durham Chamber of
Commerce. She won the Duke Energy Citizenship and
Service Award for her volunteer leadership and community service, the Professional Women’s Network Inspiration Award for her role in the empowerment of women
in the workplace and the community, and, on behalf
of her accounting business, Sylver CPA PLLC, the Circle of Influence Diversity Award in the small-business
category.
; marriages
Rebecca Kay Aubry (’07 AB) and Brian William
Strang (’06 AB) of Durham. u Jesse Lee Carter (’07
BSIS, ’09 MSLS) and Benjamin Talmadge Isley (’07
BSPSY) of St. Louis. u Torrye Lee Jones (’07 ABJM)
and Brandon Christian Parker (’06 ABJM) of
Beaufort, S.C.
; family addition
Robert Murray Hughes IV (’07 PhD) and Elizabeth
Keville Hughes of Durham; a daughter, Hazel
Katherine Hughes, on April 28, 2009.
’08 Brian M. Fenty (’08 ABJM) of New York has co-produced his first Broadway show, Oleanna, written by David Mamet, starring Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles. Fenty is an associate with Hamilton Investment Partners. u Angela
Itoge (’08 JD) of Durham has graduated from the
146th Foreign Service Generalist Orientation class
as a U.S. diplomat. Itoge has been assigned by the
State Department to the Bureau of European and
Eurasian Affairs in Washington, D.C., as post management officer. u Justin James Leonard (’08 JD)
of Holly Springs has joined Coats and Bennett PLLC
as an associate patent lawyer. u Jordan Blaine
Myers (’08 AB) of Chapel Hill is the new club leader
for the Orange/Durham Carolina Club. u Erin Ashley
O’Quinn (’08 AB) of Pittsburgh has been named a
case manager for the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force. u
Daniel William Sanson (’08 AB) of Cleveland is the
new club leader for the Cleveland Carolina Club in
Ohio.
; marriages
Cristin Kathryn Kenney (’08 MBA) and Cutler Wilson
Andrews (’03 AB) of Chapel Hill. u S. Campbell
“Cambey” Merritt (’08 AB) and David Russell
Mikush (’08 AB) of Atlanta. u Nathan Scott
Neufang (’08 ABJM) and Marianne Elizabeth
Palmer (’05 BSPH) of Durham.
; obituary
Morris Lewis “Mo” Walker (’08), 23, of Fayetteville;
Aug. 18, 2009. Walker was an Army paratrooper, serving in Afghanistan. At UNC, he was a Carolina
Covenant Scholar and a member of Zeta Beta Tau.
Story above.
’09 Susan M. Deupree (’09 PhD) of Chapel Hill has been selected for a two-year fellow- ship from the Industrial Fellowship program,
supported by the N.C. Biotechnology Center. Deupree
will gain industrial research experience with Enthalpy
Analytical, a contract research organization that analyzes chemicals for drug discovery and development.
u Andrew Finn Magill (’09 AB) of Asheville has
received a Fulbright-mtvU Fellowship. Created to promote the power of music as a global force for mutual
understanding, the fellowship will fund Magill’s travel
to Malawi to work with the UNC Malawi Project and
AIDS organizations. Magill will videorecord narratives
of Malawian families and communities affected by
AIDS and collaborate with Peter Mawanga, a Malawian
musician and social activist, to develop a concept
album whose sales will benefit AIDS social service
networks.
