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WKZL 107.5 FM’s Jack Murphy, second from left, with the “Murphy in the Morning” team and Chancellor Kenneth E. Peacock.

Jack Murphy of WKZL’s “Murphy in the Morning” is an Appalachian parent and the creator of a broadcasting scholarship.

Jack Murphy of WKZL 107.5 FM’s “Murphy in the Morning” show didn’t finish college, but a new scholarship he created at Appalachian State University will help ensure other people can.

“All my life I’ve regretted not having a college education,” said the Greensboro/Winston-Salem radio personality. He founded the Murphy’s Kids Scholarship for Electronic Media/Broadcasting Majors in Appalachian’s Department of Communication.

The scholarship is one of many projects supported by Murphy’s Kids, a nonprofit organization Murphy founded to help children in the Triad who are in foster care, an adoptive home, children’s home or single-parent family and have financial need. The organization has raised more than $1.5 million over the past 10-12 years.

Murphy became inspired to create the scholarship after his own son, Ryan, enrolled at Appalachian. “I was blown away with the faculty here and Chancellor Peacock. Our son is having a wonderful experience right now, and I thought how lucky we are to be able to pay for it. I wondered if maybe there’s some role for Murphy’s Kids… A lot of people graduate from college with debt. We can put a kid in, guarantee them four years, and then they’ll have a degree and be ready to go in life,” Murphy said.

The Murphy’s Kids Scholarship for Electronic Media/Broadcasting Majors covers tuition and fees for an incoming freshman from Forsyth, Guilford or adjacent counties. The scholarship is renewable as long as the student maintains a 2.75 grade point average and remains in the electronic media/broadcasting major.

The first recipient is Austin McCollum of Reidsville. Just weeks into the 2009-10 school year, McCollum calls his start at Appalachian “one of the best” years of his life. He’s gotten involved in Appalachian’s WASU 90.5 radio station, and other clubs and organizations on campus. After graduating, he hopes to pursue a career in television.

“Donors give more than just money to incoming students like myself. They give you the opportunity to fulfill your dreams and accomplish things that otherwise would be impossible,” McCollum said.

“Having to try and attend college without the Murphy’s Kids Scholarship would put an amount of stress and strain on my mother and me… I am eternally grateful for the chance that I have been given, and I can safely say that I am grateful for anyone who has ever donated money so that someone may also be given at least the chance to fulfill their dreams,” he said.

“Murphy in the Morning” is one of the top-rated morning shows in the Triad of North Carolina. Murphy’s four-person, on-air team includes Appalachian graduate Katie O’Brien ’05.

For the past two years, Murphy and his team have inspired Appalachian students by appearing among the nation’s top broadcasting professionals speaking at the Kellar Radio Talent Institute, a 10-day program for future radio broadcasters held on campus.

For giving information contact:
Greg Langdon
Director of Development for College of Fine & Applied Arts
langdongm@appstate.edu
828-262-6689