Carolina Covenant documentary wins Emmy

This story was originally published on alumni.unc.edu.

Two Tar Heels in pale blue bow ties earned an Emmy for telling the story of one of Carolina’s most transformative programs.

Chase Martin, assistant director of video for university development, and Jeyhoun Allebaugh ’26 (M.A.), assistant director of photo and video for university development, accepted the best educational content award for the short documentary they directed about the Carolina Covenant — a 22-year-old program that allows low-income students to graduate debt-free through grants, scholarships and work-study jobs, rather than loans. The documentary was also nominated in the short form editing category.

Martin and Allebaugh celebrated the win at the Nashville/Midsouth Emmy Award Ceremony, hosted by the chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences that recognizes excellence in media in Alabama, North Carolina and Tennessee.

“The Carolina Covenant: Then, Now and Forever” celebrated 20 years of making it possible for 11,000 low-income students to attend UNC debt-free. The film features interviews with the program’s founders and directors, a few of the scholars and alumni whose lives were changed by the scholarship, and donors such as Roy Williams ’72 (’73 MAT), who was one of the earliest supporters of the program.

The documentary captured a philosophy that Williams shared with the filmmakers and that Allebaugh has witnessed firsthand. “When you believe in young people, it’s not just them who succeed,” Allebaugh said. “It’s also all the people they then come into contact with for the rest of their lives.”

Allebaugh, who will complete his master’s degree in digital communications later this year, said the program was personal to him, as his parents benefited from similar scholarships; his father simply wouldn’t have been able to attend college without one. Further, Allebaugh has mentored several Covenant students since joining the development staff in 2018.

“I got to hire someone like Adolfo Alvarez ’26 as an intern, who’s now our student body president. I got to work with Mel Dalili, who became Tennessee’s Youth Poet Laureate,” Allebaugh said. “And those are just two stories out of more than 11,000. After 20 years, the Covenant has created this incredible community of people who are out in the world doing good because someone invested in them.”

He added that the win was an “awesome culmination” to his time as a graduate student at the Hussman School of Journalism and Media. He recalled his first graduate class — “MEJO 710: Psychology of Audiences” taught by Rhonda Gibson — in which he learned how important emotions were to effective storytelling. It’s a lesson that informed his approach to the documentary as he sought to create connections that would resonate with viewers.

Martin said, “More than anything, we wanted to show the heart behind the program. Yes, it provides financial support, but it also represents belief in students and their potential. We wanted to honor the people who built it, the staff and faculty who continue to support it, and the alumni and students who give it life every day. Carolina Covenant students are not defined by receiving a scholarship. They are researchers, teachers, entrepreneurs and public servants.”

The pair thanked Nick Khoury, director of development for scholarships and student aid, for supporting them and the scholarship program. “To be trusted with telling that story and then to have it recognized with an Emmy is something I do not take lightly,” Martin said. “I feel grateful to play even a small role in sharing what this program has meant to so many people.”