“Dude, how do I put this on?”
Conway laughs and helps his colleague before they both embark on their first formal dinner at the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority house.
Hopkins, Conway and two other Evans Scholars work as kitchen boys at the Theta house as part of their meal jobs. They mop, wash dishes and serve as a small army to their general and head cook Tina Morrow.
The Evans Scholars make up for not having a kitchen in their house by working at fraternities and sororities.
As one of the largest privately funded scholarships, the Evans Scholarship covers four years of tuition at a state university for students who meet the qualifications.
The Evans Scholarship was founded by amateur golfer Charles Evans through the Western Golf Association in 1930 and is awarded to golf caddies who demonstrate character, academic success, a strong caddie record and financial need.
Evans Scholars are currently attending 19 different universities, 14 of which have houses. At IU, more than 573 Evans Scholars have been on campus since 1960. This year there are 60 Evans Scholars.
For the spring 2014 semester the Evans Scholarship paid $576,375.25 to cover the tuition of 57 Evans Scholars, according to an email from WGA President and CEO John Kaczkowski to the IU Office of the Bursar.
This includes those who were out of state coming to IU.
“That’s a tremendous advantage nowadays when you think about it,” Evans Scholar alumnus and faculty advisor Paul Binder said. “They’re graduating debt-free. In this day and age it’s a tremendous gift.”
Alumnus Tony Saliba helped make this possible in 2010 through the Tony Saliba Family Scholarship House for out-of-state students, according to the IU Evans Scholar website.
For most Evans Scholars, this scholarship is their only method of paying for college.
“Eventually I was like, ‘Yeah I need to get into college, I need to go to college, I need a scholarship to go to college,’” Conway said. “I realized how important it was. I don’t think I would be able to go to college without the Evans Scholarship.”
Although the Evans Scholarship and the WGA do not require students to pay them back, scholars are expected to give back to the organization through volunteering.
“To be able to have an education that was essentially almost paid for, it’s not something we take for granted,” Conway said. “An Evans scholarship is not just four years. Afterwards you get involved, you have a network with all the Evans Scholars. It’s a group of people you kind of just bond with all throughout the WGA, and to be able to give back afterwards what they’ve given to you is more what it’s about.”
For many Evans Scholars, this full ride was why they began caddying in middle school. This meant working five to six days a week through middle and high school.
“For me, looking out on a golf course has a lot more meaning to it than ‘Oh, that’s just a golf course,’” junior Evans Scholar Daymon Osborn said. “That’s led to a lot of opportunity for me and for every kid in the Evans house across the country.”
Working around so many local business leaders from a young age has shaped him, Osborn said. Evans Scholars get a sneak peak into the adult world by learning from those who have experienced success, Osborn said.
“It’ll shape who you are, especially when you start as a younger kid with the goal in mind to get the Evans Scholarship,” Osborn said.
The Evans Scholarship focuses heavily on academic achievement. Nationally, Evan Scholars have a 92 percent graduation rate and a collective GPA of 3.25, according to its national website.
New scholars are required to attend study tables several times a week and to maintain a 3.0 GPA or above. The absolute minimum GPA an Evans Scholar could achieve to stay in good standing is a 2.5 GPA, according to the national website.
To stay on top of this, many scholars find comfort in having so many like-minded students around.
“There’s classes that we wouldn’t have been able to get through if it weren’t for living in the Evans Scholar house,” Osborn said. “Everyone’s in there finding their group of people they need help with. It really makes for a successful environment academically.”
New members are expected to perform chores around their house, in addition to any kitchen job. This is part of their four scholar responsibilities: scholarship, leadership, chapter living and house maintenance.
The Evans Scholar creed states, “We cherish the ability to set aside pleasurable activities until the necessary ones are accomplished ... personal growth is our goal; group living is our means.”
Since being founded in 1930, the Evans Scholarship has sent more than 10,600 caddies to college, according to the WGA.
“To a lot of people it means a lot of different things,” Osborn said. “For me, it’s a great opportunity and something that I am wholeheartedly, sincerely thankful for, for what the WGA has done and opened up for me to be at Indiana University because I couldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them.”
