Evans Scholars begin academic career with golf

Spending years on the golf course has provided more than just a knowledge of the game for some students.\nInside the Evans Scholars house, 1075 N. Jordan Ave., golf caddies from all across Indiana are enjoying a free ride to college.\nThe Evans Scholars Foundation is a college scholarship program for golf caddies. It was started in 1930 in the Chicago area by Charles Evans, who began his golf career as a caddie and developed into a successful amateur golfer. Evans decided to give his winnings from golf tournaments toward a scholarship fund for caddies, both male and female, in order to maintain his amateur status.\nThe first two Evans Scholars attended Northwestern University in 1930, and since then more than 7,000 men and women have graduated from colleges across the country as Evans Scholars.\nThere are 48 Evans Scholars at IU, and receiving the scholarship is an honor which the scholars said they do not take lightly.\n"I feel the Evans Scholarship is the most rewarding scholarship one can get," said junior Jimmy Pappas, the New Scholar Educator of the Evans House. "Not only is your tuition paid for, but you are able to make friendships with so many people that you would not normally hang out with."\nPresident Jeremy Stroiman, a sophomore, said the financial help from the scholarship made it possible for him to attend IU.\n"It was the reason I caddied growing up," Stroiman said. "It was my only way to go to college."\nThe scholarships are funded through donations made to the Western Golf Association, the organization that runs the Foundation. Donations are made by members of country clubs belonging to the Western Golf Association. Evans Scholars alumni also donate a significant amount of money.\nAbout $5 million is raised each year through alumni donations.\nThe scholarship includes full tuition and academic fees and the scholars live in the Evans Chapter House for a yearly fee of about $1,500, said senior Shannon Hoffman. Meals come as part of the deal as well.\n"We wash dishes at the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority and get free meals there," Stroiman said.\nLiving arrangements for the female scholars are slightly different.\n"You have to have 20 percent females in order to live in the house and there are only three of us here at IU," Hoffman said.\n The women are given money to live in a dorm freshman year and are given a housing stipend thereafter, since they are not allowed to live in the chapter house.\n Although their house is located among greek houses, the Evans Scholars have no greek affiliation.\n "We're all on scholarship here and there is no rush," Stroiman said.\nDespite all of the differences between the Evans Scholars Program and traditional greek fraternities and sororities, the Evans Scholars participate in a number of campus activities, including their own blood drive at the house every spring.\n"We do IU Sing and we have a team in the Little 500," Hoffman said.\nThe Evans Scholars also said they believe they share the greek system's ideas of fellowship and camaraderie.\n"We're all brothers and sisters here," said Hoffman. "There is definitely a bond."\nTo join the program, potential scholars apply during the summer between their junior and senior year in high school. The scholarship is based on high school academic achievement and applicants must be in the top quarter of their class to apply. They must also be in need of financial assistance in college and have caddied successfully for at least two years, Hoffman said. Filling out an application, getting letters of recommendation and writing an essay begins the process.\n"Then there is a series of interviews," Hoffman said. "First through your club and then through the Western Golf Association."\nUpon winning the scholarship, students must choose to attend a university with an Evans chapter house in their home state and maintain at least a 2.4 grade point average each year to keep the scholarship.\nThere are 14 chapter houses in universities across the Midwest and West, the oldest being at Northwestern University, founded in 1940. Northern Illinois University has the most recent chapter, founded in 1987.\nIU's chapter house, which is home to 45 male Evans Scholars, was constructed in 1998 after the previous one was destroyed in a fire April 12, 1997. \nThe scholars all agree the scholarship has added to their time at IU.\n"Being an Evans Scholar has been my college experience," Pappas said. "I cannot imagine going to college under different circumstances"