Evans Scholars at the University of Oregon celebrated the opening of their Scholarship House – the first in the Pacific Northwest – on Sunday, Oct. 23, along with organization leaders, university officials and other Program friends.
An open house was held at the facility, located at 1910 University Street in Eugene. For the first time, 31 Oregon Scholars are now living in community in a Scholarship House, the first in the Pacific Northwest and the Evans Scholars Program’s first new chapter since 1987. The House has served as a fraternity and more recently, a bed and breakfast.
Event speakers included Jeff Harrison, Senior Vice President, Education, at Evans Scholars Foundation, university official Roger Thompson and Hannah Rice.
WGA Director Dan Harmon was recognized for his generosity to the Scholarship House project.
Rice is the first elected president of the newly formed chapter. In the past year, she has helped lead her fellow Scholars in cleaning the House on weekends and meeting with Program leaders to plan the transition and create the chapter’s infrastructure.
“I have been so inspired by the Evans growth in Oregon,” she has said previously. “We are making history, and I am honored to be able to help build a strong foundation for future classes.”
The opening of the Oregon Evans Scholarship House is one part of the Foundation’s larger goal of having 1,000 Scholars in school by the year 2020. To achieve this, leaders are working to expand the Program from coast to coast, including opening Scholarship Houses at new universities, renovating and expanding current Houses and growing caddie programs across the nation.
Currently, there are a record 935 Scholars attending 20 universities. In recent years, ESF leaders have strengthened or renewed relationships with the University of Notre Dame, the University of Washington, the University of Kansas and Pennsylvania State University, where Scholars currently live together in residence halls. They are working to establish Evans Scholarship Houses at Washington, Penn State and Kansas in the coming years.
Oregon Evans Scholars include caddies from the states of Oregon, Nevada and California. ESF leaders announced in early 2014 that the university had been selected as the site of a future Scholarship House.
“We are thrilled that Evans Scholars in the Pacific Northwest now are able to experience Scholarship House living, an integral component of the Evans Scholarship,” says WGA Chairman David Robinson. “This is a major milestone and a big part of our plan to grow the Evans Scholars Program from coast to coast.”
“The opening of this Evans Scholars House at the University of Oregon is the result of the tireless efforts of many,” said Roger Thompson, Vice President of Enrollment Management with the university. “To say we are thrilled with the House for our Scholars is an understatement. All of us at the UO are deeply appreciative of the impact the Evans Scholars Foundation makes with students.”
