Caddie award benefits UI student

Jake Porter, a Senior in LAS and an Evans Scholar, putts in a room of the Evans Scholars Scholarship House on Oct. 5, 2009.
Joshua Beckman The Daily Illini

At the age of 13, Erich Picchietti, junior in LAS, started caddying at Bob-O-Link Golf Course in Highland Park. Four years later, his part-time job became a full ride to the University of Illinois.

"The Evans Scholarship is literally life changing," Picchietti said.

The Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship was developed by the Western Golf Association in 1930 to send deserving caddies with financial need to college.

"I definitely wouldn't be here without it," Picchietti said. "I would have probably gone to a community college for a couple of years and taken out loans to cover the cost of school."

While the scholarship covers tuition, recipients have the option of having jobs in dining halls and Greek housing to cover their meal costs. Pichietti, along with Timothy Presecky, senior in AHS, work in Greek houses while Lisa Ephraim, senior in Business, works in Armory House. The only expenses an Evans Scholar must cover are the $2000 utilities fee and the cost of books.

"The majority of Evans Scholars would not be here without this scholarship," Presecky said.

The sign South of the Evans Scholars Scholarship House on Third and Chalmers on Oct. 5, 2009.
Joshua Beckman The Daily Illini

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The requirements for the program are caddying for at least two years, achieving high academic standards, leadership roles in extracurricular activities, letters of recommendation, an interview process, and exemplifying responsibility as a caddy.

"As a 13 year old, I had zero work ethic," Picchietti said. "Caddying teaches you time management and how to interact with different types of people."

Out of the 19 universities that the Evans Scholarship is offered at, 14 have houses where the recipients live for all four years. The University established the second scholarship house, after Northwestern University in 1951. Currently, the University has the largest of all the houses with the capacity of 100 students. As one of the 29 female recipients living in the house, Ephraim said that she has always enjoyed the atmosphere.

"It's been great because there's always somebody to help you with your classes or has already been through what you're going through," Ephraim said. "We're really a family. Everyone looks out for each other."

In addition to the financial support it offers its recipients, the Evans Scholar Program has a vast network of alumni that students can relate to and communicate with. Presecky said that this is a "lifetime scholarship" in that its rewards continue even after college.

"It is meant to build leaders in all fields," Presecky said. "The goal of the scholarship is for your kids not to need to receive the scholarship."

The Evans Scholars at the University also focus on giving back to the community. Their philanthropies include hosting a blood drive, participation in Relay for Life, organizing an alumni golf outing and throwing a Christmas Party for the Don Moyer Boys & Girls Club.

"It's rewarding to see how our small actions can really have an impact like the impact that the Golf Association has had on us," Ephraim said. "People have given us so much — the least we can do is help others in the community."

Along with the immediate effect of giving back to the Champaign-Urbana community, the long term goal of the program is for recipients to donate to the scholarship when they go on to have a professional career.

"There's no doubt in any scholars' mind that they are going to give back to the Evans Scholarship," Picchietti said.