Spring 2015
Mark Your Calendar – Look for Registration Links on the WGA Website:
-
Monday, August 31: Indiana Evans Scholars Classic at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel, IN
September 9-13: Hotel Fitness Championship at Sycamore Hills GC in Fort Wayne, IN
September 25-26: Golf/Football Weekend (Purdue vs. Bowling Green). Golf will be on
Friday, September 25, at Kampen GC, at approximately 2 p.m. More details to follow.
Purdue Alumni,
I was in West Lafayette in mid-April for work and was able to attend the formal chapter meeting
at the Evans Scholarship House. I was impressed with the young men and women who I met.
The current Scholars are doing well in school – four Scholars had 4.0s in the fall – 10% of the
chapter!) and, impressively, many of them have landed internships for the summer. I think there
is a definite correlation between these internships and the work of our mentors in the Scholar-toScholar (S2S) program that was implemented in the fall of 2014, a program that is unique at
Purdue. I would like to thank the mentors who are participating in S2S. Your gifts of time and
talent are greatly appreciated by our Alumni board and the protégés at Purdue.
As you have read in other WGA/Evans Scholars communications, our 10,000th Alum graduated
in December. Also, the Evans Scholars Program is looking to grow from the current 870
Scholars in school to 1,000 by 2020. This is an audacious goal in the face of the constant
headwind of increasing tuition costs. Besides donating our time and talent, more of us will need
to donate financially to the cause. The national goal for 2015 is to move up to 50% of Alumni
becoming Par Club members. The 2014 national rate was 42%. Our rate at Purdue for 2014
was 43% (IU’s rate was 49%). We have been making small incremental improvements over the
last few years in the number of Alums who contribute to the Par Club. More impressively, our
chapter improved the total dollar amount of Par Club donations by 24% as compared to 2013
($157,413 in 2014). Thank you for your generosity. This year, there will be a lot more focus on
campaigns to improve the donation rates. There are some classes and clusters of classes that
have phenomenal donation percentages (1974-1976 are at 80%). There are other clusters that
are the opposite (1996-1998 are at 21% and 2007-2008 are at 25%). We are going to need to
make a concerted effort in individual classes and decades to push the needle upward.
Your Alumni board continues to look for ways to keep you connected to the Evans Scholarship
Program via the Purdue chapter. Our goal is to plan and execute events that will draw our
Alumni back to West Lafayette in significant numbers. In the past 16 months, we have offered a
Boilermakings – The Purdue Evans Scholars Alumni Newsletter
golf outing, Homecoming event, basketball games and a baseball game. Attendance at these
events has been less than desirable. In October, we conducted a survey about Alumni events.
We are grateful for the 20% of Alumni who responded. We will be focusing on a fall weekend in
2015 with golf and football in future events. Going forward, we will leverage an Alumni
committee to support each event. If one of these events will fall in your anniversary year (5, 10,
15, etc…), please consider it as a way to pull in your classmates.
Recently, the Purdue Alumni board decided that it would be in our best interest to take over the
responsibilities of planning and communication for all Alumni events. There will still be
coordination with the current Evans Scholars for events like Homecoming, but the Alumni will
plan and manage our own events, such as the upcoming Fall Outing that is on the calendar for
the weekend of September 25-26 at Kampen GC. The committee is already working on this
event, and there will be more communication as plans become finalized. For future events, we
plan to use committees made up of volunteers, and hope to improve these events and increase
attendance.
I would like to thank my fellow Purdue Alumni executive board members for their services over
the 2014-15 school year: Mike Roe (’74) – Scholar Relations Chair, Gene Fitzpatrick (’72) –
Special Event Chair, Rick Malecki (’75) – Communications Co-Chair, Mike Ulmer (’76) –
Communications Co-Chair, and Kelly O’Shaughnessey (’08) – Diversity and Inclusion Chair.
Rick Malecki passed the baton onto Mike Ulmer as we moved into 2015. Rick’s passion and
determination to have perfect contact data will be missed. Also, I appreciate all of the efforts of
the class captains in our efforts to stay connected with classmates and raise funds via the Par
Club. The Purdue chapter has two great faculty advisors in Tom Templin and Leslie Charters.
They actively participate in the activities of our board and provide wonderful support to the
Scholars. Sadly, Tom will be leaving the Purdue faculty this summer to take on a phenomenal
opportunity in Ann Arbor. He will be greatly missed by the Scholars and our board, but will
continue to stay very close to the Evans Scholars Program while he is working at the University
of Michigan. Finally, we look forward to working with Ryan Cavanaugh (’16) who is the president
of the chapter and has been providing excellent support in collaborating with the current
Scholars.
Tim McVady (’92)
President, Purdue Alumni
In Memoriam
Mike Mulcahy passed away on April 2, 2015. He graduated from Purdue in 1976, with a degree
in mechanical engineering. Mike caddied for several years at Beverly Country Club in Chicago,
and was a 1972 graduate of Marist High School. He was an E-Board member his senior year at
Purdue, serving as chapter vice president. He married his high school sweetheart, Kim, after
graduating from Purdue, and they were married for 38 years. They had three children and seven
grandchildren. Mike was employed at Tuthill Pump in Chicago for 32 years. All of us who knew
him when he lived in the House have great memories of “Uncle Milt.”
Boilermakings – The Purdue Evans Scholars Alumni Newsletter
News from Purdue Evans Scholars Chapter President
It has been another successful year here at the Purdue Evans Scholarship Chapter. In the fall,
we welcomed 13 New Scholars into the Purdue Evans family. David Smith and Grant
Gassensmith, co-presidents of the New Scholar class, helped lead their class with nearly 100%
activation. The New Scholar class received a cumulative GPA of 3.13. As a chapter we
exceeded the same mark, with a 3.22. The members of the chapter continue to strive for
excellence.
Spring 2015 was just as successful as fall. Our chapter brought home a win in the Intramural
Golf Championship yet again, as well as many other intramurals. Scholars also continued to get
involved on campus, in both professional and recreational organizations. In March, Jackson
Schuette, the vice president of New Scholars, and I made the trek to Evanston for National
Committee. The two of us met with Western Golf Association staff as well as the leaders of the
14 other chapters to gain valuable knowledge and insight. On the philanthropy front, we
continued with our second annual mini golf philanthropy. Mary Spedale led the charge in turning
the House into a successful mini golf course. All of the money we raised was donated to Mr.
Roe’s (’74) organization Golfers4Caddies. The organization is continuing the rebuild the caddie
program in Tippecanoe County, and give bright young caddies the same opportunity that we
were all blessed to have. Late in the semester, we opened the doors to the New Scholar Class
of 2015, and are extremely excited to have them join the Evans Scholars family in the fall!
This past spring, one of our faculty advisors Dr. Tom Templin informed us that he will be
accepting a job in the fall with the University of Michigan. Dr. Templin has been a fantastic asset
to not only me, but the entire house. He has offered both academic and professional support to
the Purdue Evans Scholars for the past 11 years. Dr. Templin has left a lasting impact on the
Purdue Evans Scholars chapter and will be greatly missed; however, we are excited to hear of
the abundant accomplishments that will come from his new job.
It truly has been an honor to serve as the president for the past semester, and I will continue to
strive for excellence and make Chick proud.
Sincerely,
Ryan Cavanaugh
President, Purdue University Evans Scholars
Alumni Outings
The Purdue Alumni had several get-togethers this year. In May 2014, we attended a baseball
game as a group at the new stadium. We dodged a few raindrops, had a good time, and got
together for dinner afterward.
In June, we had a golf outing and picnic dinner at Ackerman. About 20 Alumni played the
Ackerman Hills course (known to so many of the early Scholars as “Purdue South”), just a few
weeks before it closed for renovation. We received a tour of the facility, which was new to many
of us, and saw a presentation on the renovations. Mike Roe, Leo Plomin and Gene Fitzpatrick
Boilermakings – The Purdue Evans Scholars Alumni Newsletter
have done an excellent job putting together the Golfers4Caddies program, and it was a great
opportunity for us to see the caddies in action.
October brought us all back to the Scholarship House for Alumni Day, which this year was also
Homecoming. It was a beautiful day for getting together outside and reminiscing with friends,
but it wasn’t Purdue’s day on the football field as they faced Michigan State.
We had one last get-together in January and watched the basketball Boilers play Maryland. We
met at Nine Irish Brothers for lunch before heading to Mackey, but sadly saw another defeat.
Keep your eyes and ears open, as plans are already in the works for more decade reunions and
a VERY special event in 2017 – marking the 50th anniversary of the Purdue Chapter.
New Alumni
Colin Bouillon graduated this spring with a major in retail management, a minor in organizational
change and supervision, and a certificate of entrepreneurship. Post-graduation, Colin will be
working Columbus, Indiana, for SIHO Insurance Services.
Tyler Ester recently finished up his fifth and final term in his co-op with Sun Chemical. In the fall,
Tyler will be returning to finish his degree in mechanical engineering.
Scott Smyth also finished his five-term co-op this past summer with Zimmer and will be working
this summer at Zimmer’s Caribbean headquarters in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Scott will be returning
to the Evans Scholarship House in the fall to complete his mechanical engineering degree.
Nate Bodnar interned during spring semester with the Legislative Service Agency in
Indianapolis. He will return to Purdue in the fall to continue his degree in agricultural economics.
New Scholar Information – Fall 2015
The Purdue Evans Scholars will welcome 11 New Scholars in August. Congratulations to all!
Name
Sponsoring Club
Hometown
Sarah Abbott
Chandler Fairfield
Madeleine Giannini
Biridiana Guerrero
Thomas Janowski IV
Ashton Knies
Samantha McLeish
Thomas Mihalkanin
Jonathan Souliske
Phillip Vera
Henry Wallace
Flossmoor Country Club
Sycamore Hills Golf Club
Greenwich Country Club
North Shore Country Club
Park Ridge Country Club
French Lick Resort
Orchard Ridge Country Club
Edgewood Valley Country Club
Fort Wayne Country Club
South Bend Country Club
Glen Oak Country Club
Park Forest, IL
Fort Wayne, IN
Bronx, NY
Berwyn, IL
Park Ridge, IL
Celestine, IN
Auburn, IN
Willowbrook, IL
Fort Wayne, IN
South Bend, IN
Lombard, IL
Boilermakings – The Purdue Evans Scholars Alumni Newsletter
Hotel Fitness Championship at Sycamore Hills Golf Club
The Hotel Fitness Championship is the first of four tournaments that make up the Web.com
Tour Finals. From September 9-13, Sycamore Hills Golf Club in Fort Wayne, will host the third
annual Hotel Fitness Championship. The field will be composed of the top 75 players from the
Web.com Tour money list and players ranked 126-200 on the PGA TOUR points list. On the line
are 50 PGA TOUR cards for the 2015-16 season, making the Web.com Tour Finals the pathway
to the PGA TOUR. Proceeds from the championship benefit the Evans Scholars Foundation.
This tournament provides an opportunity for Fort Wayne and other nearby Alumni to volunteer
for a unique event. The link to the website is http://www.hotelfitnesschampionship.com/
If you are interested in volunteering at the Hotel Fitness Championship, please contact Amy
Lillibridge at 847-724-4600 or lillibridge@wgaesf.org.
Par Club
As mentioned earlier in the newsletter, in order to support the growth targets of the program, the
goal is to get to a national Alumni donation rate of 50%. Our audacious goal is to move the
needle at Purdue from 43% to 50%. To do this, we need 30 more Par Club donors (from 185 to
215). The national Alumni board looks at donors in four ways: (1) those who donate every year;
(2) those who are inconsistent donors; (3) those who will never donate (none of us on this board
can comprehend this); and, (4) those who have not gotten into the habit of donating (young
Alumni). Unfortunately, we may never change the hearts and minds of those who never donate.
We would like to change the behaviors of the inconsistent donors and those young Alumni who
have not yet started to donate. For those of us who are inconsistent donors or have yet to
donate, please consider setting up the automatic monthly donation option. For $21 a month, you
can be a Par Club member. Thank you to everyone who has contributed. We would like for
others to join in and support the program. Getting out of college without debt and with a degree
from a great university is not an entitlement. As always, we would like you to reflect on the
opportunity that the WGA gave you and consider becoming a regular donor to the Par Club.
Boilermakings – The Purdue Evans Scholars Alumni Newsletter
Another Way to Donate
For all of you who shop online at Amazon.com, there is a way to have a portion of your
purchase donated to the Evans Scholars. The AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the
purchase price from your eligible AmazonSmile purchases. Please go to
https://smile.amazon.com/about for further information.
Update on the Renovations at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex
The Ackerman Hills Course at Purdue has been going through some major renovations. The
work started in July 2014, and the course will re-open in 2016. It will be known as the Ackerman
Allen Hills course, in order to recognize the generous gift from Sam Allen (’75), that is being
used for the upgrades and reconfiguration of the course.
Some of the major changes:



A few holes have been replaced with new holes in new locations, and the order of the
course has changed.
The 10th hole, which was located along the back property line of the Scholarship House,
will no longer be part of the course – no more golfers wandering in the yard.
The land from the 10th hole will be reconfigured for football parking.
Here is a link to the Birck Golf Complex, if you would like to read more about the changes and
the Purdue courses in general: http://www.purduegolf.com/