March 2007
More Than 26,000 Steps: Evans Walks Half Marathon for Students First Scholarships Print
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The 81-year-old former governor, Dan Evans, '48, '49, waves as he walks 13 miles in the UW Medical Center Seattle Half Marathon on Nov. 26. He raised more than $100,000 for Students First scholarships. Photo courtesy of Dan Evans.
Daniel J. Evans, ’48, ’49, has won many races, including one for U.S. Senate and three for Washington state governor (see “Mr. Washington,” March 2006). He recently finished another successful race, and this time, students at the University of Washington are the real winners.

At age 81, Evans walked 13.1 miles in the UW Medical Center Seattle Half Marathon in November to raise money for a new student scholarship program at the University.

“I’d never tried anything like that,” says Evans, vice chair of the UW Foundation Board and a former UW regent. “I have two artificial knees and my doctor told me some time ago to quit jogging, but I thought I could do a half-marathon walk. I started to train and build up the miles each week. When Students First and Husky Promise came out, I thought, ‘If I’m going to do this, I might as well do it for a cause.’ ”

Students First is a new UW fund-raising initiative to create need-based scholarships for undergraduate, graduate and professional students. The University will provide a 50 percent match for all gifts over $100,000 directed toward a Students First endowment.

On a cold and rainy morning, Evans completed the Seattle Half Marathon in three hours and 24 minutes, raising more than $100,000 for Students First. “One of the things I have learned from my time on the Board of Regents and now on the UW Foundation Board is that there are an awful lot of very talented young people who don’t apply to the UW because they think they can’t afford it,” he says. “We have an opportunity for these young people to discover that the University really is affordable.”

For more information, visit www.uwfoundation.org/danevans.

Husky Promise
Husky Promise guarantees that all resident undergraduate students who receive a Pell Grant or State Need Grant, who are admitted to the UW and complete an on-time financial aid application, will not have to pay any tuition and fees for up to five years at the University. These guidelines would generally cover a student from a family of four with a family income of $46,500 or less—65 percent of the median state income. The Husky Promise is expected to cover about 5,000 students in 2006–07.

Students First
The last year of the UW’s $2.5-billion Campaign UW: Creating Futures will focus on raising funds for student scholarships. In order to encourage contributions for this purpose the UW will be providing a 50 percent match to all scholarship contributions of $100,000 or higher. Up to $75 million in donations are eligible for the match program.