Janie and Ron Evans Family of Scholarships

Janie Wall Evans ’67 knows firsthand about the lasting impact a scholarship can have on the life of a college student.

After her family experienced a tragedy during her freshman year at Longwood, it was a teaching scholarship that helped Evans finish her education.

“The state teachers scholarship became very important at that time, because it made it possible for me to stay and finish college,” Janie said of the scholarship that required recipients to teach for one year after graduation. “Now we are fortunate to be at a point in our life when we are able to give back and help students who are in need.” 

Janie and her husband, Ron, of Moseley, are establishing the Evans Family of Scholarships, part of the Longwood Family Scholarship Program, which will create up to 25 scholarships in the College of Education and Human Services. The way the family scholarship gift is structured makes it particularly powerful: The Evanses’ pledge of up to $375,000 will match each new donor who makes their first gift of $15,000, creating an endowed scholarship that will be awarded to generations of Lancers in perpetuity.

“We talk a lot about Longwood and the type of students who go to Longwood,” Ron Evans said. “We love the idea of helping to fund 25 scholarships. We’ve seen the value of scholarships and what one means to a student. The key is to make college more affordable for a student who really needs it.”

Janie Evans, now retired after teaching and raising a family, serves on the Longwood University Foundation Board and previously served on Longwood’s Alumni Board. For more than two decades, she has been committed to the cause of college affordability, serving as director of a program promoting scholarships for young women. Through Janie’s involvement with the Longwood Alumni Board, the Evanses became excited about the growth and positive changes they saw happening at Longwood.

“It made me fall in love all over again with my alma matter,” she said. “When you step onto campus now it is just so vibrant.”

The Evans Family of Scholarships will be used to match at least 25 new gifts for student scholarships. New gifts of $15,000 will be matched with $15,000 from the Evanses’ gift. Of that $30,000, $5,000 will go into an expendable scholarship fund, making $1,000 scholarships immediately available to students for up to five years. The remaining $25,000 will go into the endowment, ensuring future generations of Lancers will receive scholarships as well. The Longwood Family Scholarship Program will create four “families” of scholarships like the one the Evanses established, one each in the three academic colleges and athletics.

The Evanses previously endowed a $25,000 scholarship designated for a student from Virginia demonstrating financial need, with plans to teach after graduation. They have attended the annual scholarship dinner and had the opportunity to meet recipients of the scholarship they endowed—an experience heavily influencing their decision to fund more scholarships. “What makes it so worthwhile for us is the knowledge that we are helping students along their path leading to their success,” said Janie Evans. “We hope this will encourage other people to get involved by giving. There’s no donation too small.”

Scholarships not only help make college more affordable and make career goals attainable, they also boost student retention and can improve a student’s morale and confidence.

“Janie and Ron Evans personify the true spirit of Longwood,” said Dr. Paul Chapman, dean of the College of Education and Human Services. “They see the difference scholarships make in directing the future of deserving students. Then they stepped up and sought out a way to help even more dreams be realized. Their support and devotion to Longwood is what continues to make our campus community as special today as it was when Janie was a student here. I applaud them for their generosity and leadership, the ripple effects of which will be felt for generations of students to come.”