Louise and Paul Evenson Scholarship

Using their God-given talents for the church was a strong intent by husband and wife Paul and Louise Evenson. Following Louise’s years of service to California Lutheran University, she and Paul endowed this scholarship through the gift of a life insurance policy. As their life journeys prove, education was always a major focus.

Louise Evenson had served as CLU’s assistant dean of graduate studies and faculty lecturer from 1981 to 1983. She was elected to CLU’s Board of Regents in 1997, and was asked to chair the advancement committee. Eventually, she was elected chair of the board where her leadership skills served her well. When she completed her service on the Board, Louise became philanthropic advisor for Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN.
But one of her biggest challenges and greatest achievements in relation to CLU was as co-chair with Karsten Lundring of CLU’s Now Is the Time capital fundraising campaign. This fundraising effort ended in 2005, having raised $93 million. For her work she was awarded the coveted Christus Award that same year.

Paul Evenson was an ordained Lutheran pastor. For several years he served as planned giving officer at Concordia College in Minnesota. Both Louise and Paul did considerable traveling in their work and divided their leisure time between homes in Alamo, California, and Scottsdale, Arizona.

Throughout their marriage, Paul and Louise’s lives were intertwined with Lutheran higher education. In 2002, the idea of establishing a scholarship at CLU began to take shape in their thinking. That idea became a reality in 2006 when they donated an insurance policy to CLU for that purpose. The value of the policy was more than enough to endow the Louise and Paul Evenson Scholarship.

In determining criteria for the scholarship, the Evensons chose to make it available to fifth-year students pursuing their teaching credential and/or students enrolled in one of the doctoral programs within the Graduate School of Education. For this reason, this award is considered both an undergraduate scholarship and a graduate fellowship. The Evensons had only one other request, that the following words be included in the formal scholarship agreement:

“Our commitment to education and its value in our world are the key motivations
in establishing this scholarship. Having benefited ourselves from the generosity of others for our educations, we desire to continue this valued legacy.”

And so they have achieved their legacy through the scholarship that bears their names.