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In August of 2000 the AAR regional coordinators arrived at training, and were faced with the fact that the number of
graduates signing up to join the program was dropping. After discussing the issue, it became evident that one of the
main problems was that the URI Students didn't know that the AAR program existed. If they don't know it exists...
How can they ever join? Something had to be done to increase awareness of the program on campus.
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After the training concluded on Saturday, six members of the program decided to go out and play miniature golf. After
an evening that led to many laughs and hysterics, they started thinking...
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What if the AAR program had a scholarship for freshmen?
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What if new freshman registered for this scholarship, and in doing so learned
about the AAR Program?
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What if we raised the money for this scholarship each year playing mini-golf?
An idea was born!
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In the spring of 2001, Dick Minot and Alex Couture got together and started to plan the event. In August of that year, despite a rainy start, Dick and Alex together with 19 other die-hard Alumni and Admission office staff enjoyed an evening at Claydo's Mini-golf in Narragansett. With eleven hole sponsorships and 19 players, over $1000 was raised for the scholarship. The next day at training, thanks to the Alumni Association and other generous donors, prizes and trophies were awarded to both the best and the worst on the field. The night was deemed a huge success, and a tradition was started.
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As word of the event spread, anticipation of the next year began. The next step was to figure out how to award the scholarship. During the course of the 2001-02 school year, Alex & Dick worked with the URI New Students Program to develop an online registration process. The idea was to randomly select two students during the awards ceremony at training the next year.
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The summer of 2002 arrived quickly, and during orientation new freshmen successfully registered for the scholarship. In August, the outing was again a huge success. That Saturday at lunch two students were selected at random to receive the scholarship. In January, those students received credits of $350 to the URI bookstore.
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Since that rainy evening in 2001, the event became a staple of the URI Leadership Conference Weekend, and the reviews have been glowing. Every year has seen improvements and exciting additions. Thanks to the help of the Alumni Admissions Representatives, The URI Office of Admissions, URI Alumni Association, URI New Students Programs and countless others, this Scholarship has grossed over $5000 in its first five years and has awarded $350 to six freshmen to purchase books and other materials at the URI Bookstore.
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We would like to acknowledge all the staff, representatives and vendors who have helped us to make this event and scholarship a success over the past years. It is due to the participation and assistance of these individuals that we are able to award this scholarship each year. To all involved, we offer our most sincere thanks.
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