Making the Difference
The Carolina Covenant
Gifts Launch World of Opportunity
By Kappie Kopp
The Carolina Covenant, UNC’s promise of a debt-free education for students from low-income families, launched in fall 2004. Private gifts enabled the program to begin accepting transfer students two years later, launching a world of opportunity for Alisa Eanes.
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| Alisa Eanes |
Eanes came to Carolina from UNC-Wilmington, which she was able to attend only through loans. As a Covenant Scholar set to graduate in December 2008, she doesn’t have to worry about adding to that burden. She agreed to hold a federal work-study job on campus, and the program will cover the rest of her financial need through a combination of federal, state, University and other privately funded grants and scholarships.
“Carolina Covenant is designed to help students from a specific financial profile who otherwise could not afford to attend UNC,” Eanes said. “When you submit your application to the University with your FAFSA [financial aid form], they automatically look at your economic status. It’s not a scholarship you apply for separately, so it ends up being a big surprise for a lot of people. It’s a really exciting, exhilarating moment to say that ‘I’m going to college.’ When you come from a life where you haven’t had that kind of luxury, it’s really incredible to have such a gift.”
Eanes, a California native, moved to Monroe, N.C., when she was 11. She is a remarkable example of the caliber of individuals the Covenant program brings to the University. A double major in women’s studies and psychology, and a minor in chemistry, Eanes is on track to earn a pre-med bachelor’s degree. She hopes to work in an area of women’s health. That ambition no doubt will be boosted by her Covenant package, because Eanes’ work-study job is in the School of Medicine’s OB-GYN department. She also volunteers in the labor and delivery suites at UNC Hospitals.
“Covenant really has it together,” Eanes said of the work-study program. “It gets you experience in fields you’re interested in and really gets you plugged into the professional world, giving you all kinds of resources. I love volunteering and giving back because Carolina Covenant has given and done so much for me.
“I try and seize any opportunity to give back to the Carolina community. It’s been really incredible.”
As part of her work in the OB-GYN department, Eanes has conducted research that led her to write an academic paper that UNC medical faculty say will be published.
“She is an incredibly bright young woman with boundless energy and enthusiasm,” said Charles van der Horst, a professor in the School of Medicine and Eanes’ Covenant-provided senior faculty mentor. “I am encouraging Alisa to apply not just to medical school but to an M.D. Ph.D. program, and I have absolutely no doubt that not only will she become a physician but that she has the internal intestinal fortitude and intelligence to become a driving academic in medicine and faculty member to carry on the torch of the Carolina Covenant to the next generation. She’s a true star.”
Eanes’ many campus pursuits include serving as president of Tarheel Transfer, a program that helps transfer students adjust to life at UNC. Under Eanes’ watch, Tarheel Transfer has grown from just five to 150 members.
She also is vice president of one of the campus dance organizations, Modern Extension Dance Company. This allows Eanes to continue her interest in dance, which developed when she attended, through full-tuition scholarship, the Harid Conservatory in Florida.
And in summer 2008, Eanes will serve as an intern with Carolina for Kibera (CFK), which fights poverty and helps prevent violence through community-based development in the Nairobi, Kenya, slum of Kibera and beyond. Eanes will work with an empowerment program for young women and girls. CFK was founded by Rye Barcott, a 2001 Carolina graduate.
At Carolina, Eanes receives many resources and finds many avenues for nurturing her talents and passions, something she might not be able to do without the help of the Carolina Covenant.
Along with enabling UNC to accept transfer students into the program, private giving has allowed the University to expand income eligibility and add faculty mentors, career workshops, etiquette dinners, financial literacy training and an office that tracks Covenant Scholars’ academic performance, stepping in to encourage and help problem-solve as needed.
“It’s not just a scholarship,” Eanes said. “It’s a really personal program.”
Eanes is proud to be a Covenant Scholar. “The program provides a whole different group of people with the chance to attend an amazing university. I think it’s really admirable that UNC-Chapel Hill has taken such an awesome step toward equalizing opportunity for people.”
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