Catch a Bandits game, maybe nab a scholarship

When incoming Judson University freshman Eric Smith went to a Chicago Bandits softball game in June, he was hoping to nab a foul ball.

Instead, the downstate Newark native nabbed something better - a partial scholarship.

The Bandits, part of the National Pro-Fastpitch League, are playing on Judson's revamped softball field for the first of three seasons.

To lure fans and potential students, Judson and the Bandits have teamed up to offer "Scholarship Sundays," when a drawing can lead to a $12,000 Judson scholarship, paid out over four years.

Smith said he wasn't aware he had won "until I was leaving the facility and saw my father running toward me screaming."

Smith looked over to where his family was sitting in the stands. They were also screaming and jumping up and down.

"It was a little embarrassing, but definitely worth the (money)," he said.

According to the school Web site, yearly tuition at Judson is $21,730. Room and board adds another $7,700.

The scholarships come with a few catches.

Recipients must apply for financial aid each year they attend Judson and must maintain a grade-point average of 2.0 or higher.

They must also adhere to Judson's Christian lifestyle expectations - which state drinking, smoking and sexual immorality will not be tolerated among students.

Lifestyle policies like Judson's are not uncommon among local conservative Christian bastions like Judson, Wheaton College and Moody Bible Institute.

Promotions like Scholarship Sundays are.

Wheaton College assistant admissions director Jeannine Nyangira said the college does not use gimmicks to promote scholarships.

Moody, which is tuition-free for most accepted students, has little need for such enterprising promotions, Dean of Admissions Charles Dresser said.

Naperville's North Central College hasn't branched out to the ballpark, college spokeswoman Kim McCullough said, but last fall began allowing alumni to give $1,000 scholarships to potential students of their choice. Of the 89 scholarships given out this year by alumni, more than 50 student are planning to attend the college this fall, McCullough said.

The Bandits, who moved to Elgin from Benedictine University, used a similar promotion at games on the Lisle campus, team owner and general manager Bill Conroy said.

Benedictine officials, Conroy said, were hesitant to agree to the idea at first "because they felt like they were giving something huge away."

Conroy said he pitched the scholarship idea under the angle that while the university would indeed be providing scholarships, they'd also be luring in students who would still have to pay $20,000 to $25,000 a year in tuition.

Conroy said Judson officials took to the idea "right away. They saw the light - it's a good way to get young kids in here, looking at the school."

Campus Visit Coordinator Kathy Lempke said of the six scholarships given out so far, two recipients are incoming Judson students - Smith and 18-year-old Lauren Simmons of Indiana.

Officials hopes to dole out about two dozen scholarships during the Bandits tenure at the school.

The next Scholarship Sunday games are Aug. 10 against the New England Riptide and Aug. 17 against the Rockford Thunder. Both games begin at 3:05 p.m.

Visit www.judsonu.edu.