WELLESLEY, Mass.-- A major new
scholarship program announced this spring-the Davis
United World College Scholars program-will pay tuition
and other expenses for scores of qualified students from
all over the world who gain admission to five prestigious
U.S. colleges. The Shelby M.C. Davis family has pledged
to pay, beginning this fall, 100 percent of the
demonstrated financial need, including relief from loans
and campus or summer jobs, for all graduates of the
United World College (UWC) movement who matriculate at
College of the Atlantic, Colby, Middlebury and Wellesley
Colleges and Princeton University.
The United World Colleges are ten pre-university-level
schools located on five continents and dedicated to
promoting international understanding through education.
Some 2,000 students from 16 to 19 years old from all
corners of the globe live and study together at the
schools in challenging academic programs that foster
peace and cooperation. Now they are all eligible for
Davis UWC scholarships to continue their education at the
undergraduate institutions named.
The Davis gift is unusual in several respects:
- It is an open-ended, multi-year,
multi-million-dollar commitment to cover tuition,
room, board and expenses for as many UWC graduates as
gain admission to the five schools and demonstrate
financial need. "It's a gift without a ceiling," said
Philip O. Geier, president of the United World College
in New Mexico.
- Since the preponderance of UWC graduates are from
foreign countries, the scholarships address a
neglected niche in the financial aid sector insofar as
international students wishing to attend U.S.
institutions vie for very limited financial aid
resources.
- It is the second phase of the Davises' initiative
on behalf of UWC students, coming on the heels of a
$45-million gift last year that established 100 full
merit scholarships for teenagers to attend the United
World Colleges.
"I believe that recognizing and building on
international diversity through education at an
influential age is central to the possibilities for
global harmony in this new millennium," said Shelby M.C.
Davis in announcing the scholarships to presidents of the
five American institutions.
The scholarships will provide resources for
significant numbers of the brightest and best-prepared
foreign students to attend some of America's top
undergraduate institutions. As a result, America's future
leaders will gain a more international perspective from
living and studying side by side with individuals from
different countries and different cultures, Davis
said.
This year there are 31 UWC graduates enrolled at the
five American schools where the scholarships will be
offered. The new scholarship program promises to increase
that number significantly-this spring, just between Colby
and Middlebury the number of applications from UWC
graduates increased to more than 120.
At Colby, sophomore Zahra Khilji of Pakistan, a
graduate of Atlantic UWC in Wales, praised the
initiative. "Something like this will be so nice because
there are so many qualified UWC graduates who get left
out for lack of money," she said. "They can add flavor to
the Colby community, and Colby will benefit from the
global views they bring."
The UWC movement was founded in 1962 to create a
school where youth of the world could unite to gain
knowledge and understanding of various races and
cultures. Queen Noor of Jordan is the current president
of the UWCs, and Nelson Mandela is president of the
International Council of UWCs.
Diana Chapman Walsh, president of Wellesley College,
said, "Through the Davises' extraordinary generosity,
Wellesley will for the first time be able to admit all
qualified United World College applicants from anywhere
in the world, regardless of their financial means. The
current Wellesley students who are UWC graduates bring a
truly global perspective to our diverse campus. We all
are very excited at the prospect of being able to expand
Wellesley's international reach even further."
Middlebury's president, John McCardell, said, "The
establishment of the Davis UWC Scholars Program is the
most important support for international student
financial aid that Middlebury College has ever received.
Every student at Middlebury College benefits from the
presence of international students on campus and in the
classrooms."
"Expanding opportunities to bring qualified
international students to Colby has been a priority here
for years," said William R. Cotter, president of Colby
College. "This is a generous and ingenious strategy to
help us reach that objective. This program surely will
transform the lives of the Davis UWC scholars, and the
valuable diversity they bring to our community will
enrich the world view of all Colby students."
Steven K. Katona, president of College of the
Atlantic, said, "The Davis family has a long-standing
commitment to international service and study. This new
initiative continues that tradition in a unique way. The
missions of the United World Colleges and College of the
Atlantic have much in common. We are deeply impressed
with the UWC graduates already studying here and grateful
that we will have the chance to host others in the
future."
Princeton University's president, Harold T. Shapiro,
said, "For almost 50 years, Princeton has followed a
policy of admitting American and Canadian students
without regard for their financial circumstances, and
then meeting the full demonstrated need of each admitted
student who requires financial assistance. One of our
highest priorities has been to move toward the same
policy for international students. Meeting the needs of
these students is a special challenge because they do not
qualify for American government grant, loan and work
programs. This extraordinary commitment by the Davis
family complements a major new and broad commitment by
the university in the area of financial aid and strongly
supports our determination to be a university not only
'in the Nation's Service' but 'in the Service of All
Nations.'"
Located in Canada, Hong Kong, Italy, India, Norway,
Singapore, Swaziland, Venezuela and Wales as well as in
the United States, the UWCs offer a unique program of
academic and experiential education for students from
more than 100 countries. Students end their two years of
study by taking the International Baccalaureate exams,
which can earn credits transferable to universities and
colleges worldwide.
The UWC mission of promoting international cooperation
and harmony was compelling to the Davis family because it
matched the international tradition of the family and its
business, said Andrew Davis, president of Davis Selected
Advisers L.C. In 1998, the Davises established a full
merit scholarship endowment to support 100 American
teenagers to attend United World Colleges around the
world-a program conceived as a privately funded, junior
version of the famous Fulbright Scholarships. The new
Davis UWC Scholarships are a logical next step that will
augment important international initiatives already under
way at all five institutions of higher education. Davis
said, "That's critical. If a college isn't thinking
internationally today, it's going to be out of
business-the same as in the business world."
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