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By Stephen Collins '74 Anew scholarship program established by Trustee Andrew Davis '85 and his family should bring a significant number of talented, well-prepared international students to Colby and to four other top colleges beginning next fall. Graduates of the United World College (UWC) system, a network of 10 pre-university-level schools located on five continents that bring together students from all over the world, are eligible for the new Davis UWC Scholars Program. Andrew Davis, president of Davis Selected Advisers, announced the Davis UWC Scholars Program in February. The family has pledged to meet 100 percent of demonstrated need, including relief from loans or work-study requirements, for any graduate of the UWC system who is accepted and matriculates at Colby, College of the Atlantic, Princeton University, Middle-bury or Wellesley College. It's an extraordinary gift-essentially a blank check to pay for as many scholarships as there are UWC graduates who enroll at the colleges, with the colleges aware up front that demonstrated financial need will be covered. The UWC system describes itself as a "teenaged United Nations" populated by 2,000 of "the most promising students from over 100 countries." Davis said his family got acquainted with the UWC system through the Armand Hammer UWC in New Mexico, the state where some of the firm's offices are located. The UWC concept so well matched the family's interests in promoting international cooperation and harmony that last year the Davises endowed 100 full merit scholarships for the most promising American teenagers to attend UWCs for their final two years of pre-university education. Those scholarships, conceived as a junior version of the Fulbright scholarships, will give some of America's brightest teenagers an opportunity for an extraordinary preparation for university-level studies, a global perspective and an International Baccalaureate degree. Davis said that Colby's emphasis on international education and its commitment to diversity initiatives made the subsequent Davis UWC scholars program the next logical step. "It should help Colby recruit students of different races, different nationalities, different religious creeds, languages and cultures," he said. Each of the five institutions where the scholarships may be applied has excelled, particularly regarding international programs and students, Davis said. Colby currently has five students who graduated from UWC colleges-one each from Pakistan, Norway, Jordan, Hungary and Denmark. Those students were thrilled by news of the Davis UWC scholars program. "There are so many [UWC] kids who do brilliantly and who would do wonderfully at American liberal arts colleges, but they just don't have the money," said Grete Rod '03, a graduate of Nordic UWC in Norway. Parker Beverage, dean of admissions and financial aid, explained that much of the United States' financial aid system is based on federal money and isn't available to non-U.S. applicants. For that reason the Davis UWC scholarships fill a neglected niche and create important opportunities for students from other countries. "It's unusual to pick up paying customers from the developing world," Beverage said. "The Davis UWC scholarships will give us a bump and will enable us to bring students to Colby from places around the world not previously represented here." Zahra Khilji '02, a Pakistani who graduated from Atlantic UWC in Wales, said UWC graduates are extremely well prepared and end up competing against each other for limited opportunities in American colleges. "Something like this will be so nice, because there are so many who get left out," she said. "They can add flavor to the Colby community. Colby will benefit from the global views they bring." Davis praised President Bill Cotter's leadership in making international education a priority at Colby by expanding study abroad opportunities, enrolling more international students and offering solid international academic programs. "That's critical," Davis said. "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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Colby
Magazine, Spring 2000 v89, n2 © 2000 Colby College |
