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Best practices are emerging in an organic and collaborative manner. The UWC students have created an informal mentor and support system amongst themselves. They do not have an official “club” (by their own choosing), but recognize that they are likely to make a difference in interesting and effective ways when they work together. The students are (and in their modest but confident way they know they are) outstanding leaders who contribute to the Carleton community their energy, world views, talents, and vision for a global world.

”
— excerpt from Carleton College

report to the Davis UWC Scholars Program

A Decade Later, Our Work Has Just Begun

By Philip O. Geier, Ph.D Executive Director

 

Davis Geier

Ten years after the inception of the Davis UWC Scholars Program, (pictured right to left) Gale and Shelby Davis and Amy and Phil Geier reunite in January 2010 at the UWC–USA in Montezuma, New Mexico, where it all began. The historic Montezuma Castle, preserved during the Geiers’ tenure at the Davis International Center, is in the background.

However you look at it, the first decade of the 21st century has brought a changed global landscape. On virtually every front, challenges are greater, threats and uncertainties are abundant, and there are no clear or easy solutions. It is in this context that we view the significance to date as well as the future possibilities of the Davis United World College Scholars Program.

Begun in 2000 as a pilot program with five partner schools — Princeton University, Wellesley College, Colby College, College of the Atlantic, and Middlebury College — the Davis United World College Scholars Program has grown over the past decade into the largest international scholarship program for undergraduates in the world. We currently support over 2,000 scholars on more than 90 partner colleges and universities throughout the United States.

Ten years ago, we developed a strategy for advancing international understanding through education. We built that strategy on two assumptions: that promising future leaders from all cultures should be given greater educational opportunities at American colleges and universities; and that those same American institutions of higher education could become better communities for learning if their student bodies became more internationally diverse and reflective of the real world around them.

The program and our scholars are committed to building cross-cultural understanding across campuses and ultimately throughout the world in the 21st century. The stability of our world, and ensuring America’s place in it, demand no less than an initiative this large in scale, innovative in design, and as powerful in impact.

The program is about the huge potential of private philanthropy to promote international understanding in dynamic, expanding ways, through the educational institutions that share our strategic vision and are committed to bringing greater opportunities for global engagement to all their students. The program is about using philanthropic leadership to leverage additional support for transformative impact.

We believe in the potential of each individual scholar to further develop his or her own capacity to make the world a better place. We believe that fostering personal relationships between students who are different from one another will build an effective network of future leaders committed to mutual respect. We believe that further internationalization of the undergraduate experience in the United States will contribute to our country strengthening its capacity to lead in the 21st century.

As we look back over our first 10 years, we realize that our work has just begun. As philanthropists Shelby and Gale Davis remain dedicated to this cause, they invite you to join them in this important work.