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The new president of the International Student Organization (ISO) is a Davis United World College Scholar. The United Black Association has elected a Davis United World Scholar as its president. The 2006-07 president of the Arab Student Association was a Davis United World Scholar. That same scholar organized a “Standup for Peace” comedy show, bringing two comedians, a Palestinian and a Jew, who talked about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and tried to find peace through comedy. Last year’s “International Week” earned the distinction “best program of the year.” Several of our Davis United World College Scholars have been featured speakers at events sponsored by Students Educating Students. Topics have ranged from “Situation in Darfur,” to “Life in the Russian Military.” Lake Forest College now has a chapter of Students Taking Action Now, Darfur (STAND). There are now 19 Davis United World College Scholars enrolled at Lake Forest. One senior, majoring in mathematics and comparative urban studies as an Independent Scholar, is currently away this semester, traveling around the world in the International Honors Program, visiting and studying in New York City, Buenos Aires, Bangalore, Beijing, and Shanghai. What these young men and women bring to the college is, in their vernacular, “awesome.” We are forever indebted to Mr. and Mrs. Shelby Davis for their foresight and commitment and for giving us the opportunity and the challenge to be part of this exciting program.

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— excerpt from Lake Forest College

report to the Davis UWC Scholars Program

Making Dreams Work

Scholar’s Efforts Build Hope in Urban Teens

Like so many other urban communities in the U.S. and around the world, Easton, Pa., home of Lafayette College, has its population of inner-city teenagers whose futures are far from secure. Lafayette junior Felix Forster isn’t from that world — he’s a UWC-USA graduate from northeastern Germany — but he is finding ways to help local young people learn how to believe in themselves and create hope in their lives.

Like so many other urban communities in the U.S. and around the world, Easton, Pa., home of Lafayette College, has its population of inner-city teenagers whose futures are far from secure. Lafayette junior Felix Forster isn’t from that world — he’s a UWC-USA graduate from northeastern Germany — but he is finding ways to help local young people learn how to believe in themselves and create hope in their lives.

Felix has co-created created DreamsWork, a microfinance program that supports entrepreneurship by Easton teenagers and recruits Lafayette students for their mentors. Formerly president of the college’s Foundation for the Awareness and Alleviation of Poverty, Felix also runs a graffiti-arts workshop at a branch of the Boys and Girls Club of Easton.

“Graffiti art allows teenagers to gain their own fulfillment and street credit and respect, which most of them need,” Felix notes,  “and, if channeled, it allows them to do that in a legal manner. For the greater community, graffiti art can help deal with gang violence, which has soared in this city.”

Felix’s involvement with the Boys and Girls Club helped find backing for DreamsWork, which he developed with fellow student Al-Amin Kheraj from Tanzania, when a club supporter put up $10,000. So far, the project has provided support for one teen’s proposal to develop a line of street-rooted clothing; another’s creation of a hiphop recording studio and CD; and an effort to enlist business support for local skateboarding competitions.

“The two components of DreamsWork are funding and mentorship,” Felix explains. “Every teenager has to write a proposal, and everyone gets paired with a Lafayette student who helps them through the process.” Plans for 2008 are to expand the program.

“Felix is keenly aware that this project’s real benefit is in these teenagers acquiring the confidence and skills to meaningfully pursue life goals,” says Gladstone Hutchinson, a Lafayette business and economics professor who is past president of the Boys and Girls Club of Easton.

“I cannot think of a student more prepared and suited for leadership than Felix Forster.”