Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Logo of The Middlebury Campus
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

UWC Scholars program celebrates 10th anniversary

Somewhere in rural New Mexico the dinner bell rings. An Israeli student and Palestinian student linger in the indoor swimming pool, dynamically conversing between laps. They look up to see a former investment banker glancing around. He first asks them their names, where they are from, and he is startled to hear the answer. He asks, “Well, your countries are essentially at war with each other. What are you doing in the pool together?”

UWC-300x199
The reply: “Well, we’re friends.”

By the end of that first visit at the United World College (UWC) in Montezuma, New Mexico, Shelby M.C. Davis was mesmerized.

“Every religion, every culture, every circumstance, and here they were, working as a team. I didn’t have to be sold, it sells itself,” she said last Thursday at the 10th anniversary celebration of the Davis United World Colleges Scholars Program, held in McCullough Social Space. The program provides scholarships for 113 students at the College and a total of 2,007 students from 140 countries at 92 American colleges and universities.

During the celebration, Middlebury Magazine editor Matt Jennings held public interviews with co-founders Shelby Davis and Phillip Geier, and three alumni who attended Middlebury through the scholarships, Helene Songe ’04, Yohanne “Kido” Kidolezi ’05 and Livia Vastag ’07.

Davis pointed out that it was the drive and academic talent of UWC students that led him to establish a scholarship fund. UWC students come from over 180 countries, and the fact that they could excel academically in schools that taught in English, a second language, left a deep impression on him.

“If they can get into these five schools, [including Middlebury], where my family had gone ... then why shouldn’t I invest in them or support them to come to America and continue their education?” she said.

Kidolezi ’05, now a MBA candidate at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, talked about how attending a UWC changed his life.

“Had I not gone to UWC, I probably would be married with two, three kids in rural Tanzania, growing rice and bananas and corn and having my own hut in a village where I was raised,” he said.

He plans to apply his knowledge in developing markets to the educational system in his home country.

Rhubini Kunasegaran ‘13 reflected on her UWC experiences, noting the personal growth she underwent at Pearson UWC of the Pacific, “We’re just a bunch of kids who’ve had this amazing opportunity to experience living with a bunch of other kids from different ends of the world. It’s like the world’s your neighbourhood. How do you come out of an experience like that?”

Though it has made unparalleled differences in the life of scholarship recipients, the Davis UWC program was also intended to positively influence the entire student body at each participant university.

“We can provide ongoing scholarships for amazing kids, which would in turn will further help internationalize the undergraduate experience at a place like Middlebury,” said Geier.

“Through their daily and personal contact with students from many different countries and cultures, all our students become much more knowledgeable about world affairs or understanding of the needs and concerns of people in other parts of the world,” remarked President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz at the ceremony.

Students also addressed the actual significance of international students in broadening perspectives on campus.
James Stepney ’10, a student from New York City said, “I’m interested in their stories, and just overall the vibes and the positivity that they can bring, not just [in] college but in life.”

However, the stereotype that international students are “antisocial” or “insular” has acted as a hindrance to bringing out the unique experiences they have to share.

“It’s so easy to be perceived as a group that doesn’t interact with any other group if you’re easily identifiable,” said Harry Magotswi ’11. “Take any of the sports teams — it’s a group that’s difficult for anyone from outside to be in. You don’t just walk up to the football team and sit down and have dinner with them.”

He further emphasized the importance of meeting these people on an individual basis and realizing “that they’re not antisocial” but that they are “some of the most welcoming and warm people.”

Stepney also emphasized that stereotyped students had to actively break down toxic misconceptions.

“Generally, somebody who feels like they are submitting themselves to the stereotype, if they become aware of that, they should ask themselves things like, ‘What can [I] do to be more proactive and [get] outside of that social stereotype?’” he said.

Another issue of importance to students was the decrease in financial assistance the Davis UWC scholarship program could provide for UWC graduates coming to the College, beginning with the class of 2014.

Originally, the scholarship program provided $40,000 a year for four years, but that amount has decreased by 50 percent due to the recession. A New York Times article last spring reported that the administration has tried to cope with this new change by trying to “attract more affluent applicants by stepping up its recruitment efforts in areas such as Western Europe and Hong Kong.” While many students found this move necessary in light of other budget cuts, several students believe it contradicts the College’s ideals of globalization.

“Although I understand the reasons, I am sad that the Davis Scholars program cut back on financial aid,” said Jakob Terwitte ‘13. “It [makes] it tougher, if not impossible, for many very talented UWC Scholars to come to Middlebury. I think the Davis Program has been incredibly successful in bringing international students from all socioeconomic backgrounds to Middlebury, and the cuts will necessarily cause the socioeconomic diversity of international students to decrease.”

Stepney agreed, expressing hopes that a post-recession Middlebury would take steps to preserve both the socioeconomic and cultural diversity that “makes Middlebury what it is.”


Comments