At 5 p.m. on Friday August 25, The College of Idaho will have the pleasure of hosting Shelby M.C. Davis, the co-founder of the Davis UWC Scholars program. He and his wife Gale will be attending a reception for the international students on campus, giving them the chance to meet the man who helped to change their lives.
“The College of Idaho is excited to welcome Shelby and Gale Davis to campus,” said Greg Franz, C of I’s assistant director of admissions. “Thanks to the Davis UWC program, we’ve had the honor of hosting students who have positively affected the College in so many ways, enriching our already robust campus culture.”
Shelby Davis is the co-founder of the Davis United World College Scholars Program, an organization which aims to provide scholarships to international students at American colleges. Their goal is to improve the lives of those students and give them the tools to better implement change in their countries, as well as increase diversity on American college campuses.
Davis is the founder of and a senior adviser to Davis Selected Advisers, L.P., a mutual fund management company managing more than $40 billion. A history major at Princeton, Class of 1958, he became the Bank of New York’s youngest vice president since Alexander Hamilton before starting his own firm.
The Davis United World College Scholars Program works hand-in-hand with the United World Colleges, and offers scholarships to all UWC graduates to study in over 90 American colleges. Unlike other international boarding schools, UWC schools are not content with simply recruiting students from all over the world, but they ensure that their student body is diverse in socio-economic class as well. UWC schools aim at bringing students together, making “education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future.”
The Davis UWC program launched in 2000, offering scholarships to 43 students attending only five U.S. colleges. Just 17 years later, it offers 7,686 scholarships to students in over 90 schools nationwide. Davis and his family have contributed more than $75 million to UWC programs themselves, which includes 16 UWC schools on five continents.
The College of Idaho has taken pride in its diverse student body. With a population of over 1,000 students, the College is able to host students from over 28 different countries, creating a cosmopolitan haven in small town Idaho. Though the College has done a great job spreading its recruitment across the world, Shelby Davis has been a key actor in assuring that each year, the College is able to receive quality international students from all continents.
The College of Idaho currently enrolls 60 Davis scholars, including a new cohort of 27 Davis scholars in the Class of 2021. Davis’ visit to campus this Friday is a chance for him to witness the change he has helped to create in the lives of Davis scholars and to the College as a whole.
The College of Idaho has a 125-year-old legacy of excellence. The C of I is known for its outstanding academic programs, winning athletics tradition and history of producing successful graduates, including seven Rhodes Scholars, three governors, four NFL players and countless business leaders and innovators. Its distinctive PEAK Curriculum challenges students to attain competency in the four knowledge peaks of humanities, natural sciences, social sciences and a professional field—empowering them to earn a major and three minors in four years. The College’s close-knit, residential campus is located in Caldwell, where its proximity both to Boise and to the world-class outdoor activities of southwest Idaho’s mountains and rivers offers unique opportunities for learning beyond the classroom. For more information, visit www.collegeofidaho.edu.