They come from Russia, Mexico, India and Sweden.
This fall, Union welcomes four first-year international students who are experiencing the full range of campus life as part of a prestigious program designed to encourage cross-cultural understanding.
The Davis Scholars Program provides scholarships for students ages 16-19 who have graduated from a United World College (UWC), which offers a pre-university education at 10 sites around the globe.
Union's Davis Scholars, Class of 2010 are: Maria Tsvetkova from Saint Petersburg, Russia; Darcia L. Datshkovsky Senz from Mexico City; Tenzin Jamyang from Dharamsala, India; and Nakhshab Farhikhtah from Bara, Sweden.
“Thanks to the Davis grant, I have the opportunity to continue my education at Union, share my ideas with others and apply in the real world the things I learned at the University World College I attended in India,” says Datshkovsky Senz.
As a participant in the Davis UWC Scholars Program, Union is in good company. The program has scholars at more than 65 American colleges and universities, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Colby, Williams and Swarthmore.
“We're very pleased to be a participating college in the Davis Fund,” says Assistant Dean of Admissions and International Admissions Coordinator Kirin Liquori. “The United World College students are talented young men and women who have much to contribute to our campus community and beyond. They'll spend four years here, so they'll really have a chance to experience all Union has to offer.”
UWCs bring together students from diverse cultural and geographical backgrounds.
Today, there are UWCs in such places as Wales, Singapore, British Columbia and India, with more than 27,000 graduates from 176 countries. The colleges incorporate the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum, and after graduating, many students apply to four-year colleges in the United States, where they then qualify for a Davis scholarship.
The Davis programs were begun by Shelby Davis, founder of the Davis Funds, an independent money management firm in Boston. Davis made his fortune in the stock market and invests millions of dollars each year in scholarships.