This week, we were privileged to welcome Shelby Davis for his second visit to Li Po Chun United World College.  For those in United World Colleges, Shelby Davis is a legend, being the driving force behind a system of scholarships that has supported over a thousand students from UWCs to attend universities in the US, plus many more students while still attending the 12 United World Colleges.  The scholarships offered are only available to students in United World Colleges, and they have made a huge difference by opening up hitherto impossible opportunities for students from all parts of the world.

Since the program began in 2004, 1310 Davis Scholarships to universities have been awarded to the value of over $US40 million, of which 148 have been awarded to students from Li Po Chun United World College.

Unfortunately, this week’s visit lasted just a few hours as Shelby was passing through Hong Kong into Mainland China.  Nonetheless, it gave many of our students the opportunity to meet with him - so many in fact, that we never left the school canteen!  Two of the students who were delighted to meet him had been informed just a few days earlier that they had been awarded this year’s Davis Scholarships to 2nd Year students - this probably explains the smiles of delight and appreciation that can be seen in photo above, taken last Monday in our Canteen, of Iskander (Uzbekistan) and Nargis (Tajikistan).  It was clear that Shelby was as energised by our students as they were by him!

The Davis United World College Scholars Program publishes a very impressive annual report of its operations and the work done each year.  In the latest (2007) Annual Report, Shelby Davis explains why he has initiated this generous and ambitious philanthropic program: “I’m trying to stimulate the leaders of the future to make a difference, through the grounding in education that I’m helping to give them.  When I started my business career, I took my own history lesson from Princeton: I learned how leaders make a difference, in their countries, in their centuries.  So I invested in leaders, and that investment helped me to be successful.  I’m looking now to invest again in leaders of the future”.

These sentiments echo Shelby Davis’ wise words that I remember him delivering to a gathering of our students the first time he visited us at LPCUWC.  Speaking in our Lecture Room, he told our students about his philosophy of life - for the first 30 years of our lives, we learn; for the second 30 years, we earn; and for the rest of our lives, we return.  He is now proudly putting that third phase of his life into practice in a way that is life-changing for the students receiving his scholarships, and transformational for the US universities that are fortunate enough to be enriched by UWC graduates from all parts of the world.

Full details of the program can be seen on a dedicated website at

http://www.davisUWCscholars.org.

Footnote: This week’s blog has been uploaded early because I will leave tomorrow (Saturday) with a group of 16 students to do voluntary work in a Tibetan orphanage north of Zhongdian in China, followed by a trek through the spectacular scenery of Tiger Leaping Gorge.  I will be away from internet contact until I return to Hong Kong late on Sunday 11th November.  For that reason, next week’s blog may be a little late.