An editor examines the international landscape at Middlebury.
I’ve never met Shelby Davis.
I know a lot about him, though.
For instance, I know he’s contributing about $3.5 million to Middlebury in tuition each year for the 100 or so Davis Scholars who have matriculated here.
I know that he’s providing need-based aid for more than 1,100 Davis Scholars attending 76 colleges and universities around the United States.
I know that he created his scholarship program to support graduates of the United World Colleges—a consortium of 12 international schools that offers the International Baccalaureate—and that without his help, many of these students would not be able to pursue a four-year education.
I know that he expects to spend a billion dollars in his lifetime on his scholarship program.
And I know that while he acknowledges that this sum of money is staggering, he thinks that it’s only a drop in the bucket for what is needed to change the world.
Here are some other things I know:
I know that Mike Schoenfeld ’73—the former dean of enrollment planning who has played a great role in raising Middlebury’s international profile—likes to say that when he attended Middlebury, an international student was a hockey player from Canada.
I know that Schoenfeld is joking when he says this and that he’s not meaning to take a swipe at Canada or hockey players.
But I also know the reality behind the joke, which is that until recently, the number of international students attending Middlebury could be marked on a graph by a relatively flat line hugging the bottom of the x-axis.
I know that this line took a sharp uptick at the turn of the century with the establishment of the Davis Scholars Program and that it continues to rise.
I know that there were 233 full-time international students at Middlebury last year—representing nearly 10 percent of the student body—and that they came from 70 countries.
And I know that the country with the largest representation was not Canada, but China.
I know that international students came from as nearby as Québec and from as far away as Malaysia.
And if I were to meet Shelby Davis, I know that I’d probably quibble with him on one thing.
I know the world has a lot of problems, and that, as Bill Clinton said in his commencement address, many of these problems stem from a lack of opportunity for a large segment of the global population.
But that staggering investment of a billion dollars?
I know that it has to be more than a drop in the bucket.
I know that that staggering sum will probably send 40-50,000 kids to college.
And I know that if one is very conservative and assumes that these 50,000 kids will represent 10 percent of their respective student bodies, then that means another 450,000 students will benefit tremendously, as well.
I know this because there’s no way someone could spend four years with, say,
a young man from Tanzania, who grew up in a home without water or electricity, and come away without learning something.
So if I were to meet Shelby Davis, I know I’d want to debate this point with him.
I’d also like to know what it’s like to shake the hand of someone who is responsible for creating so much opportunity for so many.
—Matt Jennings