NORMAN – The University of Oklahoma is being awarded the prestigious Davis Cup for the fourth consecutive year in recognition of its record-setting enrollment of United World College international freshmen. OU is the only public university in the nation to ever be awarded the Davis Cup. This year’s freshman class includes 56 Davis UWC Scholars, a new OU record.
“When Phil Geier and I founded this program in 2000 we never imagined a partner school would matriculate more than 50 scholars in any given year,” said philanthropist Shelby M.C. Davis. “We are absolutely blown away by the University of Oklahoma’s outstanding results in recent years and send our congratulations to President David Boren and his team for their unrivaled performance in winning the Davis Cup for the fourth straight year. We are excited that so many Davis UWC Scholars are benefiting from the wonderful environment of the University of Oklahoma and feel confident that their presence is bringing a meaningful global perspective to their many American classmates.”
“The University of Oklahoma is proud to host more Davis International Scholars than any other U.S. university,” said OU President David L. Boren. “These exceptional students enrich the learning experience of all of our students.”
OU is one of 91 Davis Program partner colleges and universities in the United States, including Yale; Princeton; Brown; the universities of North Carolina, Virginia and Michigan; Duke; Columbia; and MIT. OU has 189 Davis UWC Scholars currently enrolled representing more than 70 countries and all 14 of the United World College campuses worldwide where graduates have been produced.
United World Colleges are two-year residential schools in which a rigorous International Baccalaureate curriculum is employed with all-English instruction. A diverse international student population exists at each of the now 16 UWCs worldwide: no more than 25 percent of the students at each school can be from the country where the school is located. Students are selected by national committees to attend their United World College, where they finish their last two years of secondary education.
United World College was founded in 1962 with the vision of bringing together young people whose experience was of the political conflict of the cold war era, offering an educational experience based on shared learning, collaboration and understanding so that the students would act as champions of peace.
Davis UWC Scholars tend not only to be outstanding students, but exceptional members of the university community as well. Since 2008, when OU enrolled its first UWC scholars, these students have achieved recognition at OU as members of the President’s Leadership Class and as Outstanding Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors. They have served in a variety of leadership roles, including as Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth team leaders, International Advisory Committee executive officers and resident advisers.
