Lawrenceville Selected to Pilot Davis International and Davis Scholarships
The Lawrenceville School, one of America’s oldest and most respected independent secondary schools, announced today that it has been selected as a pilot site to offer both Davis International and Davis Scholarships to incoming sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The School will welcome its first five International and first five Davis Scholars in the fall of 2008.
Davis International Scholars will be selected from places around the world not currently well served by American boarding schools. Davis Scholars will be chosen from non-traditional independent school families, specifically students from recently immigrated families or students who would be among the first in their families to attend college or university. Students will be identified and recruited through Lawrenceville's normal admissions process.
Both programs will provide need-based scholarships and enhance diversity at selected American boarding schools, including Lawrenceville, Phillips Academy Andover, the Taft School, the Westminster School, and Emma Willard. Funding comes from the Shelby Davis family and is modeled after the Davis United World College Scholars program, a major philanthropic effort to promote international understanding. As with the United World College program, the Davis family will provide half scholarships not only while the students are at Lawrenceville, but also half college scholarships if those students attend one of about 85 colleges and universities in the United States.
The Davis family has been a part of The Lawrenceville School community for more than eight decades. Shelby Cullom Davis ’26 was a Lawrenceville graduate as were his son, Shelby M.C. Davis ’54, nephew ’53, and two great-grandchildren (2006 and 2007).
“I am extraordinarily grateful to the Davis family for their longstanding support of the School and particularly for their generous funding of this initiative, which will ensure that Lawrenceville will continue to attract exceptional students from around the globe,” said Lawrenceville Head Master Liz Duffy. “Sharing a House or classroom with students from a wide range of backgrounds, ethnicities, and beliefs is critical preparation for the global world in which Lawrenceville graduates of the 21st century will live and work.”
The Lawrenceville School recently launched the public phase of a $200 million fundraising campaign in celebration of its 2010 bicentennial anniversary. Funds raised will support a number of specific School priorities, including increased student financial aid and faculty support, as well as expanded offerings in the arts, humanities, math, science, and technology. The Bicentennial Campaign will also focus on increasing international educational opportunities, enhancing the School’s environmental stewardship, and maintaining and upgrading Lawrenceville’s world-class facilities. Significant monies will be earmarked for the School’s endowment, which provides both long-term funding of campaign priorities and a base of ongoing support for campus operations.
