Davis Scholars gather with their benefactor Shelby Davis during his honorary degree ceremony.

BY EMILY CHRISTENSEN  |   PHOTO JULIE PAGEL DREWES ’90

Growing up, Shelby Davis’ parents laid out a roadmap for his future: education, hard work, and philanthropy.

“They always said the first 30 years should focus on learning. The next 30 years, you focus on your career, on earning. Then, the last 30 years, focus on returning,” he said in February while on the Wartburg College campus to accept an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. “Learn, earn, return was drummed into my head.”

Davis co-founded the Davis United World College Scholars Program in 2000 with veteran international educator Dr. Philip O. Geier. The program has since grown to become the world’s largest private international scholarship program for undergraduates. To date, Wartburg has hosted 218 Davis UWC Scholars from 82 countries. Of that, 91 Davis students from 51 countries were enrolled at Wartburg last year. The philanthropy currently contributes about $50 million annually to this cause, which has supported more than 10,000 scholars at about 100 U.S. partner schools.

“If I had the ability to cure cancer or Alzheimer’s, I would invest in that,” Davis said. “But I know that I can’t do that. What I can do is give kids who have winning habits the ability to get a higher education. If you have an education, you have more possibilities to help the world and be a leader. I’ve been extremely lucky my entire life, and I’m overwhelmed this has happened, that I now have what people tell me over and over is the world’s largest family, with more than 4,000 kids in college as we speak.”

While on campus, Shelby and Gale Davis joined President Darrel Colson on his “From the President” podcast. The trio talked about how Davis came to be connected with the United World College program and founded the Davis UWC Scholars Program. 

Davis Scholar Josh Voigt ’20, of Ezulwini, eSwatini, came to Wartburg from Waterford Kamhlaba UWC of Southern Africa, just 12 miles from his home. His first year at Wartburg, his mother, Polly Stapley, a teacher at Waterford, told him that Davis was visiting his high school. During the short visit, she was able to thank Davis for helping all UWC Scholars, including her son.

But that wasn’t enough for Voigt. In November 2018, he penned a letter to Davis inviting the philanthropist to see firsthand the difference he had made in the lives of so many Wartburg students. Before sending it off, Voigt shared his plan with Dr. Edith Waldstein ’73, vice president for enrollment management. It was then that Voigt learned the Wartburg Board of Regents had approved an honorary degree for Davis in 2013, but had yet to coordinate a campus visit for him to accept the honor.

“It would be a great honor for me, as well as all of the others whose lives you have changed, to be there to witness you receiving this award in our senior year,” Voigt wrote.

Within two days, Davis had responded. A visit was in the works. Though Voigt had hoped the honorary degree could be bestowed during the regular May Commencement, Davis’ schedule only allowed for an overnight stop in mid-February (which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down campus events just a few weeks later).

“The only reason I am here is because of him. I attended a UWC school because I knew it would be a possibility for me to come to the U.S. after I graduated,” Voigt said. “His influence is quite literally on everything I do. I don’t know how often he gets to meet the students he impacts, but for me personally, just being able to thank him is a big deal. This man has invested $80,000 in me, but it’s not just the financial investment. His work has changed everything for me.”

Though Charmaine Denison-George ’20, of Freetown, Sierra Leone, had a very different UWC experience than Voigt—she attended UWC Mahindra in Pune, India, more than 6,000 miles from her hometown—she knows their shared experiences will connect them forever.

“There are similar themes that run through our experiences that now make up the collective experience of life as a UWC Scholar,” she said. “These can be seen in many ways. It is seen in the glimmer in the eye when we meet and immediately connect with other Davis Scholars for the first time. It is in the magic our diverse student body creates when at the annual Culture Show we bring a slice of the world and our cultures to the stage. It is seen in the heated debates at our tables in the Mensa, over topics of global pertinence.”

Waldstein said Wartburg was very fortunate to have partnered with the program 13 years ago.

“There is no match for Mr. Davis’ commitment to international education,” she said. “It was wonderful to have him on campus to accept his honorary degree and so that we could show our deep gratitude for all he has done. Our Davis Scholars come to us with such global and richly diverse experiences. They are empowered to make changes. They truly feel the UWC mission of making education a force to unite people, nations, and cultures for peace and a sustainable future.”

The UWC mission aligns quite closely with the expectations inside the Davis household. Both of his parents were international scholars who worked at the League of Nations in Geneva for several years during the 1930s. Growing up, family friends from around the world would pass through the home, exposing Davis to the importance of learning from those with different perspectives. His mother, Kathryn Wasserman Davis, founded Davis Projects for Peace in 2007 to celebrate her 100th birthday. She committed $1 million annually to fund 100 grassroots efforts by college students. Wartburg students have received a grant every year since the program’s inception.