Dr. Victoria Mora - UWC-USA President
Greetings from UWC-USA!
I am truly fortunate to lead a school whose mission speaks boldly to the present while envisioning a brighter future. The UWC movement was founded in response to the dark days of the Cold War. It confronted isolationism and a brand of nationalism that threatened the planet and challenged our shared sense of responsibility for its future. Our mission remains as relevant today as it ever was.
A two-year experience at UWC-USA immerses students in an environment and community that tests their values and the power of their citizenship and leadership. We are a microcosm of the world, situated in an environment impacted by climate change, and part of a diverse, global population collaborating across national, cultural, religious, and socio-economic differences. At UWC-USA, we’re not only preparing our students for their future when we engage them in academics, experiential learning, and a residential community. We’re inviting them to fully contribute to the kind of classroom and community they can be proud of. We’re inviting them to begin their journey as global citizens.
Our students come to us with a sense of idealism and a desire to change the world. They leave with tools to do so. They come to us with a narrow view of the world and leave with friends from every populated continent. They come to us unsure how to build a great community.
UWC-USA is a human community bound by a belief that education is a force for good. Won’t you engage our mission and join us in making education a force for peace and a sustainable future?
With hope and optimism,
Victoria J. Mora, Ph.D.
“The virtue and the strength of UWC is that it provides small, but powerful cells of innovation, catalysts for change, breaking barriers of habit and opening broader vistas of experience for both pupils and educationalists.”
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Bibi MacDougall ’20 spoke at virtual graduation this spring. She shared her reflections on UWC-USA and the importance of passion.
Defiantly staring up at a burly TSA officer at Newark Liberty International Airport, I had a revelation about the delicate balance between security and liberty.
The transition from higher education to secondary had few major surprises – a school year has highs and lows no matter where the school is and what its focus may be.
I recently found myself in a first-class seat for a short flight from Albuquerque to Dallas. It was a free upgrade, which added to the anticipated pleasure of this first-time experience.
Of course at an international boarding school, every moment can be a teaching moment.
Change for the sake of change can be dangerous. But change for the sake of reclamation and renewal is worth striving for.
OpEd Trump travel ban December 2016
To ban from entry to this country people who wish to escape extremism, who believe their cultural traditions are compatible with this brilliant experiment in a diverse democracy, who wish to study and to learn together with others whose views are surely different from their own, is shortsighted.
OpEd Student Visas – February 2017
“I speak on behalf of international education at the secondary level. This executive order cuts at the heart of our tremendous capacity to shape young people for the rest of their lives, especially in the direction of mutual understanding that honors difference even as it lays claim to our shared humanity.”
OpEd Travel ban problematic January 2017
This executive order cuts at the heart of our tremendous capacity to shape young people for the rest of their lives, especially in the direction of mutual understanding that honors difference even as it lays claim to our shared humanity.
OpEd Travel ban undercuts goals December 2017
To ban from entry to this country people who wish to escape extremism, who believe their cultural traditions are compatible with this brilliant experiment in a diverse democracy, who wish to study and to learn together with others whose views are surely different from their own, is short-sighted.
Statement on the Murder of George Floyd – June 2020
“We are called to stand up for George Floyd and for so many others whose lives have been taken by injustice here in the United States and all over the world. Wherever we are — in our homes, in our workplaces, in the UWC movement — we are being called to stand up for peace. And for the justice that makes it possible. We are also being called to listen, especially to the Other. It is, as ever, the only way forward.”
As the pandemic set in, Victoria wrote a series of communications to the UWC-USA community to update them on the changes the coronavirus necessitated at UWC-USA.
Big challenges can lead to significant learning and the coronavirus pandemic is no exception. To learn more about our plans, what the immediate future holds, and more details about our response, please visit the website for further information.
It’s difficult to express the gratitude that all of us feel for the ways our community has risen to the challenge facing us.
I’m pleased to report that our first day of distance learning began yesterday. Not surprisingly, our students are demonstrating the resilience we would expect.
It is wonderful to be part of such a dedicated group of professionals who know that our mission won’t be deterred in the face of global crisis. In fact, this is when our mission is more important than ever!
At UWC, we talk a lot about resilience. And we hold out for ourselves the possibility that we just might be not only dreamers, not only doers, but “dreamers who do.”
As part of our effort to contribute to communal sustainability at this difficult time, we have been working for the past few weeks with a local shelter and food pantry, the Samaritan House, to provide over 400 meals per week to support a spike in local need. You can read about this important initiative here.
We’re all pulling in the same direction with the same goals in mind. We’re all seeking the facts that will inform our decisions in a time when facts are evolving. I can think of no other community I would want to be working with right now than the UWC community of parents, faculty, staff, friends, volunteers and alumni.
To paraphrase Kurt Hahn, this is the time for us to show up as “crew, not passengers.” This is the time for all members of our school community to build the future that is only possible by our combined efforts.
Our task is clear: make sure that we offer a high quality, culturally rich, humanly transformative UWC-USA educational experience–academic, experiential, residential–while also keeping our campus and local community safe and managing our resources responsibly. A clear task, but not simple.
You can also write letters or call your congressional delegations. Join a conversation that makes you uncomfortable. Offer the resources you have, be they time, talent, or treasure. Take note and respond. It really only matters that we show up. And act.
I am happy to report that at the June meeting of the UWC-USA Board of Trustees, the board
formally supported the details of our plan to open for the 2020-2021 school year.
With our second-year students set to arrive in just a few weeks, we are putting the finishing touches on our summer preparations.
First Things First – CCHP Annual Dinner 2017
I am one of six children. Living in a small two-bedroom house, it wasn’t easy for my mother to find much in the way of peace and quiet. And so there was a strict napping requirement. Everybody had to do it, no exceptions.
UWC-USA Graduation Remarks 2017
At this stage in your life, academic success is surely very much on your mind. It anchors your resume.
UWC-USA Welcome Ceremony Remarks 2017
We think that if we learn and live together, we will find what we share in common as human beings.
UWC-USA Matriculation Ceremony Remarks 2017
What better way to do this than to speak one another’s names? And by so doing, begin to acknowledge publicly the different languages and cultures each of us carries with us, begin to acknowledge publicly that we have work to do to understand one another, starting with learning how to pronounce one another’s names?
UWC-USA Welcome Ceremony Remarks 2018
What I want to reflect on with you tonight is the national diversity we see represented here in the flags that grace our dining hall and our tables.
UWC-USA Graduation Remarks 2018
Shelby is a man who clearly knows how to invest. His investment management firm, Davis Financial Advisers, has managed over $100 billion in assets over the last 10 years.
UWC-USA Fall Welcome Ceremony Remarks 2019
We’re living in an age when our great power, our attention, is under threat.
UWC-USA Graduation Remarks 2019
At UWC, we talk a lot about change. Making change. Change agency. Change for a better world. I’d like to invite you to reflect with me today on what this means.
UWC-USA Graduation Remarks 2020
Class of 2020, welcome to this virtual celebration of your accomplishment!
UWC-USA Matriculation Ceremony Remarks 2020
In the past few years, our matriculation ceremony has taken place with the entire community gathered at the president’s house. This year, Covid-19 has required us to reinvent this recent tradition.
Victoria often writes an introductory note to alumni as part of the Alumni E-News. Her notes to alumni typically speak to the UWC-USA experience, the importance of staying connected to the school, and the power of the UWC mission.
The vision we all share for a more sustainable and peaceful world gives us energy and purpose in our daily work here in Montezuma. I hope you carry memories from your time here that give you energy and purpose to make a positive difference wherever you are. Thank you for all you do for UWC-USA and the UWC movement.
As usual, the spring ushered in Project Week at UWC-USA. As I hope our alumni remember fondly, it is a time for students and faculty to get out on the road and work on something that is challenging, interesting, and always meaningful. I’m impressed with the projects they undertake.
Our new Wednesday morning campus service model has me inspired! There is something incredibly powerful about taking time out to labor side by side in service of improving our campus for everyone’s enjoyment and safety. There is also something incredibly powerful about expressing our gratitude to all who labor long hours to support our classroom, experiential, and residential experience by joining them and serving under their leadership.
The first-year students have arrived! They deserve the exclamation point. They have filled the place with enthusiasm and excitement, jumping in with both feet to all of the activities planned for them. I know because I joined them for Dance Fun in the auditorium last night, where we were treated to Latinx, Afro-Caribbean, and Bollywood dance lessons led by students who were themselves first-years just last year.
During the last several days I have been constantly reminded of a quote from our founder, Kurt Hahn, and so I share it with you here.“There is more in you than you think.” Let’s each of us remember this about ourselves in the days ahead, and let’s expect it of one another, too.
I want to take a moment to identify one of the main reasons our school has managed the pandemic as well as we have: our hard working support staff
CEC serves as a catalyst for all of us to recognize that understanding, and even love, can’t happen unless we truly engage the differences that too often divide us.