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Pearson College UWC
Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific (also referred to as Pearson College UWC) is one of eighteen schools and colleges around the world in the United World Colleges movement, located on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It is named after the late Canadian Prime Minister Lester Bowles Pearson, winner of the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize, and an early champion of the college. The mission of the UWC movement and of the school is to "make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future".
More than 100 students are selected for each annual intake for the two-year program. In 2023-24, students represented over 100 countries and territories. The college offers the International Baccalaureate diploma, and the Climate Action Leadership Diploma program, an IB Career-related Program. Both pathways incorporate experiential education approaches for students generally aged 16 to 19.
Lester B. Pearson, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and former prime minister of Canada, was the driving force behind the founding of Pearson College UWC. After retiring from public life, Pearson became interested in the United World Colleges movement. At that time, only one United World College existed—Atlantic College in Wales, established in 1962. Pearson visited there in 1969 and met with students and faculty. He came away convinced that there must be more such colleges around the world and, in particular, one on Canada's west coast. He envisioned that:
“Students will be welcomed without regard to race, religion, or politics and we intend to establish scholarships so that the students who attend the college will be from all levels of society and will be genuine representatives of their own peoples. This system… could become a revolutionary force in international education.”
Pearson became honorary chairman of a committee formed to build what was to be known as the College of the Pacific. He worked tirelessly in the early days of the planning process, but, died in December 1972, just as the project was getting underway. Soon after his death, it was decided that the college would be renamed Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific, as a living memorial to his legacy. John Lang Nichol was chosen as initial chairman of the board of trustees and a major fundraising effort began, with over four million dollars raised, 83 per cent coming from individuals, corporations, and foundations, both domestic and foreign, and the remaining 17 per cent from governments around the world. Ground broke on the college's construction on 25 September 1973.
Over the next year, Jack Matthews, the founding director of the college, recruited a faculty of men and women from Canada and abroad and, on 25 September 1974, the inaugural cohort of 100 students arrived. An official opening the following year was attended by the Earl Mountbatten of Burma, then President of United World Colleges International Council, and Jean Chrétien.
Mountbatten's great-nephew, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (now Charles III, King of Canada), who also served as President of UWC, established the Prince of Wales Scholarship and would visit the college again between 30 March and 3 April 1980 and 29 to 31 October 1982 and, in 2009, met with then-Director David Hawley and four Prince of Wales Scholarship recipients, one each from Kenya, Romania, Nicaragua, and Canada.
Up to 200 students have since attended each year; approximately 4,400 students have graduated from Pearson College UWC and alumni have built careers in a variety of sectors and professions in every corner of the globe. Pearson College UWC continues to be funded through individuals, alumni, corporations, foundations, select provincial and civic governments in Canada, and some UWC donors.
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Pearson College UWC
Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific (also referred to as Pearson College UWC) is one of eighteen schools and colleges around the world in the United World Colleges movement, located on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It is named after the late Canadian Prime Minister Lester Bowles Pearson, winner of the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize, and an early champion of the college. The mission of the UWC movement and of the school is to "make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future".
More than 100 students are selected for each annual intake for the two-year program. In 2023-24, students represented over 100 countries and territories. The college offers the International Baccalaureate diploma, and the Climate Action Leadership Diploma program, an IB Career-related Program. Both pathways incorporate experiential education approaches for students generally aged 16 to 19.
Lester B. Pearson, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and former prime minister of Canada, was the driving force behind the founding of Pearson College UWC. After retiring from public life, Pearson became interested in the United World Colleges movement. At that time, only one United World College existed—Atlantic College in Wales, established in 1962. Pearson visited there in 1969 and met with students and faculty. He came away convinced that there must be more such colleges around the world and, in particular, one on Canada's west coast. He envisioned that:
“Students will be welcomed without regard to race, religion, or politics and we intend to establish scholarships so that the students who attend the college will be from all levels of society and will be genuine representatives of their own peoples. This system… could become a revolutionary force in international education.”
Pearson became honorary chairman of a committee formed to build what was to be known as the College of the Pacific. He worked tirelessly in the early days of the planning process, but, died in December 1972, just as the project was getting underway. Soon after his death, it was decided that the college would be renamed Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific, as a living memorial to his legacy. John Lang Nichol was chosen as initial chairman of the board of trustees and a major fundraising effort began, with over four million dollars raised, 83 per cent coming from individuals, corporations, and foundations, both domestic and foreign, and the remaining 17 per cent from governments around the world. Ground broke on the college's construction on 25 September 1973.
Over the next year, Jack Matthews, the founding director of the college, recruited a faculty of men and women from Canada and abroad and, on 25 September 1974, the inaugural cohort of 100 students arrived. An official opening the following year was attended by the Earl Mountbatten of Burma, then President of United World Colleges International Council, and Jean Chrétien.
Mountbatten's great-nephew, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (now Charles III, King of Canada), who also served as President of UWC, established the Prince of Wales Scholarship and would visit the college again between 30 March and 3 April 1980 and 29 to 31 October 1982 and, in 2009, met with then-Director David Hawley and four Prince of Wales Scholarship recipients, one each from Kenya, Romania, Nicaragua, and Canada.
Up to 200 students have since attended each year; approximately 4,400 students have graduated from Pearson College UWC and alumni have built careers in a variety of sectors and professions in every corner of the globe. Pearson College UWC continues to be funded through individuals, alumni, corporations, foundations, select provincial and civic governments in Canada, and some UWC donors.