A Legacy Born of Friendship and Vision
Bridging Dreams Across Generations
Founded in 2003 through the unwavering friendship of Dr. Khin Maung Win and the Guyot family, the Pre-Collegiate Program represents a commitment to critical thinking and community service. Born from a shared vision during Myanmar’s most challenging years, we continue to help students find their path to international liberal arts colleges and beyond.
"Origin Story"
Sayagyi Dr. Khin Maung Win
" Everything Is Connected To Everything "
Dr. James F. Guyot
Size Matters: The Larger The Group Of People, The More Diverse
Dr. Dorothy Guyot
Are Questions More Important Than Answers?
When Sayagyi Dr. Khin Maung Win was a young family man he took leave from Rangoon University to go to Yale on a full scholarship from the U Nu government. He had no money to visit home. In the graduate school dormitory shower room, Jim Guyot asked him, “How do you keep your towel so well tucked?”
Friendship endured through dreary years when all private businesses were forbidden, even street stalls. No foreign books. No TV. No cell phones. No internet. Dr. Khin Maung Win sent the Guyots only cards in unsealed envelopes without messages or his signature. After retiring from the university, he served as Minister of Education, then Ambassador to Nepal, then France, then India. He left in 1988. The 1996 student demonstrations brought complete closure of universities. For years !! Dr. Khin Maung Win managed to send a fax to the Guyots, “Would you be so kind as to help my grandsons find colleges?”
92%
Graduation Rate
60%+
Scholarship Rate
YES, scholarships from Beloit and Wooster, thanks to U Ba Win of Bard who explained that 3 Ds are not like 3 Fs. In 1999, every evening after the tightly controlled international seminar at Inya Lake that Sayagyi and Dorothy attended, they talked about his dream shared with retired colleagues, to create a liberal arts college in Myanmar. Too big. What about other grandchildren entering a bridge program connecting to liberal arts colleges abroad? Then returning to help their communities when the time comes?
YES, Sayagyi continued to provide protection, arranged with the Rector of Yangon University for PCP to rent the building now used by the Institute of Education, took the Guyots to the Secretariat where the Deputy Minister granted approval because the history course omitted politics, and set the name for the Myanmar Foundation. When the government changed Rectors, new friends provided protection, classrooms, and four full scholarships to PCP. Opened in May 2003. 13 students, 12 graduated, many sorry letters, 8 won scholarships, and 1 did later. Sayagyi taught for four more years in his course integrating philosophy for critical thinking and literature for deep understanding of human life.