These students arrived following the implementation of an 'English' scholarship scheme in the Seychelles by the new governor Sir Ernest Bickham Sweet-Escott, who made the promotion of education one of his priorities upon the Seychelles designation as a separate colony in 1903. These scholarships allowed the recipients to pursue further study at the Royal College in Mauritius or at an institution in the UK, and Louis France Marcel Savy was among the first to receive one.

From 1905 until 1965, seven students born on the island of Mahé in the Seychelles enrolled at the University, four of whom shared the same surname, Savy. They all received their primary education at Saint Louis College, and studied a mixture of Arts, Medicine, and Science and Engineering - their stories as colourful as the Seychelles themselves.