It's official. Award-winning singer, actress, designer and songwriter Rihanna is Harvard University's "2017 Humanitarian of the Year". According to Billboard, the 29-year-old artist will be honored with the Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award for her philanthropic work at the Sanders Theater in Boston next Tuesday, February 28.
Unknown to many, the Barbados-born beauty still found time to pursue her personal advocacies in her motherland despite her grueling work schedule. "Rihanna has charitably built a state-of-the-art center for oncology and nuclear medicine," Harvard Foundation's director S. Allen Counter revealed. The purpose is "to diagnose and treat breast cancer at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Bridgetown, Barbados."
Founded in 2012, Rihanna's Clara and Lionel Foundation (CLF) Scholarship Program was named after her grandparents. The foundation partnered with Global Partnership for Education and Global Citizen Project last year to push programs that would enable more Caribbean students to attend college in the United States.
People reported that just last month, Rihanna traveled to Malawi to spend time with key educators, government officials, students and mentors to promote education on behalf of her foundation. It was also to discuss her scholarships offers which ranged from $5,000 to $50,000. Under the program, scholarships may be renewable annually or every three years until the students earn their bachelor's degree.
According to the Daily Mail, a big part of the Malawi mission was to also provide more educational opportunities for girls in developing countries. "It is for these philanthropic initiatives and other acts of compassionate sharing," Counter said, "that the students and faculty of the Harvard Foundation chose to honor Rihanna with the 2017 Humanitarian of the Year Award."
Born as Robyn Rihanna Fenty, the singer joins a notable list of personalities who have received Harvard's "Humanitarian of the Year award". Some famous names are former UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon, Pakistani activist and Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai, singer Lionel Richie, actor James Earl Jones and tennis player Arthur Ashe.
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