Watch Rihanna Accept Harvard’s Humanitarian Of The Year Award

Watch Rihanna Accept Harvard’s Humanitarian Of The Year Award

Last week, Rihanna was named humanitarian of the year by the Harvard Foundation. Today, she accepted the Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award at a ceremony that took place at the Sanders Theatre on the university’s campus. RiRi was recognized for, among other accomplishments, launching the Believe Foundation at the age of 18, the nonprofit Clara Lionel Foundation Global Scholarship Program for children attending college in the US from the Caribbean, and a center for oncology and nuclear medicine at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Rihanna opened her acceptance speech with, “So I made it to Harvard — never thought I’d be able to say that in my life,” before going over her history of humanitarian work and outlining her values: “We’re all human, and we all just want a chance: a chance at life, a chance at education, a chance at a future, really.” She concluded by saying, “You don’t have to be rich to help somebody,” leaving the crowd with some wisdom from her grandmother: “If you got a dollar, there’s plenty to share.” You can rewatch the livestream of the event below. Rihanna takes the stage about one hour and 13 minutes into the video.

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