Rihanna gave us one the most memorable (and meme-able) award acceptances of last year when she responded to Drake's declaration of love at the MTV Video Music Awards with a dab, but she delivered another iconic acceptance speech yesterday (February 28). Riri hit the Harvard campus in Cambridge, MA, to receive her Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award, and the footage of her appearance has made its way online.
Following an introduction outlining her extensive humanitarian efforts, Rihanna took the stage to rapturous applause, declaring: "So I made it to Harvard" with a hair flip that's already spawning memes of its own.
She went on to deliver a moving speech documenting her journey to philanthropy, honouring those who have inspired her and encouraging everyone watching to reach out and help others too.
"Each and every one of you has the opportunity to help someone else," she said. "All you need to do is help one person, expecting nothing in return. To me, that is a humanitarian. People make it seem way too hard, man."
"You don't have to be rich to help somebody, you don't have to be famous, you don't even have to be college-educated," she added.
Stream the full ceremony in the player below. Rihanna is presented her award at the 1:14:00 minute mark.
As previously reported, Rihanna was selected as the recipient of the award for her efforts in opening the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados, creating the Clara and Lioneal Foundation Scholarship Program and teaming with the Global Partnership for Education and Global Citizen Project.
Pick up Rihanna's 2016 album, Anti, on vinyl here.
Following an introduction outlining her extensive humanitarian efforts, Rihanna took the stage to rapturous applause, declaring: "So I made it to Harvard" with a hair flip that's already spawning memes of its own.
Rihanna opened her Harvard Humanitarian Award Speech with "So, I made it to Harvard…" https://t.co/R9O96ZV9m8 pic.twitter.com/9A8M8XFnLh
— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) March 1, 2017
She went on to deliver a moving speech documenting her journey to philanthropy, honouring those who have inspired her and encouraging everyone watching to reach out and help others too.
"Each and every one of you has the opportunity to help someone else," she said. "All you need to do is help one person, expecting nothing in return. To me, that is a humanitarian. People make it seem way too hard, man."
"You don't have to be rich to help somebody, you don't have to be famous, you don't even have to be college-educated," she added.
Stream the full ceremony in the player below. Rihanna is presented her award at the 1:14:00 minute mark.
As previously reported, Rihanna was selected as the recipient of the award for her efforts in opening the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados, creating the Clara and Lioneal Foundation Scholarship Program and teaming with the Global Partnership for Education and Global Citizen Project.
Pick up Rihanna's 2016 album, Anti, on vinyl here.
