ATLANTA — Twenty-five college-bound students got the surprise of a lifetime when they found out they were accepted into an elite summer residency at Harvard University.
The moment was shared on social media and has captured the hearts of thousands.
It all started on Brandon Fleming’s social media accounts, who shared, "25 Atlanta students thought it was another Zoom interview ... but it turned out to be a magical moment that they will never forget! Here's how it all unfolded.
Fleming is the founder of the Harvard Diversity Project program, which recruits, trains and matriculates Atlanta youth into the summer residency at Harvard University. The program is now going into its fourth cycle.
Fleming told 11Alive the pandemic impacted this year’s roll-out for the program, so for three days, he and his team traveled over 200 miles to personally surprise the students at their doorsteps. This created an experience that students, alongside their families, will never forget.
“It’s not just about what they learn, its about what they feel, and we believe in creating magical moments for all the students that we accept into our program," Fleming explained. "We’ve successfully done that year one, year two, year three."
Fleming said they were going to continue the trend for year four for this year's incoming class, but original plans were cancelled because of the pandemic.
“So, I said, since we can’t have any public gatherings, why not just take the surprise to their doorsteps," he said.
Students were under the impression they were still being interviewed for the program and were asked to have their families present. Little did they know they were finding out they were being admitted into the program with confetti, an admissions package and a coveted Harvard student t-shirt.
PHOTOS | 25 Black scholars accepted into #HarvardDiversityProject
Fleming said that the students go through several rounds of interviews. Out of the thousands of students that apply each year, the program takes the top 100 and do a series of admissions interviews in which they have to do challenges that test their ability to think quickly and critically and to also communicate effectively.
"We went through about five of those already so this one was actually staged as a family interview,” Fleming said.
Now 25 more students are getting an opportunity to experience a summer of rich education, thanks to Fleming, who said the program was devised out of a need he saw in the community.
“I was taught that if you see a need, you have a responsibility to meet that need, be the solution, and that’s what I teach my kids. I hope to model that," Fleming explained. "So, we started this program to be the solution for more diversity in the campus programs. It’s all about educational equity to give these kids access to the education they deserve.”
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