Source: Justin K. Aller / Getty
Today we recognize Temple Grad Hazim Hardeman!
The Spotlight
A proud native of North Philly, he is Temple University’s first Rhodes Scholar and a magna cum laude. Hardeman will pursue his studies in next fall at Oxford University in England.
“Growing up in North Philadelphia, his mother wanted a better school system then she felt her neighborhood could offer, so she falisifed the family’s address” according to Philly.com
So she falsified the family’s address and sent him to Shawmont in Roxborough.
“For her, it was a life-and-death situation,” said Hardeman, now 23. “She understood that having access to this education at such an early age would really be formative and could shape or even determine the trajectory that my brother and I would be on.”
In the interview with Philly.com:
Hardeman, who transferred to Temple after getting his associate’s degree at the Community College of Philadelphia, perfectly represents the kind of student that Temple founder Russell Conwell hoped to educate, said Ruth Ost, senior director of Temple’s honors program.
“We talk about acres of diamonds in our own neighborhood,” she said. “Here is Hazim, born and raised in North Philly. If we had to choose someone who represents the values of Temple and what Temple really cares about, this is the man who does that.”
“This doesn’t happen for people like me and where I’m from,” he said. “You almost think, ‘Why me?’ ”
Read the rest of the interview here.
We salute Hazim Hardeman and can’t wait to see the LOCAL HISTORY we are sure you will make!
