As the school year winds down for many teens in the US, recent stories have gone viral about Black teens landing Ivy League acceptance letters. New Jersey student Ifeoma White-Thorpe and quadruplets from Liberty Township, Ohio, have all earned acceptance letters to America’s top universities.
The teens join a number of celebrities who’ve graced the halls of Ivy Leagues. From Sanaa Lathan to Hill Harper, here are 21 celebrities who’ve attended Ivy League schools.
The actor and former stockbroker graduated from Dartmouth College, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity.
The television genius earned her bachelor’s at Dartmouth, where she joined the Black Underground Theater Association and directed and performed various productions.
Morrison earned her master’s at Cornell after graduting from Howard with a B.A. in English.
Nyong’o graduated with a master’s from the Yale School of Drama, where she earned the Herschel Williams Prize for her acting.
The BET founder earned his master’s in public affairs at Princeton University.
Bryan attended Yale after graduating from the small, private Westminster School, a boarding school in Connecticut.
Lathan earned her bachelor’s at the University of California, Berkley, before a graduating from Yale with a master’s in drama.
Harper has three Ivy League degrees. He graduated magna cum laude from Brown University, graduated cum laude with a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Harvard Law School, and received a master’s in public administration from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
The recording artist earned a perfect score on his SATs, which landed him acceptance letters from Stanford, Harvard, and all four University of California campuses. He graduated from Harvard with a degree in government, focusing on macroeconomics and political science. He was selected as the Harvard Male Orator, one of four seniors to deliver orations to the graduating class.
Jones initially planned to become a lawyer before studying philosophy and religion while at Harvard.
The actor and Emmy winner earned his bachelor’s from Harvard University and later received his master’s at the Yale School of Drama.
The Golden Globe-winning actress has a degree in African American studies from Yale. She also obtained her master’s from the Yale School of Drama.
Tammie Terrell, who was also a popular singer for Motown Records, was most known for her duets with Marvin Gaye. At just 24, Terrell lost her life due to brain cancer.
Tyler graduated from Darmouth, where she was a member of The Tabard, a co-ed fraternity. She also co-founded and sang in the a cappella group, Dartmouth Rockapellas, an all-female group of singers spreading social awareness through music.
The Grammy-winning singer graduated from the Professional Performing Arts School at 16 as valedictorian and later pursued an education at Columbia University. She left the school to focus on music after signing with Columbia Records.
The Grammy-winning singer was offered admission to Harvard, Georgetown, and Morehouse, but decided to attend the University of Pennslyvania, where he studied English with a focus on African American literature.
The poet and activist attended graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University.
Banks completed a nine-week program at Harvard Business School back in 2012, earning a certificate. She returned in 2014 for a non-degree certificate program while working on her beauty brand, Tyra Beauty.
The runner up during America’s Next Top Model’s third season and star of Chicago Med, DaCosta has a degree in Africana Studies and International Relations from Brown University.
Ali earned a degree in African-American studies and government from Harvard.
