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Honoring, recognizing and congratulating Hazim Hardeman for being named a 2018 Rhodes Scholar.
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WHEREAS, Hazim Hardeman was selected as one of the 32 students, out of over 850 applicants, to be awarded the highly competitive and prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to pursue a Master’s Degree at Oxford University in England; and
WHEREAS, Growing up in North Philadelphia, near 23rd and Diamond with his mother and three siblings, he plans to study Sociology or Political Theory while at Oxford; and
WHEREAS, Searching for a better opportunity for her son, his mother Gwendolyn, falsified their address to get Hardeman into a better public elementary school, transferring to Shawmont in the third grade in the City’s Roxborough Section; and
WHEREAS, The Rhodes Scholarships are the oldest and most celebrated international fellowship awards in the world; and
WHEREAS, Applicants elected by the Rhodes Trust must meet rigorous standards of academic excellence, personal energy, ambition for impact, an ability to work with others to achieve goals, leadership promise, a commitment to making a difference for good, a concern for the welfare of others, and a consciousness of inequities—requirements outlined in the will of British philanthropist and African colonial pioneer Cecil Rhodes; and
WHEREAS, After a rough time in high school at Murrell Dobbins due to personal family issues, Mr. Hardeman eventually transferred to Hope Charter School, however he was unable to gain admittance to Temple University after graduation; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Hardeman enrolled at Community College of Philadelphia where he was selected for the Honors Program and received an Associate’s Degree in Communications in 2015, while serving as the Vice President of the Student Government Association; and
WHEREAS, After graduating from Community College of Philadelphia, Mr. Hardeman enrolled at Temple University where he was accepted into their Honors Program as well, graduating in 2017 Magnum Cum Laude majoring in Strategic Communication; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Hardeman is the first graduate of Community College of Philadelphia as well as the first Temple University graduate to be awarded the Rhodes Scholarship; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Hardeman also earned a Running Start Research and Policy Fellowship with the City of Philadelphia’s Mayors Office of Community Empowerment where he researched best practices for playgrounds, their needs for upgrades, and how they could improve the City’s child-care facilities; and
WHEREAS, After earning a Master’s Degree at Oxford, Mr. Hardeman plans to obtain a doctorate in communications or education and continue his research in critical pedagogy, social movements, race and politics, and African American intellectual history, with a specific interest in teaching in prisons and prison reform; and
WHEREAS, In the past 4 years, Philadelphia Public Schools have produced 3 Rhodes Scholars. Alaine Locke, the first African American Rhodes Scholar and famous Harlem Renaissance Poet, was also a graduate of the Philadelphia Public School System attending Central High. This year 10 African Americans were chosen to receive the Rhodes Scholarship, the most out of any cohort; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Hereby honor, recognize, and congratulate Hazim Hardeman for being named a 2018 Rhodes Scholar.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Mr. Hardeman as a representation of the true and sincere sentiments of this legislative body.
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