Photo via: Osazi Al Khaliq
Do you remember the 25 Atlanta students who made history over the summer when they returned home as champions after competing in the Harvard Debate Council's annual residency? Well now one of them will be returning to the Ivy League as a student with a full scholarship.
Osazi Al-Khaliq, an inaugural member of the Harvard Debate Council Diversity Project and a senior at Atlanta's Maynard Holbrook Jackson High School, was one of the 935 students accepted through early action "from an applicant pool of 6,958 to the Class of 2023," reports Harvard. The university believes that this was the most competitive early admissions cycle in the school's history.
“It is because of the sense of purpose and validation that the HDCDP has instilled within me that positioned me to be admitted into the Harvard College Class of 2023," Al-Khaliq said. "Being accepted into Harvard is a testament to how much the Diversity Project has cultivated within me a sense of academic excellence, cultural pride and community leadership."
The Harvard Debate Council Diversity Project (founded by Harvard University assistant debate coach Brandon Fleming) "is an Atlanta-based pipeline program that provides Black youth access and exposure to accelerated academic training in critical thinking, communication, and civic engagement. HDCDP seeks to matriculate underrepresented students into a prestigious Harvard summer residency."
Al-Khaliq is the first scholar from the pipeline program to be accepted to the Harvard College class of 2023 on a full scholarship.
Congratulations, Osazi! And thank you to the Harvard Debate Council Diversity Project for investing in the future of the next generation.