‘So I made it to Harvard!’: High school dropout Rihanna is overwhelmed as Ivy League school honors her with Humanitarian of the Year Award On Monday, the pop star made an appearance at the Ivy League school to accept a plaque given to her by Allen Counter, the director of the Harvard Foundation. The 29-year-old, who never graduated high school, earned the prestigious award thanks to her various charitable efforts, including her role in creating an oncology center in her birthplace of Barbados.