The Deshaun Hill & Harvard Stephens Memorial Scholarship
Lanair Lett of Henderson, NC is a Chemical and Physical Biology concentrator andlives in Currier House. Since freshman year, he has been very involved with the Harvard Black Students' Association, serving as Arts and Entertainment Chair for the 2011-2012 year. In the BSA, he focuses on providing programming that unites and inspires the black community of Harvard. He also works as an undergraduate researcher in the Harvard Stem Cell and Regenerative Department, where he uses his considerable talent in the fight against diabetes. He will be spending the summer continuing this important work through the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Exceptional Research Opportunities Fellowship (HHMI EXROP). After graduation, Lanair will pursue graduate studies in medicine, hoping to contribute to the eventual discovery of a diabetes cure.
The The Deshaun Hill & Harvard Stephens Memorial Scholarship was established in the name of Deshaun Hill of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Harvard Stephens of Brentwood, Tennessee. The two African-American students were both members of the Class of 1999. Their lives were cut short when they died in a car crash in 1997, just before the 4th of July. The scholarship celebrates the enduring legacy of both Deshaun and Harvard.