Music artist and actress Queen Latifah applauds during ceremonies at Harvard University awarding the W.E.B. Dubois Medals for contributions to black history and culture. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Billionaire businessman Robert F Smith receives the W.E.B. Dubois Medal during ceremonies at Harvard University for contributions to black history and culture. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)Billionaire businessman Robert F Smith speaks after receiving the W.E.B. Dubois Medal for contributions to black history and culture at Harvard University. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)Music artist and actress Queen Latifah applauds billionaire businessman Robert F Smith during ceremonies at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)Music artist and actress Queen Latifah reacts after receiving the W.E.B. Dubois Medal for her contributions to black history and culture at Harvard University. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)Music artist and actress Queen Latifah shouts during her speech as Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr listens after she received the W.E.B. Dubois Medal at Harvard University. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)Other honorees include Elizabeth Alexander, Lonnie Bunch III, Rita Dove, Sheila Johnson, Kerry James Marshall and Robert Smith. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)The award is named after Du Bois, a scholar, writer, editor, and civil rights pioneer who became the first black student to earn a doctorate from Harvard in 1895. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)