FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Paulette Thornton (323) 401-0406
A²MEND STUDENT MENTEE ACCEPTED AT HARVARD
Morale and Support Provided by A²MEND’s College Mentoring Program
Aided Temesghen Ghde in his Path from Community College to Harvard
LOS ANGELES – April 25, 2022 – A²MEND’s leadership congratulates one of their longtime student mentees, Temesghen “Temie” Ghde, for his acceptance to Harvard Kennedy School. Ghde will realize his dream of attending Harvard this fall as part of his post-graduate plans to earn joint degrees in law and public policy. Ghde’s successful educational path is a testament to the mission of A²MEND, which seeks to foster institutional change in California’s community college system by operating a
mentoring program for African American male students.
“We at A²MEND are tremendously proud of Temie’s acceptance at Harvard. His acceptance demonstrates to our students that nothing is impossible if you’re committed to academic excellence and hard work,” said Dr. Amanuel Gebru, President of A²MEND. “Temie’s brilliance and tenacity to stay the course as a top performing undergraduate student has enabled him to fulfill his vision of attending Harvard in his quest to work in law and public policy.”
Ghde first learned about A²MEND while attending a community college in Oakland, where a professor introduced him to the organization’s student mentoring program. He was drawn by the supportive resources and the confidence building methods of the organization. Throughout his undergraduate years, he was matched with Dr. Gebru as his A²MEND mentor, who remained steadfast in encouraging him to press forward with his ambitious educational plans. “The morale boost that A²MEND provides to African American students is amazing,” said Ghde. “No matter how big or small, I appreciated their efforts to give financially through their scholarship contributions.”
Ghde’s road to Harvard wasn’t an easy one. Raised in Eritrea, Africa, Ghde endured hardships early in his life. Following his graduation from high school, Ghde was unable to study his chosen field of law in college because his country’s educational system required him to major in engineering as a result of him testing well in physics and math on his matriculation exam. After studying civil engineering for three years and completing his national service, Ghde eventually moved to the U.S. in his resolve to
leave Eritrea to follow his educational goals.
A year after his arrival in the U.S., Ghde enrolled in Laney College upon settling in Northern California. Determined to succeed against all odds as a new asylee in the U.S., he remained vigilant in his educational pursuits to study law and public policy. During his studies at Laney College, he served as President of the Laney Law Society. Soon after receiving his associate’s degree from Laney College, he attended UC Berkeley, where he graduated with a degree in political science, specializing in comparative
politics.
Envisioning to ultimately earn a law degree to one day serve the people of his home country, Ghde applied to leading universities to position him for that endeavor. With an impressive GPA along with his extracurricular accomplishments, including a congressional internship on Capitol Hill and a prestigious study abroad program at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy, he applied to Harvard as well as the University of Oxford. Less than three months later, he received the extraordinary news about his
acceptance to Harvard.
While Ghde’s sheer intellect and perseverance led him to Harvard, he is grateful to A²MEND for providing him with the mentorship and scholarship funding that helped support him throughout his undergraduate journey.
The African American Male Education Network & Development (A²MEND) organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit led by African American male educators who utilize their scholarly and professional expertise to foster institutional change within California’s community college system to increase success of African American male students. Since establishing the organization in 2006, A²MEND has served as the premiere nonprofit solely focused on addressing the lack of educational success for African American male students in community colleges.