Lady Gaga Goes to Harvard With Oprah Winfrey, Launches Born This Way Foundation
What better place than Harvard for Lady Gaga to take the world to school?!
The pop superstar, her mother Cynthia and the mother of all talk show hosts, Oprah Winfrey, were at the Ivy League university's Sanders Theatre to officially launch Gaga's Born This Way Foundation.
Which, contrary to the singer's reputation as a fervent antibullying advocate, is not an antibullying charity. And no, Oprah, the three pillars of the organization are not "bravery, acceptance and love."
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"Those are...well, those are three important aspects of the foundation," Gaga tactfully corrected the OWN founder, "but the three pillars are 'SSO.' Remember these things today, it would make me very very happy: Safety. Skills. Opportunity."
Well, then.
"I want to help, I want to be brave, I want there to be more tolerance in the universe," the "Edge of Glory" singer said of what prompted her to start the Born This Way Foundation, which she describes as a "youth-empowerment" foundation. "I want there to be more acceptance. What I realize more than anything was that I never wanted this dialogue to end."
"This is about transformative change in culture over a period of time," she said.
Lady Gaga also announced that fans shoul! d be on the lookout for the Born Brave Bus, which will travel along with her tour bus and serve as the focal point of a massive, cross-country tailgating party for young people who just want to talk about lifeas well as kids who want to help and inspire others.
"It will welcome anyone from any walk of life, whether you have a ticket to the show or you don't, to come and hang out and talk about love, acceptance, kindness and so forth," she said.
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She admitted that she doesn't have all the answers, and she playfully shot down panel member Dr. Deepak Chopra when he teased her about seeing herself as a global leader.
"I know you want me to see myself as a global leader, because I know you," she teased the author. "I would like for everyone to see themselves as global leaders. I suppose that would be what I mean when I say you are all born superstars.
"When I say it takes very little to change the world," she continued, "I really mean that. If each one of us just transformed one small bit of ourselves to be a bit kinder, more loving, more tolerant...I believe it will be quite easy to change the world. The only problem is, there's so damn many of us."
"If there was a law, you know I'd be chained naked to a fence somewhere trying to pass it," Gaga cracked, acknowledging how implementing widespread change is a daunting prospect.
"Change could be 50 years from now," she admitted. "And if I'm dead, I don't give a s--t, I just hope it happens."