--- title: Rihanna Parsons School of Design Benefit 2017 description: Rihanna will be honored at this year's Parsons School of Design Benefit, along with the designer Eileen Fisher and the Neiman Marcus Group. canonical: https://time.com/4715197/rihanna-honored-parsons-school-of-design/ author: Kate Samuelson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-28T16:29:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:42:19.994Z og:title: Rihanna Will be Honored at Parsons School of Design Benefit og:description: For her inspirational style og:url: https://time.com/4715197/rihanna-honored-parsons-school-of-design/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7aee8a05679f71d6/6988bc85bc6cfc19843e05a2/rihanna-harvard-awards.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Harvard Foundation Honors Rihanna As Humanitarian Of The Year og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rihanna Will be Honored at Parsons School of Design Benefit twitter:description: For her inspirational style twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7aee8a05679f71d6/6988bc85bc6cfc19843e05a2/rihanna-harvard-awards.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Rihanna Will Be Honored at Parsons School of Design Benefit Like the Icon She Is by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Mar 28, 2017 4:29 PM UTC  Rihanna receives the 2017 Harvard University Humanitarian of the Year Award at Harvard University's Sanders Theatre on February 28, 2017 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Rihanna receives the 2017 Harvard University Humanitarian of the Year Award at Harvard University's Sanders Theatre on February 28, 2017 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.Paul Marotta—Getty Images by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Mar 28, 2017 4:29 PM UTC Superstar singer [Rihanna](http://time.com/4711609/rihanna-cousin-majesty-photo/) will be honored at this year’s Parsons School of Design Benefit, along with the clothing designer [Eileen Fisher](http://time.com/3980963/inspiring-quotes-female-business-leaders/item/eileen-fisher-fashion-designer/) and the [Neiman Marcus Group](http://motto.time.com/4660055/ivanka-trump-neiman-marcus-products/). The ceremony, which will take place at the New York City event venue Pier 60 on May 22, is the 69th Parsons benefit, an annual event which honors members of the design and performance community while showcasing new talent and raising scholarship funds to support students at the university, The New School. Last year, those honored at the 68th Annual Parsons Benefit Gala included fashion icon Donna Karan, art curator and philanthropist Beth Rudin DeWoody, _Sex and the City_ actor Sarah Jessica Parker and entrepreneur and entrepreneur Arianna Huffington. In a statement released to [_The Cut_](http://nymag.com/thecut/2017/03/rihanna-2017-parsons-benefit.html), Rihanna described being presented with the honor as “a thrill.” She added: “I consistently find creative and exciting designs coming from Parsons alumni, so I feel a deep connection to the school.” The _Umbrella_ singer has been receiving her fair share of honors; in February, she was awarded the prestigious [2017 Humanitarian of the Year honor](http://motto.time.com/4686996/rihanna-harvard-humanitarian-award-speech/) by the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4715197/rihanna-honored-parsons-school-of-design/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4715197/rihanna-honored-parsons-school-of-design/"},"headline":"Rihanna Will Be Honored at Parsons School of Design Benefit Like the Icon She Is","datePublished":"2017-03-28T16:29:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:42:19.994Z","description":"Clothing designer Eileen Fisher will also be honored","url":"https://time.com/4715197/rihanna-honored-parsons-school-of-design/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","Music","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7aee8a05679f71d6/6988bc85bc6cfc19843e05a2/rihanna-harvard-awards.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kate Samuelson","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7aee8a05679f71d6/6988bc85bc6cfc19843e05a2/rihanna-harvard-awards.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Harvard Foundation Honors Rihanna As Humanitarian Of The Year","caption":"Harvard Foundation Honors Rihanna As Humanitarian Of The Year","creditText":"Paul Marotta—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4715197/rihanna-honored-parsons-school-of-design/","name":"Rihanna Will Be Honored at Parsons School of Design Benefit Like the Icon She Is"}}]}] ```