When Harvey Harris was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1958 while studying at the University of Miami, he made a promise to his parents: One day, he would get his college diploma.
Sixty-eight years later, he finally fulfilled that commitment.
“It was a promise I made to my parents, and I wanted to keep it,” said Harris, now 90, after receiving his diploma at a ceremony held on Sept. 1, 2026. “A promise is a promise.”
Surrounded by friends and family in a room decorated with the University’s orange and green colors, Harris was visibly moved as Leonidas Bachas, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Chantel Acevedo, the college’s senior associate dean for academic affairs, presented him with his diploma.
“Life threw you some curveballs. You had to put your dreams on hold while you were serving the country,” Bachas said at the ceremony held at Arbor Terrace, the assisted living community where Harris lives in Cooper City, Florida. “Your story and your path are a powerful reminder of what human beings can achieve, and even more so when you serve your country.”
“You are one of our most inspiring graduates, and I will certainly be talking to our first-year students and saying that if you can do it, they can do it,” Acevedo added.
Harris grew up in South Beach, where he attended Miami Beach Senior High School before enrolling at the University of Miami in 1954. He was only six credits shy of completing his degree when he was drafted into the U.S. Army.
“I couldn’t believe that after my physical, I found myself on a train to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, for basic training,” he recalled.
From there, Harris was sent to Germany to respond to the Berlin Crisis, which was triggered when then-Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev demanded that U.S. forces withdraw from West Berlin. While overseas, Harris completed his missing credits through a University of Maryland extension program.
He always intended to get his diploma, but life got in the way. He was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army in 1962 and worked as a sales representative and mortgage banker while raising a family with his wife of 59 years, who passed away in 2025.
“I knew at some point I would [finish my degree],” Harris recalled. “It was a challenge for me all these years.”
In the spring of 2026, with the help of Elma Pierre, a Barry University Master of Social Work student, Harris contacted the University of Miami to see what he needed to do to get his diploma. Bachas and Acevedo worked with Emily Long, the college’s assistant dean of student engagement and academic programs, and Maria Galli Stampino, the University’s dean of undergraduate affairs, to help Pierre transfer Harris’ credits from the University of Maryland. Then Pierre organized a graduation ceremony with Harris’ family.
“This achievement reflects not only his dedication, but also the strength of the community surrounding him,” Pierre said at the ceremony.
Jon Baldessari, director of the University’s Veterans Resource Center, presented Harris with an honor stole and honor cord in recognition of his service in the U.S. Army, along with a challenge coin from the Veteran Students Organization. At the end of the ceremony, Harris tossed his graduation cap into the air and placed a University of Miami baseball cap on his head. He is most likely the oldest student to graduate from the college.
“I kept my promise after 68 years, so now I’m an alumnus of the University of Miami, which is fantastic,” he said. “It’s a promise that I wanted to come true, and it did today.”
Among those in attendance was Harris’ daughter, Tricia Hack.
“This has been a lifelong dream for my dad,” she said. “It’s a lifelong dream come true for all of us to witness this.”
