A former sanitation worker in Bladensburg will graduate from Harvard Law School this spring and is using his story to help others in the industry.
Raised by a single father who often worked three jobs, Rehan Staton hauled trash and emptied dumpsters for Bates Trucking & Trash Removal in Bladensburg after being rejected from every college he applied to.
His coworkers convinced him to keep trying, however, and he was accepted into Bowie State University, eventually transferring to the University of Maryland.
“The other sanitation workers were the only people in my life who uplifted me and told me I could be somebody,” Staton said in a 2020 interview.
Due to financial issues, he had to keep working at Bates, often attending class in his neon-yellow uniform when he didn’t have time to change. His brother dropped out of college to work full-time to support him.
Staton graduated from the University of Maryland with a 4.0 in 2018 and was chosen as the school’s commencement speaker and two years later he was accepted into Harvard Law. After a story about his life ran in the Washington Post, the actor and producer Tyler Perry offered to pay his tuition at Harvard.
Set to graduate soon, Staton organized a fundraiser to benefit sanitation workers called the Reciprocity Effect, raising more than $70,000 so far.
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