Lady Gaga in duet with ... Harvard?

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Pop culture and higher education are once again merging -- and hopefully this time it will go better than Snooki's ill-conceived visit to Rutgers.

Lady Gaga is teaming up with Harvard University to form the Born This Way Foundation, a non-profit, charitable organization.

Its purpose: to "explore the best ways to reach youth and create a new culture of kindness, bravery, acceptance and empowerment" with a focus on issues such as "self-confidence, well-being, anti-bullying, mentoring and career development and advocacy," according to a Harvard release.

The foundation -- which is named after the singer's most recent album and is a collaboration between Gaga, the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the California Endowment, Harvard'sBerkman Center for Internet & Society and the Harvard Graduate School of Education -- will officially launch with a February 29 event at Harvard's Sanders Theatre. The singer and her mother,Cynthia Germanotta, will be on hand for the reveal.

"My daughter's foundation was born out of her passion to create a better world where people are kinder and nicer to one another and are accepted for who they are, regardless of how different they may be," Cynthia Germanotta said of the new organization.

"She has experienced many of the struggles that our youth encounter today, and identifies with the lasting effects they can have without proper support. Together, we look forward to creating a new movement that will engage and empower youth and accept them as valuable members of our society."

Gaga, a frequent champion of gay rights, was honored earlier this week with a GLAAD Media Awards nomination, in the Outstanding Music Artist category.

Lady Gaga & Taylor Kinney: Laundry Lovers!

Lady Gaga and her boyfriend Taylor Kinney leave his apartment with a basket full of laundry on Monday (January 16) in Hermosa Beach, Calif.

The 25-year-old superstar’s beau also went grocery shopping later in the day.

PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics ofLady Gaga

Gaga just received a nomination for the23rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards in the Outstanding Music Artist category. She is up against The Voice contestantBeverly McClellan, Girl in a Coma,Hunx and His Punx, and MEN.

For more photos of Gaga, check outX17!

Lady Gaga Announces Born This Way Foundation Launch

Mother Monster's nonprofit will promote youth empowerment and equality.

Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation will launch February 29 with a fete at Harvard University, the singer and her mother and co-founder, Cynthia Germanotta, announced in a statement on Thursday (January 19). BTWF was created to promote youth empowerment and equality by encouraging self-confidence and well-being and bringing bullying to an end.

Joining the pop star at Sanders Theatre will be her partners in the endeavor: Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, the MacArthur Foundation and the California Endowment.

Gaga has long been a staunch supporter of anti-bullying legislation, reportedly meeting with President Obama to discuss the topic in September and visiting the White House in early December to discuss the issue with administration officials. She dedicated her performance of "Hair" at the iHeartRadio Festival in Las Vegas to Jamey Rodemeyer, a 14-year-old fan who took his own life after years of anti-gay harassment. And last year, Gaga toppedDoSomething.org's list of the most charitable celebrities, in part for her work on behalf of gay rights causes.

"My daughter's foundation was born out of her passion to create a better world where people are kinder and nicer to one another and are accepted for who they are, regardless of how different they may be," Germanotta said. "She has experienced many of the struggles that our youth encounter today, and identifies with the lasting effects they can have without proper support. Together, we look forward to creating a new movement that will engage and empower youth and accept them as valuable members of our society."

The Mother Monster's commitment to the gay community was again recognized Thursday (January 19) with a nomination for Outstanding Music Artist at the GLAAD Media Awards.The awards recognize fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBT community across all media. In December, the diva was recognized with the Hero Award by the Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization that offers suicide-prevention services to LGBT youth.

During her acceptance speech at Trevor Project Live, Gaga touched on her wishes to someday make bullying a hate crime. "I hope that we can acknowledge all together that where this needs to begin is in the schools," Gaga said. "I want my fans and people all over the world to know that there's always somebody that's listening. But I want them to know they're listening before it gets too late."

GLAAD Media Award Nominations Go to Anderson Cooper, Lady Gaga, Chaz Bono and More

It must make GLAAD very glad to see the works of Chaz Bono, Anderson Cooper and Lady Gaga.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has nominated these fine folks, along with other artists, movies and television series, for the 23rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards, which recognize and honor media for outstanding images of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Who else made the cut?

GET LAST YEAR'S LIST: GLAAD-Handed: The Kids Are All Right, Glee, Scott Pilgrim, Burlesque and More

When it comes to the big screen, Beginners, a story about a father coming out to his son after the death of his wife, starring newly minted Golden Globe winner Christopher Plummer and Ewan McGregor, made the list. And alongside of it is the biopic J. Edgar, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Armie Hammer.

Of course, some of television's favorites (including some returning nominees) also got a special honor from GLAAD: Shameless, The Big C, Glee, Modern Family, NCIS, the AIDS documentary We Were Here, Dancing With the Stars, the wedding of a gay staffer on Conan and TheRoot.com's "Black and Transgender: A Double Burden," got recognized as well.

Ricky Martin scored a nom for his Spanish album, Música + Alma + Sexo.

MORE: View the full nominations list

"As media continue to tell new stories about LGBT people and families, a majority of Americans now support full equality of LGBT Americans," said Mike Thompson, GLAAD's acting president. "This year's nominees enlighten and entertain, while spotlighting the diversity of our community. 

Audiences expect to see their own worlds reflected in media, and today more than ever, those include the lives of LGBT people. 

Viewers know that LGBT characters and stories are simply natural extensions of, and glimpses into, their own experiences from across America."

Read more: http://www.eonline.com/news/glaad_media_award_nominations_go/287618#ixzz1juDLTv7o