Most current students of Saint Joe's took a tour of the campus their senior or junior year of high school. You fell in love with the school--the beautiful bell tower, the division one sports, the free laundry in freshman dorms, and your excitable Hawk Host who truly embodied #THWND. Your Hawk Host told you little things too, that didn't make you decide to come to St. Joe's but were just cool little facts that gave you the inside scoop, like that little hill is the highest geographical point in Philadelphia, or how people sled down Sweeney field's hills when we have snow days, or that Will Smith went to Gompers Elementary School, which we share the block with.
I'm sorry, I know I'm going to burst some bubbles here but... according to Will Smith's Wikipedia page he actually went to Our Lady of Lourdes. But how in the world did this rumor get started? And how did it last so long?
So here are my theories:
1. West Philadelphia Born and raised!
2. He went down the street.
Our Lady of Lourdes is also in West Philadelphia, on the corner of 63rd and Lancaster. He then went to Overbrook High. All of these schools are in spitting distance of Gompers and Saint Joe's.
3. You trust people in uniform.
We don't know who started this rumor, but we know who made it famous the-- Hawk Hosts on campus.Tour Guides would point out Gompers when walking by Science Center and slyly slip in "Oh, that's where Will Smith went to school." They have since been educated that this a false rumor and would never lie to potential students (but is still whispered about on some tours).
So here's to you, anonymous Hawk Host or perhaps random student who started the infamous rumor that our campus shared acreage with the school that once educated the legendary Fresh Prince. Thanks for the awesome lie that people will probably continue to tell future Hawks.
