On Friday, President Obama announced his initiative to make community college tuition-free for millions of students. It's an ambitious proposal that Republicans aren't exactly giddy about and even White House advisers have acknowledged would be a slow build. But how can anyone resist the plea of support from Tom Hanks, National Treasure?
In an op-ed published Tuesday in The New York Times, Hanks endearingly details the mind-expanding two years he spent at Chabot community college in Hayward, California, in the mid-1970s. Chabot boasted a diverse student body that included Vietnam veterans, mothers, mid-career professionals, and wayward high school students like himself. Choosing among Chabot's extensive offerings in the arts, science, and trades, Hanks took classes from public speaking to Shakespeare that he says have stuck with him in the decades since. A history class influenced his John Adams HBO miniseries and his two years at Chabot inspired his 2011 film Larry Crowne. "That place made me what I am today," Hanks says. And imagine, he continues, what the initiative could do for millions more:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Gandhi arrests: Narendra Modi's 'vendetta' against India's oppositionThe Explainer Another episode threatens to spark uproar in the Indian PM's long-running battle against the country's first family
-
How the woke right gained power in the USUnder the radar The term has grown in prominence since Donald Trump returned to the White House
-
Codeword: April 24, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Musk vows DOGE pullback as Tesla profits plungeSpeed Read The Tesla SEO says he will soon step back from government matters to devote more time to the company
-
IMF sees slump from tariffs, Trump tries to calm marketsSpeed Read The International Monetary Fund predicts the U.S. and global economies will slow significantly due to the president's trade war
-
DHS chief Kristi Noem's purse stolen from eaterySpeed Read Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's purse was stolen while she dined with family at a restaurant in Washington, D.C.
-
Trump stands by Hegseth amid ouster reportsSpeed Read The president dismissed reports that he was on the verge of firing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over a second national security breach
-
Hegseth reportedly shared war plans in 2nd group textSpeed Read The defense secretary sent information about an attack in Yemen to a Signal group chat that included his wife and brother
-
Judge threatens Trump team with criminal contemptSpeed Read James Boasberg attempts to hold the White House accountable for disregarding court orders over El Salvador deportation flights
-
Biden slams Trump's Social Security cutsSpeed Read In his first major public address since leaving office, Biden criticized the Trump administration's 'damage' and 'destruction'
-
El Salvador refuses to return US deporteeSpeed Read President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador said he would not send back the unlawfully deported Kilmar Ábrego García
