Tom Hanksis an (honorary) Harvard graduate!
Hanks, 66, appeared at Harvard University todeliver a commencement addressto graduating students in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Thursday. The Ivy League school conferred anhonorary doctorate of artsupon the actor as he joked that he had received the degree “without having done a lick of work, without having spent any time in class, without once walking into that library.”
Jay Connor / SplashNews.com
“Every day, every year, and for every graduating class, there is a choice to be made," Hanks told the graduating class. “It’s the same option for all grown-ups who have to decide to be one of three types of Americans: those who embrace liberty and freedom for all, those who won’t or those who are indifferent. Only the first do the work of creating a more perfect union, a nation indivisible. The others get in the way.”
During Hanks' appearance at the university, Harvard also gave him a Harvard-branded volleyball in reference to his 2000 movieCast Away. Students from the school’s theatrical groupHasty Puddingperformed a number detailing the actor’s significant film credits prior to his speech.
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Harvard previouslyannounced Hanks as its 2023 commencement speakerback in March, with university president Larry Bacow saying in a statement at the time that the actor has “contributed to our national culture and expanded our ability to appreciate stories and histories that have been previously unexamined.”
Hanks himself studied theater at Chabot College and later graduated from California State University in Sacramento, Calif., before embarking on an acting career that has since spanned more than 40 years and twoAcademy Awardwins.
Asteroid Cityreleases in select theaters June 16 before it goes nationwide June 23.
source: people.com
