{"id":40782,"date":"2016-04-19T18:19:02","date_gmt":"2016-04-19T22:19:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=40782"},"modified":"2022-09-29T12:23:50","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T16:23:50","slug":"students-react-to-tom-hanks-visit-to-wright-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2016\/04\/19\/students-react-to-tom-hanks-visit-to-wright-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Students react to Tom Hanks\u2019 visit to Wright State"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Nearly<\/a>

Nearly 2,000 students, faculty, staff and others turned out April 19 to see Tom Hanks and witness the ribbon-cutting for the newly renovated Tom Hanks Center for Motion Pictures. (Photo by Chris Snyder)<\/p><\/div>\n

Excitement and anticipation filled the air as students crowded around the Tom Hanks Motion Pictures Center for the dedication of the newly renovated building<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Trumpets blew and cellphones were held high as the doors opened when actor Tom Hanks greeted the crowd.<\/p>\n

Cheers broke out, cameras were flashing and students could be seen standing inside the Dunbar Library watching from the library windows. Some students waited almost three hours to see Hanks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a proud moment. He\u2019s one of the best actors ever,\u201d said Matt Cline, a junior who dressed\u00a0as\u00a0the famous Hanks character Forrest Gump. \u201cIt makes me proud to be a student here and that Wright State gets national attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

While waiting for the ceremony to begin, some students reflected on what Hanks said earlier in the day during a “Talk Back” session they attended with the Hollywood star. Others noticed the size of the crowd while some students were on their cellphones telling their friends to meet them.<\/p>\n

With smiles on their faces, students shared their excitement for the unique opportunity to see Hanks on campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom where I\u2019m from, he\u2019s really big,\u201d said Dinesh Mirando, a graduate student from Sri Lanka. \u201cIt\u2019s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a celebrity. I\u2019ve seen almost all of his movies. … I\u2019m so excited and I\u2019m so glad I\u2019m part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think of excitement for the university. It\u2019s a great way to get ready for the presidential debate,\u201d said Rachel Coomer, a senior. \u201cIt\u2019ll bring great coverage to the university to show who we are, what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big deal for me. I watched his movies growing up. It\u2019s a little surreal,\u201d said Derius Johnson, a sophomore.<\/p>\n

If Johnson could meet Hanks, he said he would \u201csay ‘thank you for all that you\u2019ve done and for the university.’ Entertainment is something I\u2019ve always wanted to do, and I\u2019d ask him what it\u2019s like and get a firsthand look into the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students were curious about Hanks\u2019 movie experience and how he performed while in school.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy one question would be what made him so successful?\u201d said Cline. \u201cWhat separated him from other students and students like us? It sounds like he wasn\u2019t a 4.0 student.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freshman student, Luke Faile, who has watched Hanks’ movies since he was young, would ask Hanks how he succeeded after failing in his early years.<\/p>\n

Students also shared what they would say if they could personally meet Hanks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I met him,\u201d said Brenna Childers, a freshman, \u201cI would express how amazing I think he is, ask him about his favorite memory about making movies, and then I\u2019d ask if we could be best friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a huge deal for this campus,\u201d said Taylor Herzer, a senior. \u201cOut of all the places he could be right now, he\u2019s at Wright State.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nearly 2,000 students, faculty, staff and others turned out April 19 to see Tom Hanks and witness the ribbon-cutting for the newly renovated Tom Hanks Center for Motion Pictures. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":40774,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,729,2037,4859,725,747,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-around-campus","category-arts-scene","category-fine-and-performing-arts","category-home-news-sidebar","category-liberal-arts","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40782"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40786,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40782\/revisions\/40786"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}