Revisionist History podcast Praises Hope Forward

Hope earns praise on best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell’s newest Revisionist History podcast for taking a revolutionary approach to removing tuition as a barrier for access to college while building generosity and community along the way.

Titled “A Good Circle” and released to the general public on Thursday, June 29, for listening with no charge, the episode explores the vision, impact and potential of the college’s Hope Forward initiative.

“It’s a gamble, but it’s a great gamble,” Gladwell said of Hope Forward while on campus this past spring as he recorded interviews for the episode. “And I am just over the moon that somebody is finally trying to address these deep structural problems in higher education.”

Hope Forward is a tuition-free funding model that, once fully implemented, will ask Hope’s students to give to the college upon graduation rather than requiring them to pay for their education in advance. Launched in the summer of 2021, it has been piloted across the past two years by 58 students in two cohorts. Fundraising is ongoing to extend Hope Forward to the entire student body.

Gladwell had visited campus as a featured participant in the college’s March 8-9 Catalyst Summit, which brought together thought leaders from a variety of fields to consider new ideas and spark meaningful conversations about how to fix higher education’s broken funding model. Multiple sessions highlighted Hope Forward as a case study, with Gladwell emceeing a talk-show style concluding keynote. While at Hope, he recorded interviews with President Matthew A. Scogin ’02 and students participating in Hope Forward as well as other members of the college community. The podcast also features reflections from Michigan-based, best-selling author Mitch Albom, who was among those who spoke during the Catalyst Summit.

If you are interested in supporting Hope Forward or learning more about the initiative, please visit the Hope Forward website.