Katie Holmes was seen chatting on a cell phone when in Brooklyn, New York on Monday.
The Rare Object director looked to be in great spirits as she was dressed casually for her afternoon outing. The ex-wife of Tom Cruise wore her long brown hair down as she added narrow brown sunglasses and appeared to have on little makeup.
The cover girl may have been talking to her daughter Suri Cruise as it is the teenager’s first day as a freshman at her college, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Classes officially began for the college students on Monday, according to the university’s website.
This sighting comes after DailyMail.com learned that the star is heading to CMU to visit Suri for Family Weekend which takes place September 27 and 28.
‘Family Weekend brings together Carnegie Mellon undergraduate and graduate students and their families and friends for a weekend of events that showcase the vibrancy of the campus experience,’ the school’s website says.
‘Family Weekend features academic welcomes, information sessions, campus tours, student performances and other events.
‘We also encourage students and their families to use this time together to explore the city of Pittsburgh and learn why it’s consistently been ranked among the Most Livable Cities in the United States.
‘Attending Family Weekend is free, however some events require registration or purchased tickets. We invite family members to travel to Pittsburgh on the morning of Friday, September 27, as programming will start on Friday afternoon through Saturday evening.’
Tom, whom Suri is estranged from, won’t be there, even though – as DailyMail.com reported last week – he is paying the tuition as it was in his divorce settlement that he must cover all of Suri’s education.
‘Katie looks forward to visiting her child at school, she is happy for her and wants to be a part of it,’ said a source. ‘Katie attended Columbia University for a while and loved the experience so she is thrilled her girl will be going to college.’
Before Family Weekend, Suri will have a three day weekend with Labor Day.
The 18-year-old student moved into the dorms a week ago with the help of Holmes.
Cruise is forking over the money to put her through college.
That’s because it was decided in 2012 when he divorced Katie after six years of marriage that he should cover all of her schooling.
The divorce documents revealed Tom pays Suri’s expenses, including ‘medical, dental, insurance, education, college and other extracurricular costs.’
‘Tom is indeed paying for Suri’s tuition, he has always paid for her schooling and would never stop as he is a stand-up guy,’ a friend of Tom’s told DailyMail.com. The annual tuition at CMU is $65K.
‘He has never hesitated paying his daughter’s child support and expenses. He does not go back on his word. He is fulfilling his obligation.’
But he is likely no longer paying Katie $38,000-a year in child support as Suri is now 18 and no longer a child.
It is odd to think that Tom is paying Suri’s way considering they have not been photographed together in over a decade.
Their last snapshot together in public was in April 2013.
Suri hinted that she is not on good terms with her father as she changed her last name from Cruise to Noelle. Noelle is Katie’s middle name.
Meanwhile, DailyMail.com has reported that Suri is looking forward to her college experience and is sharing a dorm room with another female student in an all-female dorm hall.
‘Suri wants the full college experience so she is giving the dorm rooms a try and she will have a roommate,’ an insider told DailyMail.com. ‘She is excited for a new chapter in her life.’
Instead of mom Homes’ three-bedroom high-rise luxury apartment in NYC, the teenager will be in a bare-bones dorm room.
She is believed to be house in Scobell House which has a maximum of 88 students and is all female.
One of the highlights of Carnegie Mellon? The campus houses several restaurants that offer cappuccinos, croissants, pasta and smoothies. And there is a state-of-the-art wellness center.
The rooms can be for one person, two or three, depending on need and price.
One of the rooms has two bunk beds which means as many as four students can be crammed in the space.
Most of the dorm rooms offer furniture: there is a single bed with space underneath for storage, a five level chest of drawers, a desk with three drawers and a chair.
There are plenty of amenities at the complex like a TV lounge, a study lounge, a recreational area, laundry facilities, and a kitchen.
Scobell is in the WHeSco community, which includes the houses Henderson and Welch. ‘WHeSco is proximate to many academic buildings and dining options in Resnik. Each building has a central area on the ground floor where students have access to lounges, laundry, and a kitchen,’ the website shared.
There is plenty of food to purchase on campus so Suri won’t go hungry as she crams for finals.
There are restaurants like Au Bon Pain café bakery at Cohon Center where Cruise can pick up chocolate croissants and sodas. There is also a Ciao Bella restaurant for tasty pasta dishes like Fettucine Alfredo; it is also located at Cohon Center. The Edge Cafe and Market at Resnik House is where Suri can get bagels and cream cheese as well as pizza.
It has been hinted by Katie that Suri may be studying acting and dance at Carnegie Mellon. Holmes told Town & Country magazine that after college, her daughter wants to enter showbiz.
Both Katie and Suri’s father Tom have been in the industry since their early 20s.
The magazine claimed that Suri ‘is said to be interested in pursuing a career in fashion or acting.’ That does not sound off base Suri starred in a high school production of The Addams Family.
And Katie has already put Suri to work on two of her films.
Suri contributed vocals to songs in two of Holmes’ films – the 2023 drama Rare Objects and 2022 romantic drama Alone Together.
‘I’m proud of my daughter,’ Holmes told Town & Country of her daughter.
‘Of course, I will miss the close proximity, but I’m really proud of her and I’m happy.’
Holmes, speaking with Glamour in April 2023, said that she has sought to encourage Suri’s performing on her projects.
‘I hope she always does something on my films,’ Holmes said. ‘I always ask her.’
Holmes said that ‘both of those experiences came out of the same sense of what I love about our industry, which is, you have these projects and you become a family with people.’
