‘College Hill’ Reboot in the Works, But With Major Change

One of BET’s earliest reality series’ is making a comeback. The Jasmine Brand reports that College Hill is returning on BET+, the network’s streaming app, sometime this fall. Filming is currently underway. The original show followed the lives of students at historically black colleges throughout the U.S. This time around, instead of following actual college students, celebrities that didn’t attend or finish college will be featured. Some of the celebrities in the reboot include: NBA champion Lamar Odom, former Real Housewives of Atlanta star Nene Leakes, Ray J, bounce music artist Big Freddia and rapper Dream Doll. The show is said to be filming at Texas Southern University, the same school that the self-proclaimed “hot girl” Megan Thee Stallion attended.

Ironically, filming is taking place as Leakes battles Bravo in real-time. the popular reality star is accusing her former network of fostering a toxic workplace environment in which she was subjected to racial and discriminatory practices from co-stars and retaliated against by network executives when she complained. She also accuses Andy Cohen of blocking opportunities elsewhere by badmouthing her, including severing a potential deal with SiriusXM radio for her own radio show. Several Bravo stars are named in the lawsuit, alleging non-Black stars received preferential treatment over Black co-stars. She lists NBC Universal, Bravo, and the production company as defendants. 

College Hill aired on BET for five seasons, first premiering in 2004. The show was produced by former powerhouse couple: super producer and music writer Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and Tracey Edmonds. The show was filmed at Southern University in Louisiana, Langston University in Oklahoma, Virginia State University, University of Virgin Islands, and the Atlanta triple threat of Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, and Spelman College. The personal lives, academics, and relationships of eight students was documented per season.

Despite its spotlight on HBCUs, many were in opposition, including fellow classmates of students cast on the show, viewers, and educators who felt it played into negative stereotypes of the Black experience. 

Much of the criticism began in its second season as the show gained traction.”We are not denying this type of thing goes on,” David Stevens, national president of the Langston University Alumni Association, said in 2007 per Diverse Education. “But we are questioning what are the motives behind presenting many of the negative aspects without showing the good that goes on. BET represents the merchandising and exploitation of stereotypical and oftentimes destructive behavior of black people for the benefit of profit”, he added

The Virgin Islands season aired a major physical altercation between two of its classmates. One of the cast members was kicked off the show as a result.