The first episodes of Netflix’s reboot of “A Different Word” feel like they were ripped from recent headlines. The fictional Hillman College, which we were first introduced to almost 40 years ago on NBC, is struggling with federal budget cuts to historically Black colleges and universities, with what’s called enrollment management and dilapidated facilities. There are also nods to the current geopolitical consciousness of today’s students, who are protesting and demonstrating in keeping with the radical tradition of HBCU students of past years. We see them complaining about the same crumbling dormitories their parents occupied decades earlier and dealing with “purge day,” when those who can’t pay their tuition are unenrolled.
There’s also the star athlete whose father — a prominent character in the original series — worries that his son is forsaking better opportunities by playing for Hillman and would have access to better facilities and NIL money if he played at a predominantly white school. In this way, the series lays bare the realities that many HBCUs and the students themselves are grappling with.
When I was at Howard University at the turn of the millennium, I had classmates who decided to attend an HBCU because they’d watched “A Different World” every week as kids.
When I was at Howard University at the turn of the millennium, I had classmates who decided to attend an HBCU because they’d watched “A Different World,” a spinoff of “The Cosby Show,” every week as kids. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s UATL, “From 1986, the year before ‘A Different World’ premiered, to 1994, the year after it ended, HBCU enrollment rose from about 223,000 to more than 280,000 students, an increase of roughly 26%.” Spike Lee’s film “School Daze,” set at the fictional Mission College and released in 1988, also opened many young Black people’s eyes to life at an HBCU.
But in the present case, the “Different World” reboot comes after a new enrollment surge at HBCUs. Inside Higher Ed, citing federal data, reported, “Across the country, 42 of 101 HBCUs grew their enrollment between 2019 and 2024.” My alma mater, Howard University, grew by 50% during those five years, and Inside Higher Ed reports that the enrollment on some Black college campuses has continued to grow since 2024.
The reboot is well timed and should prompt a critical examination of how HBCUs fit into today’s higher education landscape. The Supreme Court has effectively banned colleges from using race as a factor in admissions, and it’s not uncommon to read stories of Black students at predominantly white institutions being harassed. To be clear, Black students at predominantly white schools should be able enjoy their college years in environments that are nurturing and promote real growth without forced assimilation. That said, HBCUs provide a safe environment that those other schools do not, and the new series prompts us to think about what it means for young Black people to have safe spaces to grow into adulthood.
There is incalculable value in the spaces that HBCUs provide, and students who want them should have them. But, as the series highlights, many HBCUS, because of problems related to infrastructure and administration, are struggling to make things work.
Popular television was largely bereft of positive images of Black people like the ones audiences were exposed to through “The Cosby Show” and its spinoff, set at a Black college.
It’s hard to articulate the importance of the original “Different World” and the impact it had on Black America. A crack cocaine epidemic was raging. Figures like the Rev. Jesse Jackson (an HBCU alum who famously appeared on the show) were carrying the mantle of Black leadership, and there was a growing number of Black elected officials in major American cities and in Congress. Even so, popular television was largely bereft of positive images of Black people like the ones audiences were exposed to through “The Cosby Show” and its spinoff, set at a Black college.
First-generation college students still constituted a significant portion of Black students pursuing higher education, and “A Different World” helped normalize the idea of Black students going to a Black college.
The solid writing in the reboot honors the spirit of the original, which had fun even as it gave screen time to important conversations about contemporary issues such as unwanted pregnancy, South African apartheid, AIDS, domestic violence and interracial relationships.
The first episodes of the reboot, though, suggest that there will be less emphasis on sheer comedy; the streaming series aims to be a more mature version of the original from 1987. It does a brilliant job of capturing the real-life complexities of challenges facing HBCUs, their students and their alums, and is likely to make those of us who watch think about how different the world is for today’s HBCU students and how much remains the same.
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