“A Different World” Cast Greeted To Their Own Theme Song At Norfolk State

How many other schools can say that the cast of A Different World came to their school?

What is even better is that when the cast came to Norfolk State University this past Saturday, the audience greeted them by singing the Different World theme song.

Jasmine Guy (Whitley), Kadeem Hardison (Dwayne), Darryl Bell (Ron), Cree Summer (Freddie), and Charnele Brown (Kim) spoke on a panel to benefit the Access College Foundation and the Honors College at Norfolk State University in Virginia.

During an interview with the local ABC station, Bell said that he still gets misty-eyed when he speaks to people and they give credit to the show as the reason that they continued onto higher education.

“Every step that we made and every show that we took on a hot topic, I knew we were breaking ground,” said Bell. “I knew we were going places that shows hadn’t gone before. I knew it was important for young people of color to do all of that. So I knew.”

Currently, schools like Norfolk State are suffering financially, so it is good to see the former cast making an effort to bring awareness.
A Different World lasted for six seasons from September 24, 1987 to July 9, 1993, and was a spin-off of the Cosby Show. The show followed students at Hillman College, a fictional historically black college in Virginia, which was inspired by student life at Howard University.