The cast of ‘A Different World’ is continuing to make an impact in the HBCU community.
Recently, Jasmine Guy (Whitley), Kadeem Hardison (Dwayne), Cree Summer (Freddie) and Darryl Bell (Ron) paid a visit to Southwestern Christian College (SWCC) in Terrell, Texas to announce the school as the winner of Ford’s Ultimate Homecoming Takeover. With this announcement, the iconic cast members presented the school of 125 students with a $100,000 check, reports Ebony.
After presenting the school with the check, the cast then participated in a panel discussion where they talked about the important value of HBCUs and the significant role their show had on the African American community.
“It has and continues to be one of the greatest blessings in our lives,” said Bell in regards to how the show has impacted them personally.
Guy chimed in saying, “I loved the diversity of the cast. Usually, actors are the Black person on a show (as in there’s only one type of Black person) and it’s very hard to represent everything about Black people in one person. We had different classes, different colorings, different backgrounds, different aspirations and that’s one thing I loved about ‘A Different World.’ It showed the true spirit of what being Black is, and that it is diverse within itself.”
To this day, the show, which premiered in 1988, is continuing to have an impact on the younger generation. In fact, the new promo reel for Freeform’s “Grown-ish” starring Yara Shahidi pays tribute to the show’s classic college setup.
