BET has given a green light to College Hill: Celebrity Edition, a revival of its hit reality series College Hill, for premiere this summer.
The eight-episode series, from Edmonds Entertainment and This Way Out Media, will feature NeNe Leakes, Ray J, Lamar Odom, Big Freedia, Stacey Dash, DreamDoll, India Love, and Slim Thug, who will head back to class to expand their educational horizons. The celebs will live together and join the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Texas Southern University as students.
In the reimagined series, per BET, each cast member is committed to focusing on their higher education as a personal challenge to prove it’s never too late. Enrolled alongside current Texas Southern University students, the cast will work towards completing a specialty certificate program to cross the graduation stage. Like any ordinary college student, they must complete their course work along with required internships, extra credit opportunities, group projects, and more.
The original reality series that followed the lives of students at historically black colleges aired for six seasons, from 2004-2009, on BET.
“We’re excited College Hill will be returning with a new celebrity edition of the franchise that will bring more awareness to the significance of HBCUs, which has a rich legacy and continued tradition of bolstering excellence through education for some of the brightest minds in the Black community,” said Tiffany Lea Williams, Executive Vice President of BET Unscripted Programming. “Furthermore, we couldn’t be more thrilled about filming on the campus of the illustrious Texas Southern University. We’re proud to be a part of this personal journey as the cast proves to themselves and the world that they’re up to the challenge of enriching their lives through education.”
“As the original creator and Executive Producer of College Hill, I am so elated to partner with Texas Southern University and be able to bring back this cherished franchise with an exciting new twist that I am sure will entertain and inspire new and old fans across the board,” said Tracey Edmonds, CEO, and President of Edmonds Entertainment. “We intend to provide a fun but sometimes challenging journey that will show viewers it’s never too late to go back to school.”
“This Way Out Media is excited to partner with BET, series creator Edmonds Entertainment and Texas Southern University as we relaunch and reimagine the wildly popular College Hill franchise,” said Sean Rankine, CEO and Co- President of This Way Out Media, Inc. “We look forward to bringing the spotlight to HBCUs that they so rightly deserve, while entertainingly highlighting relevant conversations within the culture.”
“Texas Southern University is committed to transforming the lives of its students,” said Dr. Lesia L. Crumpton-Young, President of Texas Southern University. “It is an absolute pleasure to welcome our new Tigers to campus, where they will be immersed in TSU history, academics and student life against the background of our beautiful, urban campus. Professors expect these celebrity Tigers to attend class and successfully complete their curated multi- disciplinary academic program. National exposure highlighting the positive attributes of HBCUs benefits Texas Southern University and all institutions who share a common mission.”
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