Howard’s Imprint on Hillman

Allen said her own Howard experience provided much of the foundation for how she approached developing the Hillman campus.

Asked what she had fought hardest to get right about Black college life, Allen responded simply, “I didn’t have to fight at all, because I went to Howard University.”

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She reflected on arriving at Howard after experiencing rejection elsewhere in her pursuit of dance. At Howard, Allen said, mentors, classmates, and opportunities redirected her path.

“Howard is where I really found myself,” she said.

The sentiment took on added resonance when her sister, actress, Howard alumna, and dean emerita of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts Phylicia Rashad (BFA ’70), entered the theater during the conversation, an unannounced but welcome surprise, adding another link between the University and a family whose work has profoundly shaped Black television and performing arts.

For Reece, the relationship between Howard and Hillman is more immediate.

Reece completed her senior year at Howard while balancing her first television role portraying Hazel, a small-town first-year who has dreamed of attending Hillman since childhood. Reece described Hazel as “a church girl through and through” who arrives looking for community and the chance to fully become herself.

You are who you’re around, and the people you’re around are the ones who lift you up, push you forward, and encourage you.

The Next Generation

That search, Reece said, mirrors parts of her own Howard experience.

She first encountered “A Different World” as a high schooler attending a predominantly white school, and seeing Black joy and excellence onscreen offered an escape. Her eventual arrival at Howard provided the community she once watched from afar.

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“You are who you’re around, and the people you’re around are the ones who lift you up, push you forward, and encourage you,” Reece said.

Preserving that sense of community within the show itself became one of her priorities. She noted that the six actors at the center of the new series developed an offscreen friendship almost immediately, bonding during the audition process before they even knew whether they had secured their roles. That chemistry, she said, helped bring authenticity to the friendships audiences will see at Hillman.

Authenticity was also a recurring theme for Allen, who said the creative team sought to make Hillman feel rooted in 2026 rather than reproducing the visual language of the original. The series expands its campus environment; incorporates contemporary fashion, technology, and music; and draws on HBCU alumni throughout its cast and crew.

“We didn’t want to have any false moves anywhere,” Allen said.

Lessons Beyond the Yard

Following the moderated conversation, students and alumni were able to ask the duo questions about acting, storytelling, career development, and navigating life after Howard.

Me’kaili Johnson, a senior theater arts major and current Miss Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, asked Reece what parts of her Howard training she found most valuable within the industry. Reece noted the importance of knowing her character’s backstory and environment, which then informs the decisions she makes onscreen.

“You have things that happen to you all throughout your life and shape who you are today, and it’s the same thing for characters on the screen,” Reece said. “How can you play a character without knowing all the things that they went through?”

When Asia Butler-Legree, a senior political science major and philosophy minor, asked for advice about transitioning from Howard into the professional world, Reece encouraged students to take chances despite uncertainty.

“Put yourself out there,” Reece said. “You have to put aside your fears and accept the fact that maybe you might get some noes, but you also might get some yeses in ways that you never would imagine.”

Allen offered a complementary message: “Aim high. Aim as far as you can see.”