College Hill (TV series)

The first season began airing on January 28, 2004 and aired every Tuesday at 10pm on BET. The show's ratings increased dramatically during the course of the series, bringing in record ratings during its third and fourth seasons for BET. The sixth and final season, set in South Beach, Florida, premiered on March 24, 2009. The show did not return for a seventh season.

In the fall of 2007, BET aired College Hill Interns, a spin-off focusing on the lives of ten college students from different universities around the country on their summer internship program in Chicago — Letia, Lonnie Abernathy, Jenna Bailey, Tatiana Boiser, Ivy Box, Kathy Harris, Spencer Humphries, Marc Reece and Kasheef Wizard.

College Hill has posted some record numbers for BET. During Season 4 (The Virgin Island Season), episode 8 was the most-watched original series telecast in BET history, pulling in a 1.84 rating averaging 2.2 million viewers. It was cable's #1 original series among Black households (6.5 US Black Rating) and Blacks 18–34 (5.3 US Blacks 18-34 Rating) for Calendar Year 2007.[3]

College Hill DVDs were released through Paramount. The DVDs include bonus episodes, footage that didn't make the show, and cast commentaries.

As with other reality shows, College Hill has received criticism from the black community.

During its second season, some associated with Langston University made some complaints about the way the university, and black college students as a whole, were represented by the show. "We are not denying this type of thing goes on," David Stevens, national president of the Langston University Alumni Association, had said, "but we are questioning what are the motives behind presenting many of the negative aspects without showing the good that goes on." Hudspeth said the show presents stereotypical images of black people. He likened BET to minstrel shows of the early 20th century. "BET represents the merchandising and exploitation of stereotypical and oftentimes destructive behavior of black people for the benefit of profit", he said.

Virginia State University, the show's location for the third season, saw a drop in enrollment the following year. While there was a 2 percent increase in out-of-state students, from 1,483 to 1,529, the number of in-state students declined, from 3,572 to 3,343, according to the university’s Web site.

During its fourth season in the Virgin Islands, it caused an uproar. Alumni and parents sent e-mails and called the university. Radio shows aired discontent over the way the students portrayed themselves. Members of the university's Board of Trustees expressed their outrage over the cast members' behavior and distanced themselves from the decision to allow the show to be filmed at UVI. They advised President Laverne Ragster to apologize to both the university and Virgin Islands communities, which she did in full-page advertisements in the Virgin Islands Daily News and the St. Croix Avis. A board member even at the university stated "I was absolutely horrified by the program. A public university has a role to educate the public as much as its students and not highlight modern society's base instincts," he was quoted as saying. Others on campus also felt College Hill did not accurately represent Virgin Islands students.

Cast member Idesha Browne from the Virgin Island season stated that "everyone has to take into consideration that this is TV." In the first two episodes, there were displays of nudity and profanity, and sexual overtones. Cast members drank until becoming sick, and dared each other to become nude and to perform sexual acts. According to Browne, many of the negative comments came because of "the timeline of the show". She said that scenes, specifically those in the first episodes, were not shown chronologically. "They had to put things together to make the audience watch the show," Browne said. "A lot of negative comments that are made are about the timeline. People think everything happened so fast but those who lived in the house know how it happened," she said. "The show isn't about UVI. It's about eight students who live in a house and attend UVI."

"I don’t regret anything. If I could do it again I probably would do it", cast member Browne said. She said she was happy for the opportunity to refine her speaking skills and the interaction with others. This may be why, starting with the fifth season, College Hill is named after a city rather than a university.[4]

• Reality television
• Black Entertainment Television
• Baldwin Hills
• Harlem Heights
• The Real World

• BET Shows - College Hill
• College Hill - Interns page
• College Hill - Atlanta (Season 5) page
• College Hill - South Beach (Season 6) page
• College Hill at IMDb
• College Hill at TV.com