Hillman College is officially welcoming a new generation of students, each bringing their own history, ambition and undeniable flair to campus. From legacy kids to first‑gen dreamers, this freshman class is packed with personality, purpose, and plenty of drama. Consider this your full 411 on the faces shaping Hillman’s next chapter.
Maleah Joi Moon as “Deborah”
The third and youngest child of Dwayne and Whitley Gilbert Wayne, Deborah is “free‑spirited and messy; she’s an artist, and she has the flair and whimsicality of her mother, and sometimes that strong, strong‑spoken, opinionated mindset that makes her put her foot in her mouth.” Moon also said Deborah has her dad’s earnestness and kindness. “She is definitely the amalgamation of all the things that we love about the legacy couple, including their humanity.”
Moon’s real parents grew up watching the series, and for her mom — who immigrated to America from Belize at 17 — “it was one of the many inspirations she had to come to America and make that trip here and finish her education out here because it was inspiring,” Moon shared. “That’s a lot of people’s stories from either side of the coin; my dad and mom both represented it so beautifully to me.”
As Dwayne’s baby girl, Deborah inherited his iconic fashion accessory. “I don’t even know how he did this all the time — it’s like having two pairs of glasses on your face at all times. I’m like, Kadeem [Hardison, who plays Dwayne], you are a superhero!”
The ADW OG she’s channeling: Dwayne and Whitley, obviously — but her connection to the actors who play them has extended off‑screen, too. “They stepped in with so much genuine warmth,” she said, with Hardison being her biggest cheerleader and Jasmine Guy “reminding me to just take in the joy.”
Cornell Young IV as “Shaquille“
With his piercing eyes and star‑quarterback skills, Shaquille Johnson’s DMs are ’bout to blow up all freshman year. Cornell Young IV stars as the five‑star recruit, bringing authentic experience to the role; he was a wide receiver at McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois.
“I’ve always been a captain on any team I’ve been on; I’ve just been able to talk to people and understand different walks of life to communicate with them,” he shared.
Shaquille’s dad is Hillman’s own Ron Johnson, giving him a direct connection to the institution. While Shaquille is full of passion and persistence “about the things he cares about,” he’ll face challenges on and off the field in his first year. “He’s in turmoil with some of his teammates. He’s coming in with a relationship and ups and downs, and his father is dealing with the loss of his mother,” Young explained. “We see a young man that’s trying to navigate those emotions, and sometimes you don’t do those in the best way at an age where you really don’t know how to operate in that space. So we’re going to see him grow.”
The ADW OG he’s channeling: “I think I’m a mix of Dwayne and my pops, because I’m Ron’s son, so I gotta have some type of Ron in me — but I got Dwayne too,” he said. “The boys are best friends.”
Jordyn Aaron Hall as “Amir”
That person on campus who always seems to have an answer to your every dilemma? That’s Amir Rojal, played by Jordyn Aaron Hall. “He’s a psychology major, hailing from Harlem, New York,” Hall said, noting that he also grew up in the same neighborhood.
“He’s that friend you go to for advice, even if he might not necessarily be the best at taking his own.” Yep — Amir’s got secrets. “He is dealing with a little bit of a rough past, and he’s coming to Hillman to sort of figure out who it is that he is in this chapter of his life and not holding himself to being bound by his past.”
One thing that isn’t kept in the dark is his sexuality. “The writers and the producers have done so beautifully in terms of just letting him exist as himself and not needing to make it a thing. Ava DuVernay talks about this thing called normalization, and it’s about letting somebody exist as they are,” Hall shared. “I think our show does a beautiful job letting Amir just exist as a queer person. He has such a beautiful three‑dimensional way about him, and I’m excited to have that on screen.”
The ADW OG he’s channeling: With his street‑smart ways, “Amir is a hustler, just like Ron was. Ron always had a harebrained scheme or something he was doing,” Hall said. “And a little bit of Lena James because Lena had a little bit of a rougher past. She comes to the school; she doesn’t have a room. I’ll say Amir is their love child.”
Chibuikem Uche as “Kojo“
The fashionable set will turn to Kojo, Hillman’s own design student with grand ambitions. Chibuikem Uche stars in the role. “Kojo’s Ghanaian‑Nigerian. Coming from London, he represents this international student who is a fashion merchandising major and trying to make a name for himself.”
Of course, his parents have other ideals. “There’s a little bit of a tug‑of‑war as to which one will prevail. He’s just finding himself like a lot of freshmen at university or college are doing… It’s fun to see him go on this journey.” That includes being a lover boy, a ladies’ man. “He’s got his sights set on someone, and he’s a persistent individual.”
With his own formative years spent in London, Uche didn’t interact with A Different World “until this project. And it does make me think how my experience might have been different applying for college had I watched this show,” he said. “I know that there’s a number of people that probably won’t have thought of an HBCU until this drops. And I’m excited to see what it does for them.”
The ADW OG he’s channeling: After some playful suggestions, Kojo feels like a combination of Molefi (played by Ron Mokwena) and Colonel Taylor’s son, Terrence — both young men figuring out who they could become while attending Hillman.
Kennedi Reece as “Hazel”
Kennedi Reece is a Different World success story. She watched the show in high school, which encouraged her to attend an HBCU. “It was really nice to be able to see a show that was just centered on Black people — and not only that, but centered on Black higher education. And I think that’s one of the reasons that inspired me to go to Howard.”
While it wasn’t initially her first choice, the experience transformed her. “I got culture‑shocked at first because I was like, whoa, I can actually be myself for once — to chill and live in my Blackness rather than hiding it,” she revealed. “I got back home, and my friends said, ‘Kennedi, you’re different.’ It was because I gained that confidence from being in a world that prioritized Black beings.”
She landed the role of Hazel Henry right after graduating. “She grew up in the church,” Reece shared. “She’s a bubbly person and unapologetically herself. Coming into an HBCU is what she’s wanted for her entire life. She’s always wanted to come to Hillman and be a part of legacy and tradition, which are very important to her.”
The ADW OG she’s channeling: For Hazel, it’s a duo. “Freddie and Whitley,” Reece exclaimed. “I feel like she acts like Whitley in her bougie way, but also has Freddie’s kooky bubbliness. I definitely feel like I’m a combination of those two.”
Alijah Kai as “Rashida”
Alijah Kai discovered A Different World while sleeping in her mom’s bed. “I would wake up, and it’d be playing on the TV. It would kind of put me back to sleep, but in a good way. It was very comforting. And then as I got older, I started to rewatch Living Single, Girlfriends, and A Different World.”
Kai is getting a chance not only to be on the show’s sequel, but to do it opposite her mom, Tichina Arnold, who’s guest‑starring as her real‑life mother. “It’s very surreal. I feel like it’s ’cause I’ve worked with my mom before, but she’s never played my mom in anything I’ve done,” she said.
As Rashida Duval, she’s “a force to be reckoned with. Rashida is full of ambition; she did not come to play about her education. And although she is a family girl, she wants to strive for better — not just for herself, but for her friends as well.”
Kai pointed out that Rashida’s from Compton, California. “So she still has a type of culture to her. People have a perspective of Black women that they can’t be expressive and intelligent at the same time. She goes against both odds.”
The ADW OG she’s channeling: “I would say Rashida relates to Jaleesa Vinson‑Taylor and Kimberly Reece.” Smart women who were not afraid to speak their minds? That sounds about right.