Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
North Carolina A&T State University alumnus Joshua Suiter is a Hillman College Falcon, too.
Suiter, a 2022 A&T graduate and a former Mister A&T, stars in the Netflix reboot of “A Different World.” The sitcom, which debuted at No. 1 on the streaming platform in the U.S., has been renewed for a second season. It builds on the cultural impact of the original NBC series (1987-93), which helped shape a cultural boom connected to Black college life.
Following a new generation of students at the fictional Hillman College, the sequel explores college life while examining the legacy of students who came before them. Suiter portrays Andre, a classmate of Deborah Wayne (Maleah Joi Moon), daughter of original characters Whitley (Jasmine Guy) and Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison).
“Seeing all the love for Andre really hit home,” Suiter said. “He’s one of my favorite characters thus far, and we created him from scratch, so to know that the hard work is being received and folks want more encourages me to keep going.”
Suiter discovered acting and musical theater at 7, and eventually matriculated at A&T, where he earned a degree in professional theater. Suiter was a standout in the performing arts on campus, where one of his more notable performances was in “Ain’t Misbehavin’” in 2019 where he first met Guy. In addition to acting, Suiter worked as a theater technician and developed skills in entertainment marketing and business.
“I came in as a creative, but what A&T did between Alpha Phi Alpha, the classes, talking business with professors and serving as Mister A&T sharpened me on the business side,” he said. “It sharpened my networking skills while showing me how to be authentic to who I am.”
Suiter, who appeared in the Hulu series “All’s Fair,” considers “A Different World” a full-circle moment as a Black college alumnus playing a role in the reboot.
“When you talk about an HBCU experience, I’m putting mine up there with the best of them,” he said. “I have so many experiences to pull from with the run of this show, with the character Andre. Hillman even has a heartbeat of its own, so it’s been fun exploring what that feels like as a student there, while still carrying that Aggie Pride in my heart.”
