The owner of the HBCU Confessions Twitter account and founder of “HBCU And Chill” talks with our Editor-in-Chief Tommy G. Meade Jr. about how the handle was created and where we can find those trendy shirts.
Talk about how HBCU Confessions was created, and what made you think that Confessions would gain as many as 87,000 young people keeping tabs on the brand on Twitter?
Basically, I started HBCU Confessions one summer morning before football workouts out of sheer boredom. Being a college student I knew how many unbelievably exciting stories are made and told every day just on the campus of Grambling State University. I wanted to create a platform where people could express and confess their wildest stories across the nation. The first day I started I followed the main HBCU social media pages and a couple of random people from every HBCU. I managed to get about 120 followers the first day. The next morning, I woke up for workouts and my phone was literally frozen up because overnight the page had caught the attention of my peers and amassed 3000 followers. From there the page picked up a few thousand followers every day for the next two weeks straight.
What does “HBCU And Chill” mean, anyway? And what differs HBCU And Chill from the Netflix and Chill t-shirts?
The concept of the HBCU and Chill shirt is as simple or as complex and you decide to make it. To me I think of HBCU and Chill as a way to represent your HBCU pride in a trendy way, which is something I would like to see happening more often again. When it comes to the literal terms of HBCU and Chill I think of Devon and Leila from Drumline, seeing as how that’s my favorite HBCU love story.
The difference between HBCU and Chill and Netflix and Chill is HBCU and Chill is meant to be a statement for going to an HBCU, taking care of your business, enjoying yourself, having pride of your roots and maybe finding your companion at your HBCU (The perfect HBCU GOALS). While Netflix and Chill is more of a sexual innuendo.
Where can our readers find more info on how to purchase the t-shirts?
Readers can visit www.TheHBCUfessions.com and visit our online shopping center.
What’s the craziest story you’ve come across while managing the HBCU Confessions Twitter account?
By far the CRAZIEST story/ Situation that I’ve came across while running the page is one day a girl decided to send a direct message of her confession (Which is perfectly fine) but what I didn’t expect was that I would personally know the girl. Her confessions stated “During SpringFest my roommates dad came down to visit but what she doesn’t know is id been secretly texting him for 2 months now and let’s just say my roommate’s not the only one that calls him “Daddy” … #SorryNotSorry #SOtoDaddy”
At first naturally didn’t believe the story until I realized that the two girls didn’t hang out anymore. and when I finally worked up the courage to ask one of the girls why I never see them around each other anymore the only thing I was told was, “Don’t worry about it just know some people are unbelievable TRIFILLIING” so it’s safe to say that that was the craziest thing I’ve had to deal with.
What’s one obstacle you’ve faced since opening up shop?
Time management, I’m a full time student with 15 hours, a Member of Omega Psi Phi, and at one point was on the football team. It was very difficult managing HBCU Confessions while taking care of those tasks.
Why do you think the t-shirts have become so popular among the black college community?
The shirt is becoming more and more popular because the black college community is a very strong, powerful and most importantly influential group. If there is something that we feel strongly about then our presences is going to felt. HBCU and Chill is our trend and I think it can be something that represents the Class of 16, 17, 18, 19 and even HBCU2020 very well.
Anything else you would like to add to this piece?
I’d just like to urge people to continue to support black business and most importantly to uplift our young entrepreneurs. If people take the time out to research what young black HBCU students are doing you would see that some have very brilliant ideas that just need a little support from our community.
Steve Orisakwe is a Senior Accounting and Economics Major at Grambling State University.
