Don;t know how I missed HIGHER LEARNING when it first came out. This look at the first year of college at a major university has the ring of truth about it, although perhaps hyped up a bit for dramatic appeal. The primary player in the group is Omar Epps, a student on an athletic scholarship who is trying not to be compartmentalized by everyone. A fellow black student who seems to be living in the 1970s (Ice Cube) sees him as a sellout while one of his professors (Larry Fishburne) is working hard to get him to learn. Michael Rapaport is a loner with a hearing problem who falls in with a gang of skinheads. Kirsty Swanson is a naive miss from the boonies who undergoes a major transformation after being raped by a fellow student. The film is dotted with familiar faces, most if not all of whom have gone on to stardom of one sort or another, including Cole Hauser, Jennifer Connelly and Tyra Banks. Definitely worth a look.
Review of Higher Learning
