# Higher Learning

Higher Learning is a 1995 American crime drama film written and directed by John Singleton and starring an ensemble cast. The film follows the changing lives of three incoming freshmen at the fictional Columbus University: Malik Williams (Omar Epps), a track star who struggles with academics; Kristen Connor (Kristy Swanson), a shy and naive girl; and Remy (Michael Rapaport), a lonely and confused man seemingly out of place in his new environment.
The film also featured Tyra Banks' first performance in a theatrical film. Laurence Fishburne won an NAACP Image Award for "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture"; Ice Cube was also nominated for the award. This was the last film appearance of Dedrick D. Gobert, who was shot dead in 1994 prior to the film's release.
The exterior shots and outdoor scenes were shot on the campus of University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) while the interiors were shot at Sony Pictures Studios.

## Plot

Kristen Connor, a friendly but naïve white woman from Orange County, California, and Malik Williams, a black high-school track star on an athletic scholarship, both incoming freshmen at the fictional Columbus University, attend a dorm party hosted by Fudge White, a militant Afrocentric activist who has been attending the university for 6 years. Fudge's roommate Remy, a quiet white man from Boise (Idaho) and fellow freshman who is studying to become an engineer, contacts campus police to break up the party due to the loud rap music. Fudge argues that the police unfairly target black students while ignoring white students playing loud "hillbilly music".
Taryn, an openly lesbian feminist junior, warns Kristen about walking alone at night on campus and invites her to join her student group. Meanwhile, Malik and Kristen both take a political science class taught by Maurice Phipps, a conservative black man from the British West Indies. Phipps assigns his students a semester-long project of formulating their own political ideologies instead of allowing others to categorize them.
A turning point occurs when frat boy Billy McDonald rapes Kristen, ignoring her refusal to have sex without a condom. Monet, Kristen's roommate, discovers her crying and receives a racially offensive call from Billy; she then decides to seek help from Fudge, who recruits his friends to confront Billy at a frat party to severely assault him for the racist remark, and Kristen identifies Billy to the black students, who force him to apologize to Monet for racially insulting her during his phone call, unaware that he sexually assaulted Kristen. Shortly afterwards, Kristen joins Taryn's student group, confiding in her about the rape, and Taryn encourages her to report the crime. As they grow closer, Kristen begins developing romantic feelings for Taryn. Eventually, Kristen decides to continue a relationship with Wayne, a college student and friend of Malik she was already dating before meeting Taryn.
When Remy criticizes Fudge's habit of constantly disrupting his studies with loud music, Fudge mockingly threatens him. He moves out and gets a new Jewish roommate named David Isaacs, but his frustration grows when Malik mocks him after winning a video game. Shortly afterwards, feeling increasingly isolated from his peers at the University, Remy befriends a group of white supremacists led by Scott Moss, who live close to the Campus; influenced by their neo-nazi racist beliefs, he eventually joins their ranks as a Nazi skinhead.
After Malik confronts Phipps over a dismal grade on a midterm essay and accuses him of selling out to the white establishment, Phipps explains the various spelling and grammar errors and emphasizes the importance of taking personal responsibility. He shares with Malik his perspective that black people have to work twice as hard to triumph over societal prejudice and to attain the same socio-economic status as white people as well. Afterwards, Malik improves his writing skills with the help of his girlfriend, fellow track athlete Deja, and learns valuable lessons about self-improvement.
Conversely, Remy's hatred and racism escalate as he pulls a gun on Malik and David, using racial slurs. He eventually drops out of the university and, encouraged by his Neo-Nazi friends, attacks with a sniper rifle from a rooftop during a peace festival organized by Kristen and Monet. Deja is killed and Malik finds and beats Remy before being himself violently restrained and beaten by the campus police, who ironically forget about Remy's presence until he pulls a pistol. While suffering a nervous breakdown Remy tries to apologize for his actions, laments that he will never become an engineer, and (in a last effort to avoid further humiliation and imprisonment) commits suicide in front of Malik and the police by shooting himself in the mouth.
Later on at night, the racist skinheads gather in Scott Moss' apartment, eagerly waiting to hear news from Remy, while confident that there is nothing to connect the former to either Moss or his skinheads. The group then watch a TV news report of the university shooting and Remy's death. The neonazis celebrate Remy's actions, hailing him as a hero, making the nazi salute and loudly chanting "white power", while Moss quietly sits back and slowly starts to smile.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Malik discusses his future with Phipps, explaining that he feels discouraged and unsure about continuing his studies after all that has happened. Phipps expresses trust in Malik's judgment and future choice. Malik and Kristen, who have previously had minimal interaction with each other, have a conversation near a converted Christopher Columbus statue, reflecting on the recent events. While Kristen believes the shooting was her fault for organizing the peace festival, Malik reassures her that she is not to blame, and that it was the right thing to do at the time, before walking away from the campus, leaving his fate at the university undisclosed. The film concludes with Fudge, Taryn, and others graduating from Columbus University. The closing shot features Professor Phipps walking beneath the American flag, with the caption "Unlearn" superimposed over it.

## Cast

* Omar Epps as Malik Williams
* Kristy Swanson as Kristen Connor
* Michael Rapaport as Remy
* Ice Cube as "Fudge" White
* Jennifer Connelly as Taryn
* Tyra Banks as Deja
* Regina King as Monet
* Jason Wiles as Wayne
* Cole Hauser as Scott Moss
* Busta Rhymes as "Dreads"
* Laurence Fishburne as Professor Maurice Phipps
* Bradford English as Officer Bradley
* Jay R. Ferguson as Billy
* Andrew Bryniarski as Knocko
* Trevor St. John as James
* Talbert Morton as Erik
* Adam Goldberg as David Isaacs
* Bridgette Wilson as Nicole
* Kari Wuhrer as Claudia
* Randall Batinkoff as Chad Shadowhill
* Dedrick D. Gobert as Fudge's Homie
* Malcolm Norrington as Cory
* Will Smith as Scottie Rose (uncredited)
* RZA as Braids (uncredited)
* Morris Chestnut as Track Anchor (uncredited)
* Jeanette Bolden as Deja Track Coach (uncredited)
The band Eve's Plum performs, as Themselves, at the Peace Fest.

## Reception

Higher Learning grossed $38,290,723 in the United States, with $20,200,000 in rentals. It ranked #44 for yearly domestic gross and #17 amongst R-rated films in 1995.
For their performances in Higher Learning, Laurence Fishburne and Ice Cube were nominated for the 1996 Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. Fishburne won.

### Critical response

The film received mixed reviews. Roger Ebert commended John Singleton's direction of the film: "He sees with a clear eye and a strong will, and is not persuaded by fashionable ideologies. His movies are thought-provoking because he uses familiar kinds of characters and then asks hard questions about them." He awarded the film three out of four stars. Time Out wrote: "A stylish, intelligent film-maker, Singleton interweaves the threads of his demographic tapestry with assurance, passion and a welcome awareness of the complexities of the college community's contradictory impulses towards integration and separatism." Writing in The New York Times, Janet Maslin felt that the movie fell short of its goal, saying it "turns out to be an inadvertent example of the same small-mindedness it deplores". Reel Film Reviews wrote that the film is "consistently entertaining and well-acted all around. While it's not a perfect movie – Cube's character disappears for a 30-minute stretch and Singleton's approach often veers into heavy-handedness – it is nevertheless an intriguing look at the differences between races and how such differences can clash", and awarded it 3.5 stars out of 4.
Higher Learning holds a 46% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 41 reviews, with an average rating of 5.30/10. The site's consensus states; "It's hard to fault Higher Learning's goals; unfortunately, writer-director John Singleton too often struggles to fit his themes within a consistently engaging story." On Metacritic, it has a score of 54% based on review from 20 critics. Singleton commented: "If you look at Higher Learning, which I was 25 years old making it, I'm like chock full of everything that would concern young people: lesbianism, and racism, and everything I could put in that movie. It was a great movie. A fun movie to do. But you could never get that movie made now. Never. The guy shoots everybody, know what I mean?"

## Soundtrack

The soundtrack, containing hip hop, R&B, rock and jazz music, was released on January 3, 1995 by John Singleton's New Deal Music label through 550 Music/Epic Soundtrax. It peaked at number 39 on the Billboard 200 and number 9 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. In addition to "Higher", performed by Ice Cube, the soundtrack includes original music by OutKast, Liz Phair, Tori Amos and Rage Against the Machine.

## Pop culture

The character Malik, played by the same actor, Omar Epps, appears in Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, a comedy movie that parodied some popular black movies of the 1990s. A year later, after the graduation of a friend, Malik had returned to the university where he was shot and killed by a new Skinheads member.