The Quad

Dear Ms. Fletcher, thank you for interest...

Each and every one of you can go straight to hell!

Eva?

What's going on?

I hired the best headhunter.

I had two dozen interviews.

And I killed every single of one 'em.

I know you want me out,

but I'm gonna need some more time.

You're being blackballed.

I'm sorry.

But I'm still gonna need you to move out

by the end of the month.

Eva Fletcher.

I'm thrilled to be sitting across from a candidate

from the Big Green.

A pleasure to represent.

Oh, Elmer was at your alma mater

before they even admitted women.

I have one more question for you, Ms. Fletcher.

Dr. Fletcher... I think it says here on her CV.

Have you, uh... you attended Ivys.

And you were the president

of one of those fancy, liberal arts colleges.

Said yourself you grew up the indulged Army brat

of a Brigadier General.

Share with me what you know about life

at a historically black college.

Pride, tradition, excellence.

Those are your expectations.

And yet the University has gone from a top-5 HBCU

to falling out of the top 25.

Now, I took Laura Farnsworth College

from being simply admired to one that is competitive.

HBCU or Ivy, excellence is excellence.

Excellence is excellence.

But our... our budget is our budget.

I bet I could find 10% pure fat in my first year.

Let's go!

I saw the one that did it.

You ain't seen nothing!

- - Come on.

Hurry up!

Find that ho.

The one that saw me.

Alright.

Cedric... what's going on?

Uh, nothing.

Yo, Mom, what are you doing?

Ask me that again see I don't smack you up side your head.

You don't even know what happened.

Okay, okay, Cedric, what happened?

Exactly.

I'm tired of jumping every time my phone rings.

I'm scared the police are gonna come knocking at my door

in the middle of the night.

I promised your father I would not let these streets have you.

Ain't nobody got me.

Ain't I supposed to go Chicago State in the fall?

No, Cedric, you're not.

What?

That's not the only school you got into.

Hey, I can't go to Georgia.

You know I can't.

Ma, what about my music?

They got music in Atlanta.

Grab 'em.

Hey, how you doing, young man?

What's up?

Um, hi, I'm Berretta, Cedric's mother.

- Hi. - This is my Aunt Vida.

Hi. How're you doing?

I'm Charles Richardson.

Um, these are my sons Duncan and your new roommate, Bryce.

How're you doing?

What's up, fam?

It's nice to meet you.

Dope, we got a TV?

No. I got a TV.

Whatever, blue blood.

Let's, uh... let's get the rest of your stuff, son.

Alright.

Nice meeting ya.

Likewise.

Today, I continue my four-part series

on crime in Urban American.

In Chicago, three men were killed in a nightclub shooting.

The victims included an off-duty police officer working security

and a University of Illinois engineering student.

Cedric, I am putting your undershirts in here

with your belts in the second drawer, okay?

... because we're smart enough to be afraid

of the people we should be afraid of.

Cedric, help us put your stuff up.

... justice from a system that has demonstrated

black lives don't matter.

Ladies and Gentlemen, our new Georgia A&M President,

Dr. Eva Fletcher.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Pride, tradition, excellence.

Those are the words engraved on our gates.

They're also the principles my husband and I have instilled

in our daughter, Sydney.

She's a freshman here,

and we couldn't be more excited.

Why do I have to move?

She's the one who got fired.

I wasn't fired, I resigned.

Well, I didn't resign, so I shouldn't have to go with you.

You barely graduated, Syd.

We're lucky that your mother's new position

includes your free education.

Dad, I can go to junior college here.

My life is here.

The father that I'd much rather live with is here.

This isn't a negotiation.

What's wrong?

Afraid you'll be lonely?

Afraid you won't make any friends?

- Sydney! - That's enough, Syd.

There are those who say the historically black college

is no longer necessary, that our support has dried up.

Why does it take bourge people forever

- to make a damn point? - Sssh!

... to that, I say... - Sssh.

... excellence has no expiration date.

You don't know me like that.

Yo, I could've said all that by now

and drop the beat on it.

- - You know what I'm saying?

Grow up... both of you.

You know you starting to sound less like my roommate

and too much like my mama.

Hey, you know that boy Rav

coming through here next week, right?

Come on, bird, you know I got front-row tickets to that shit.

We begin our future by honoring our past.

This year, we begin our climb back to the top.

And we will do it together.

Welcome to walk-on tryouts.

Thank you, Director Diamond, sir.

What do you know about this band?

The Georgia Agriculture and Mechanical University

Marching Mountain Cats

was established in 1918 with 17 all-male members.

Women weren't allowed in until 1942

when Lily May Young so impressed with her trumpet,

she couldn't be denied.

The Marching Mountain Cats became

your Marching Mountain Cats in 1996.

You play seven instruments, sir.

Your first, the alto sax.

And still your favorite.

That's why I play it...

since I was six.

You're my idol, sir.

You got good taste.

And I faithfully pledge to uphold the standards...

What in the hell gives you the right to recite my creed?