Courtesy of: Alva Francois
A couple of weeks ago, Kendra Koger wrote a “Where Are They Now” article about the cast members of one of BET’s first reality shows, “College Hill.” It was no easy task. Many of the cast members went on to live very normal lives, disappearing from the public eye. Well, one of the more memorable cast members from season 2, Peaches Jasper, saw the article and reached out to let us know the real deal about her and her castmates. We had a chance to speak to Peaches Jasper, whose real name is Alva, the former senior biology major at Langston University, about her experience on “College Hill” and what she’s been up to since she left the show and graduated.
Why did you decide to participate in College Hill?
Somebody actually asked me to do it. They were having auditions and somebody thought I would be a good person to be on there.
What was one of your favorite memories from filming?
I don’t know if they showed it or not. We had a party. I know they showed the party. But one of my friends, that I invited, she got real, real drunk and was throwing up all over the place.That was funny. She got really sick and I was telling her ‘Stop drinking, stop drinking.’ We had to take her home.
A lot of people felt this was a negative portrayal of HBCUs and Black students. Do you agree or were people being a little too conservative?
I think it was people being conservative. Especially Oklahoma. Oklahoma is a conservative state and that’s where we were filmed. I actually think because reality was just now coming over to the Black community. Even if you look at “Basketball Wives” and “Love and Hip Hop,” it’s still causing the same type of uproar that “College Hill” did. We know that reality always edits the worst things to get ratings. I believe they really just went off their first impression because they hadn’t seen anything like that.
And of course the southern people, especially the people that fought so hard for us to get an education, that built these Black schools and support these Black schools. I think they were trying to say let’s not put a representation of ‘this is what Black kids do.’ That’s where our money is going to? So I can kind of understand where they were coming from, they just didn’t know what was going on. And I kind of got mad at “College Hill” because they didn’t show the good and the bad, they just showed the bad.
Courtesy of: Alva Francois
Do people still recognize you?
Girl. People say ‘I know you.’ And I’m like ‘No, you don’t.” And so I use my real name because Peaches is very familiar. I used to live in Florida and people started showing me pictures of when we [the cast members from College Hill] went down there.
What’s a particular moment that people reference when they see you?
Most of them reference about me and Jon, which is not a good thing. Laughs. [You may remember that Peaches and Jon got into a fight.]
And they showed me dancing on there. When they introduced me, they introduced me from the bottom, going all the way to the top. The small waist, you know, the big butt. Back then, the curvy figure was starting to be in.
What would you say you learned from the experience?
To take advantage of every opportunity that I have.
Source: Courtesy of: Alva Francois
What did you do immediately after graduation?
I got married. Laughs. [Her name now is Alva Francois.] I have one daughter, she’s twelve. I am now a minister. I preach now. I work in the church. I did a play with Marvin Winans Jr. I started my own ministry with young adults called Next Level Up. And next month, I’m going to launch a girls mentoring program called Pretty As A Peach for ages 12-23. So, I’ve been mentoring young women and doing things like. So I’m a whole 180 from what they’ve seen. A whole 180.
When would you say you got into your spirituality?
I grew up in the church. I am a preacher’s kid. See, that’s the part that they didn’t show on “College Hill.” They didn’t show me praying or reading my word. Because even when I was in the house, I still was praying, reading my word. They didn’t really take us to church or anything. I just wasn’t like Tanisha, ‘I’m a Christian, I’m a Christian’ but I’ve always had faith in God, I’ve always walked with God, I’ve always been a very strong, spiritual person. I’ve always had a love for God since I was a child.
When did you know that you were going to preach?
Girl, I been knowing I was going to preach since I was about 18 years old. They had actually been trying to get me to preach, the Baptist association and ministers were trying to get me to be licensed and start preaching. Some people are called to be teachers, some people are called to be lawyers and I was called to work for Christ, work for the body of Christ. And I really enjoy it. I have a peace about it.
Do you female preachers still catch pushback?
Yes we do. Southern Baptist Churches do not recognize female pastors. You can’t be in a pulpit and you can’t be a pastor in that denomination. So we do still catch a lot of flack. It’s also hard for female preachers to get a lot of pastor positions, youth pastors. A lot of times, you have to be the elite of the the elite. You have a doctorate of theology for them to even look at you. It kind of motivates you to go back to school, like I’m going back to school now. And if you’re single, it’s even worse.
Where did the name Peaches come from?
My mother. That’s all she ate and craved when she was pregnant. That’s why she named me Peaches. Some of the church people criticized me about it a little bit. They kept saying that was my stage name. And I was like ‘Stage name?’ What?’ That’s what my mom named me. I’ve been having that name. Because I catch a lot of flack about the stripper because “College Hill” was the first to expose that. So I catch flack in the church and a lot of young women. I guess they thought my stage name was Peaches but it wasn’t because that was my name so I had to use something else.
Which of your former cast members do you keep in touch with?
Stacey and Nafiys are the main two that I talk to all the time. I might briefly talk to Tanisha, she’s not on Facebook, she just had a baby. We don’t know where Brittani is but they say she has an Instagram. I talked to Coti a couple of weeks ago, he’s in Oklahoma City. He coaches some type of football team, either little league or semi-pro. And Jon is in Washington. The last time I checked, he was like an Operations Manager for Wal-Mart. So we talk.
Would “College Hill” work today?
I think with better planning. I feel like our show wasn’t planned. It was very unorganized. I think now she [Tracey Edmonds] has more experience. I think we were kind of like her first little experiment with reality. I believe that with more planning, more experience and more money behind it, I think we would be better because now you have to be able to compete with “Atlanta Housewives,” “Bad Girls Club.” You can see that there’s a lot of money, promotion and push behind those shows. It would be better now if she did. She could do a different light. Plus, the generation is different than when we were in school.
Of course, they have social media now. You have more, just more things to do. Things have evolved. Our university doesn’t even look the same from when we were there. You have different people now. For instance, the young ladies now who are natural. You have more asexual dressing and more integration with not only Black guys dating White women, but you have White guys dating Black women. Everything has changed. Homosexuality is more accepted in the community now. It just would be a whole different ball game now if she did a show with this new generation.
Her Future with Reality Tv
I look forward to doing a reality show later on in life. I would love to do one. I would want it to focus on a more positive aspect. What I was really interested in is, you know that they have the “Preacher’s of L.A” and it’s an all men cast. We have a lot of female preachers. You have a First Ladies Club. I think they need to do something from the other end. To me, women are more interesting than who you see on “Preacher’s of L.A.” Way more interesting.
If you would like to contact Alva [Peaches] Francois about her youth and young adult ministry or her mentoring program for girls, you can reach her at nextlevelup.inc@gmail.com or electladyfrancois@gmail.com.
