North Carolina A&T State professor sparks viral TikTok movement, 'HillmanTok'

    GREENSBORO, North Carolina (WXII) -- Class is in session, all with just one click!

It started with a simple TikTok video, North Carolina A&T assistant professor Dr. Leah Barlow posted on January 20. It was only intended for her in-person African American studies class of 33 students.

That same video, now reaching nearly 800 thousand likes, 4.4 million views, and counting!

"I look and see that oh, something big is going on," Barlow said. "I still wasn’t registering what exactly was happening, but by the time I got a few phone calls later that day I realized, oh people think this is a class for TikTok."

Soon users across TikTok wanted to learn more about the class; asking how to enroll, and when is homework due.

This, eventually piqued the interest of other professors and teachers across the country to hop on the trend, which is now known as 'HillmanTok'.

A movement crafted from 'Hillman University', the fictional HBCU from hit 1980's TV series, A Different World.

"For me, as someone who works at a real-life Hillman so to speak, at North Carolina A&T, to sort of see HBCUs on the map in very important ways, and really at the helm of digital humanities, so it's exciting to see that happen."

From knitting to financial literacy, students from around the country and world, can 'enroll' in a class on TikTok. something Barlow says redefines how we think and learn.

"What I really see is that it's even bigger than 'HillmanTok', I see access to education," Barlow said. "I see the ability for people to get online and maybe take a class that they wouldn't or couldn't take for whatever reasons, so it's really exciting to see that go in that direction."

And as for the future of HillmanTok University, it's a good idea to join a class now, while you still have time.

"I decided that I should write a book about this. And so, I think I'm going to continue doing it for at least the semester, see how it goes." Barlow said.