Three sophomores who started a YouTube channel that chronicles their life as women of color at the U are completing their second year of promoting diversity— and having fun in the process.
Using eye-catching graphics and music, Kylea Stamps, Jamie Williams-Smith and Shadae Nicholas have been sharing their college experience on KRV TV, which stands for their middle names—Kristen, Renea and Victoria.
Their channel documents their college experience while increasing representation of women of color on campus.
“We wanted to broadcast our experience on campus because we saw a lack of representation for Black girls and people of color in general,” said Nicholas, a 20-year-old biochemistry and nutrition major from Raleigh, North Carolina.
The most popular video on KRV TV is a freshman dorm tour, which has 5,471 views and counting. Other videos answer general questions about the university and suggest fun things to do in Miami and on campus. With nearly 500 subscribers, they said they hope to reach more students who can relate to them.
“We want to appeal to prospective students and current students in order to inspire others through our experiences as Black students,” said Stamps, a 20-year-old human resources management major from New Orleans.
The trio said their videos are getting some traction and comments from interested high school students.
“I really enjoy watching your videos,” a high school senior “looking into attending UM” recently posted in the YouTube comments.
Some UM students said that they watched KRV TV before deciding to attend.
“As a Black student, their videos inspired me to come to UM and let me know that there was a community for me here,” said Isabella Tabio, a media management major.
“Their dorm tour was super helpful before moving in for my first semester,” said Souleymane Bangoura, a business major.
The KRV TV ladies also encourage others to start YouTube channels to share different perspectives.
“We wanted to inspire other people of color to become YouTubers on the University of Miami campus as well,” said Williams-Smith, a 20-year-old business technology major from Philadelphia.
Like many other campus groups that held various charitable events this semester, KRV TV launched its first community service event, “Quarantine Clean” in April.
“We want to help people with the collegiate experience, but service is something that we’ve been wanting to get into as well,” Nicholas said.
The three distributed 300 care packages and letters of encouragement to people in need throughout Miami, including at homeless shelters in Overtown. The event was sponsored by iBarnes, a New Orleans non-profit run by Stamps’ mother, Makeisha D. Barnes. iBarnes provides child and family services to people who are faced with adversity.
“Our main goal is to give back because we have the resources to,” Stamps said.
The care packages included granola bars, water bottles, fruit snacks, antibacterial wipes, masks, personal hygiene products, socks and a drawstring bag.
“We want to give other people the opportunity to give back as well whether it be monetarily or by volunteering,” said Williams-Smith “We’ve had overwhelming support from our friends and family, and it has become a huge circle of giving.”
The girls say they plan to host more give-back events.
“I’m glad that my mom has paved the way for us to be able to have these events with a non-profit behind us that’s willing to donate,” said Stamps. “We definitely plan on making this an ongoing thing.”