Simmons, Run Stand In with mtvU

mtvU, MTV Networks’ 24-hour college network, brought music mogul Russell Simmons and Reverend Run to the University of Colorado at Denver as part of its Stand In series.

The two hip-hop icons paid a surprise visit to the African American Business Student Alliance to serve as guest speakers for the day, providing their own perspectives on business marketing and how best to market a successful brand.

The Stand In installment will premiere at noon (EST) Thursday and repeat throughout the week as part of mtvU’s special programming honoring Black History Month.

Previous Stand In participants included Nas and his father, Olu Dara, who taught an improvisational jazz class at Morehouse College; Marilyn Manson, who taught an “Art & Society” class at Temple University; Snoop Dogg, who stood in as coach for the University of Southern California football team; Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who taught an “American Foreign Policy” class at the University of New Hampshire; Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt, who taught a surprise creative-writing class at SUNY Stony Brook in Long Island, N.Y.; and The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who taught a surprise class on racism and the law at Spelman College in Atlanta.