Howard University sophomore, Amelia Reid, was stunned when she realized that her favorite lingerie company didn’t include historically black colleges in their collegiate line of night wear. Reid was so peeved that she sent an email to Victoria Secret which resulted in them agreeing to now include HBCU’s.

“Going to Howard, where the students are very into academics and also into fashion, I thought ‘Wow, this is crazy,’” says Reid, who is studying political science and fashion merchandising. “Here is another company that doesn’t acknowledge black colleges. A lot of girls from Howard wear Victoria’s Secret and work there also. It shouldn’t have been just those typical schools that come to mind when you think of college.”

Shortly after Reid’s e-mail, Richard A. Dent III, chief operating officer for Pink, contacted Reid through her Facebook page. “I reached out to her because she was a fan of the brand. I wanted her to know that we were not being insensitive, and we did have a plan,” says Dent, a graduate of Florida A&M University.

According to Dent, the first HBCU schools that will roll off the Pink line will be Howard University, Florida A&M University, Hampton University, North Carolina A&T University, and Southern University. “We have agreements with the licensees who handle collegiate apparel for those schools, and this has been in the works for some time,” he says. Dent adds that the company plans to include students from the schools in internships at Victoria’s Secret, and feature promotions at their homecoming events.

Pink, a collection of loungewear geared toward young, college-aged women, has been sold in Victoria’s Secret stores since 2004. Dent says he didn’t view Reid’s Facebook group negatively. “We encourage people to be vocal [about our product],” he says. “Victoria’s Secret and Pink’s mission is to have relationships with our customers.”

To read more, click here!