The David and Nicole Tepper Foundation has donated $5 million to the University of South Carolina to enhance its scholarship fund and strengthen the sport management program, university officials announced on Tuesday.
The donation was approved by the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees, leading to the renaming of the Department of Sport and Entertainment Management as the David and Nicole Tepper Department of Sport and Entertainment Management.
“We are honored to partner with the University of South Carolina in advancing opportunities for the next generation of leaders in sports and entertainment,” said the Teppers in a prepared statement.
The gift will create an endowment to sustain the scholarship program in perpetuity, providing four-year support to high-achieving students each year, combining tuition assistance with mentorship, professional development, and hands-on industry experience.
Additional funding from the gift establishes the Tepper Professors of Practice, supporting faculty focused on leadership and the business of professional sport, bringing elite practitioner-educators into USC classrooms.
The department is the largest sport and entertainment management program in the United States and now the only named sport and entertainment management department in the country, USC officials said.
The program ranks among the top 10 in the U.S. for sport management, and USC’s Master of Sport and Entertainment Management is ranked top 10 worldwide, reflecting the program’s academic quality, industry integration, and graduate outcomes.
Since its launch in 2020, the Tepper Scholars Program has supported multiple cohorts of students who have interned or worked with organizations such as ESPN, the Carolina Panthers, Charlotte FC, and the NCAA, contributing hundreds of hours of community service during their studies.
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