No Higher Honor In Higher Education
• Middle Tennessee State University has renamed its world-renowned College of Media and Entertainment in honor of a certain music industry trailblazer who has supported ongoing efforts to provide state-of-the-art technology and hands-on training to its students.
Welcome to the newly rebranded Scott Borchetta College of Media and Entertainment, named after Scott Borchetta, Founder, Chairman & CEO of Big Machine Label Group.
Borchetta, his wife, Sandi, executives from Big Machine Label Group and the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix, and members of Nashville’s music community joined hundreds of students, faculty, staff and supporters yesterday in the atrium of the Bragg Media and Entertainment Building for the ceremony, which concluded with a dramatic button push by Borchetta that revealed the college’s new name on the exterior of the Bragg building.
When addressing the assembled crowd, MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee noted, “We are here to publicly recognize what happens when one’s vision and passion combine with dedication and hard work. As one of Music City’s leading entrepreneurs and visionaries, Scott Borchetta has earned the reputation as one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and forward-thinking leaders.”
“I can’t overestimate how important this is to the life and history of the college,” said Beverly Keel, Media and Entertainment Dean and a former record label executive herself. “Because of Scott’s contributions, we have been able to make the upgrades you see in this building, create new student scholarships, and take students to the GRAMMYs, an eSports conference and Bonnaroo. Scott has made it possible for the College to hire a strategic communications specialist and sponsor the Southern Oasis Film Festival for students, and our MT Imagine showcase for digital animation students,” she added. “And these are just a few of the wonderful student and college opportunities that Scott has made possible.”
“I am humbled and profoundly grateful to have MTSU’s College of Media and Entertainment bear my name,” Borchetta shared with Billboard. “The opportunity that this school affords to its students didn’t exist for me through college education in the 1980s, so it’s an honor to now be part of building those bridges for young minds. My goal is to inspire others and give back, betting on the creativity of students who dedicate themselves to the entertainment field. The Scott Borchetta College of Media and Entertainment represents the next generation of innovators and creators, whose bold ideas will transform the media landscape.” [Borchetta Photo: John Shearer]
