On Feb. 3, the Clemson Board of Trustees voted to approve a partnership with Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and Resort and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

The partnership will last for five years and is comprised of two parts. 

The first is primarily a sponsorship between Clemson Athletics and Harrah’s Casino and Resort, with Harrah’s ads to appear on screens at sporting events and in the background for press conferences. The partnership stipulates that the ads should promote the resort aspect of Harrah’s and that Clemson will not be used to promote gambling in any way other than the use of Harrah’s full name.

 The second part is a broader strategic partnership with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the owners of Harrah’s Casino and Resort, on their reservation in Cherokee, North Carolina, just outside the gates of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It will start with sponsorships for diversity and inclusion initiatives within the college of engineering and applied sciences such as PEER/WISE, but they intend to grow their footprint across all of the University.

Clemson is one of the closest major universities to the current reservation in North Carolina, and part of the agreement includes expanding engagement with and opportunities for students in Cherokee schools. The deal also includes internship and experience opportunities for Clemson students with Harrah’s Resort and the Eastern Band.

Clemson is one of the largest and most prestigious universities in the historical Cherokee heartland, with Cherokee names like Keowee, Eastatoee and Issaqueena haunting the landscape. Seneca Town, one of the Cherokee “Lower Towns,” was located just south of the pier, near the Musser Fruit Research Farm.

The campus has played other important roles in Cherokee history, with the 1796 Hopewell Treaties between the United States and the “Five Civilized Tribes” being signed under the Treaty Oak, a notable destination in the Experimental Forest on the shores of Lake Hartwell.