McCabe gift announced at first Tiger Band reunion

CLEMSON — Jim and Barbara McCabe of Clemson have made a gift of $100,000 to Tiger Band. Their new endowment will support scholarships for the Clemson University students in the band.

A surprise announcement was made Aug. 25 at the first official Tiger Band reunion before a dinner crowd of nearly 100 former band members and several dozen family members and university guests.

The McCabes are longtime supporters of Clemson University and its students, athletics, Alumni Association and performing arts programs.

The “Jim and Barbara McCabe Salute Tiger Band!” endowment was created to honor Richard E. Goodstein, dean of the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities.

Goodstein first came to Clemson University as the assistant director of bands in 1982.

He later became the director of bands, chair of the department of performing arts and interim dean of the college before being named its dean in 2011.

The announcement came as a complete surprise to Goodstein, who called it the “first time in my life I may be speechless.”

“I’m so thankful to Jim and Barbara,” he said. “Thank you both. I’m honored and I’m humbled. And thank all of you for what you do for Tiger Band.”

Through the McCabes’ philanthropy at Clemson and the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts, and their devotion to Clemson sports, they have known Goodstein and his wife, Cissie, for many years.

Jim McCabe entered the university in 1943, but left Clemson when he served in the Navy during World War II. He went on to a distinguished career at Exxon Company U.S.A.

The McCabes have made four previous $100,000 gifts to Clemson, starting in 1999.

They first established an IPTAY endowment in memory of their friend Joe “Bogie” Bryant, a football player who started at center under coach Frank Howard. They established the Brian J. O’Rourke ’83 Unrestricted Endowment for Performing Arts, which honors the university’s vice president for development and alumni relations. The McCabes contributed to the construction of Doug Kingsmore Stadium, which led to a locker room at the baseball facility being named for their longtime friend, coach Jack Leggett. The couple also created The Ann Harvin Hunter Leadership Endowment to honor Hunter, who was then the president of the Clemson Alumni Association and is a member of the Clemson Foundation board of directors. She is also a 2018 recipient of the Clemson Alumni Distinguished Service Award.

O’Rourke described the McCabes as “very special Clemson people” and his “surrogate parents.”

“During 69 years of marriage, the McCabes have always given back to Clemson University,” O’Rourke said.

“It is our pleasure to support a hard-working group like the Tiger Band. They are relentless in what they do. They endure the elements, whether it is rain, heat or cold, to support our Tigers. They go above and beyond, giving 1000 percent every day,” Jim McCabe said. “We take our hats off to them.”

Tiger Band Reunion

 “Tiger Band is just a big part of my life,” said Tony Stapleton, president of Clemson University Tiger Band Association (CUTBA), “and it’s a big part of so many lives.”

The alumni who gathered at the first official Tiger Band reunion spanned those who played in the band from 1957 to 2015.

Stapleton said the tradition of an Alumni Band playing at homecoming will live on “forever and ever,” and that he hoped the new event would be the first of many Tiger Band reunions.

At the gathering, alumni remembered the time Tiger Band sang the alma mater to President John F. Kennedy in 1962 at the White House Rose Garden, and the tearful day a year later when they played at the first football game after his assassination.

Alumni recalled late band directors Bruce Cook and Jim Copenhaver, and recognized current director Mark Spede and former director John Butler, who were both in attendance. But mostly they laughed as they shared amusing anecdotes about long road trips, memorable lodgings, heavy hats, hostile crowds and high-spirited hijinks.

As Clemson University has grown, so has Tiger Band and CUTBA.

The association was founded in 1977 to support students in Tiger Band. CUTBA is a nonprofit alumni organization which operates through the Clemson University Foundation. Through an endowment that has grown to $1.3 million, the group funds student scholarships and assists with other expenses for band members.

CUTBA provides breakfast to the band before noon football games, hosts an ice cream social on the first night of band camp and contributes toward what students pay to attend the annual band banquet. The association also has begun outfitting students with the shoes and T-shirts they wear on game days. Because of this support, Tiger Band members no longer incur any out-of-pocket costs for their uniforms.

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Clemson University Tiger Band Association
To learn more about Clemson University Tiger Band Association or to make a gift, visit http://tband.people.clemson.edu/cutba/.

For information about the Clemson Alumni Association or to make a gift to the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities or its performing arts programs, visit https://cualumni.clemson.edu/give/caah.