Professor Gaines? Chip and Joanna Join Ciara and Other Celebs to Help Teach Harvard Class
Harvard University students got a nice Fixer Upper addition to their education.
In this year’s Business of Entertainment, Media, and Sports program, the Ivy League school welcomed several celebrity guests, including HGTV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines, to help teach students about the ins and outs of the media business.
The BEMS program is run by Harvard professor Anita Elberse, who brings on celebrity guests each year as presenters. On Thursday, she posted an Instagram announcing this year’s famous faces.
“Boooom!!! We’re at it again with the ‘Business of Entertainment, Media, and Sports’ program,” Elberse, 46, wrote on her Instagram, with a group photo of she and this year’s star guests.
“As always, the class includes a number of people with careers that stand out even from the accomplished executives that normally fill our classrooms,” she added.
A post shared by Anita Elberse (@anitaelberse) on May 30, 2019 at 8:18am PDT
Joining the Fixer Upper stars this year are singer Ciara, NBA players Kevin Love, Luc Mbah a Moute, and Julius Randle, actor Eric Olsen, Australian soccer player Tim Cahill, and German soccer player Oliver Kahn.
Elberse went on to list the (lengthy) resumes of the celebrity line-up in the rest of the caption.
“Collectively, this group alone has won an NBA Championship , Olympic Gold medal , UEFA Champions League trophy, Golden Ball and Golden Glove award, and scored 5 World Cup Goals in total across three consecutive World Cups ; received 2 ESPYs, 10 All League Teams, 2 McDonald’s All-American, and 5 All-Star selections; made 5 NCAA Final Four appearances, played 220 national-team games , won 1 Grammy and 2 MTV Music Video Awards ; starred in 300 television episodes , solving countless (fictional) crimes and surprising nearly 80 couples with a beautifully renovated home and even has a royal title,” the caption read.
RELATED: Back to School! Katie Holmes Heads to Harvard for Popular Business Course
From Wednesday to Saturday, the celebrity guests are speaking to Elberse’s students, informing them on their experience in their respective fields—and learning from their fellow speakers.
“So inspiring that even for these superstars, the learning never stops—and amazing that they chose to join us at @HarvardHBS this week,” Elberse concluded her caption.
Each year, Elberse documents the BEMS program on her YouTube channel. Last year’s biggest stars included Michael Strahan and Lindsey Vonn.
RELATED: Sexiest Student Alive! Channing Tatum Heads to Harvard for Entertainment Business Program
Along with helping educate college students, Chip, 44, and Joanna, 41, have taught their five children—Drake, 14, Duke, 10, Ella Rose, 12, Emmie Kay, 9, and even baby Crew, 11 months—about their entrepreneurial experience.
“He’s my little sidekick,” Joanna said of her youngest child to PEOPLE in March. “He comes to work with me every day and goes to all my meetings.”
The rest of her children, meanwhile, view the Magnolia headquarters in Waco, Texas, as a second home to them.
RELATED: How Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Five Kids Are Following in Their Entrepreneurial Footsteps
“They love being here,” she told PEOPLE. “I always try to involve them with what we’re doing at work.”
The couple has yet another exciting development to look forward to, with the start of their own TV network coming soon, which will feature home design, cooking and children’s programs.
“Even our kids are excited,” she told PEOPLE in March. “They’ll say to us, ‘You guys should do this or try that.’ They’ve really been helping us with market research.”
