Hampton University alumna and Little League baseball star Mo’ne Davis has enrolled at Columbia University
this fall to receive her master’s in sports management, per a feature report by Wayne Coffee of the New York Times. The program is the first of its kind within the Ivy League.

Davis is attending Columbia on a full $125,000 scholarship courtesy of the HBCU fellowship. This fellowship program is specifically for seniors and recent graduates of HBCUs to enroll at the School of Professional Studies at Columbia University. This scholarship will cover the three-semester program that Davis will be enrolled in.

Columbia Sports Management program director Scott Rosner said that Davis’s history as a Little Leaguer and the stardom that came with it played no factor in her acceptance into the program.

“She’s all in. She’s a front rower, literally,” Rosner said in the New York Times feature. “She is super engaged and doesn’t have any pretense or airs about her.”

Davis became a household name when she was 13 years old after she made history as the first girl to win a Little League World Series game where she pitched a shoutout aiding her team in a 4-0 victory. She was the first Little Leaguer to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated and was also a volunteer with the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy in D.C.

Davis earned a softball scholarship to Hampton University in the fall of 2019. Davis’s freshman year playing middle infield for the Pirates was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, she still was able to make a remarkable start, slashing .333/.423/ .357 with three multi-hit games. Hampton opted out of the 2021 softball season but returned in 2022. During her 2022 season with the Pirates, Davis slashed .219/ .298/ .272 with a triple and eight stolen bases. Although Davis did not play during the 2023 season, she did graduate this past spring with a degree in communications finishing with a 3.67 grade point average.

Davis spoke about attending Columbia in the New York Times feature, saying, “I always believed that nobody can tell you you can’t do something This world is huge, and there is so much space for everyone to do something great.”

Initially, Davis was set on pursuing a career in broadcasting. However, she has been introduced to some new possibilities surrounding her career. The idea of working in women’s sports specifically in the front office has sparked Davis’s interest.

“I want to get more involved, not just speaking about it, but being hands-on with it,” Davis said her desire to work in the sports industry.