CHARLOTTE, N.C./AUG. 18, 2024 - The Evo Championship Series, also known as Evo, is the largest esports tournament in the world. This year's event boasted a historical attendance record of over 10,224 esports competitors, representing 63 different countries. It was held in Las Vegas from July 19-21, 2024.
Six gamer-scholars representing JCSU's highly-competitive Esports Club, along with faculty chaperone, Dr. BerNadette Lawson-Williams, Founder and Coordinator of JCSU's Esports and Gaming Trifecta, the first at an HBCU, which consists of the first esports and gaming academic program, of any kind at an HBCU, the first Esports Lab at an HBCU, and an Esports Club, were ecstatic to attend Evo for the first, of hopefully, many more times to come.
JCSU students in attendance included: Jayden McKinney, Computer Science major; Esports and Gaming Management minor, Marquis Hampton, Communication Arts major; Esports & Gaming Management minor, Shaun Moore, Computer Science major; Esports and Gaming Management minor, Reginald White, Business Administration major; Esports & Gaming Management minor, Servario Regulus, Computer Science major; Cybersecurity minor, and Anthony Moore, Computer Science major, representing all three of JCSU's academic Colleges.
Collectively, these students competed in five out of the available eight esports title tournaments held at Evo, including: Tekken 8, Street Fighter 6, Mortal Kombat 1, Grand Blue Fantasy Rising Verses, Guilty Gear Strive, Under Night In-Birth II Sys: Celes, Street Fighter III: Third Strike, and the King of Fighters XV.
"I was immensely impressed and proud to observe our gamer-scholars in their competitive element, engaged in matches against some of the world's best amateur and professional esports athletes. They not only represented JCSU and our Esports and Gaming Trifecta, the first at an HBCU, in a stellar manner at the largest esports tournament in the world, but presumably were the only HBCU or college/university esports teams in attendance, while outperforming some of the world's best gamers. They held high the Gold and Blue, while showcasing their gaming prowess," stated Dr. Lawson-Williams.
Several of our students finished within the top 25% - 50% of the tournament, with one outranking 578 other gamers in Under Night (ranked 193rd out of 771 competitors) and 3,882 in Tekken (ranked 769 out of 4,651 competitors). Another student, ranked in the top 5,000 in Tekken, top 500 in Street Fighter, and top 200 in Mortal Kombat 1.
On Saturday, August 17, three JCSU gamer-scholars participated in the Lake City Anime, Gaming, and Entertainment (AGE) Convention. These students competed in three esports titles: Guilty Gear, Streetfighter 6, and Tekken 8. Two of the students, outperformed the majority of the tournament competitors in Tekken 8, by ranking in the top 9.
These experiential learning opportunities are impactful in enabling our students to gain exposure to various esports and gaming career pathways. They also enhance our students' understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of the esports and gaming field, specifically how it intersects with STEM, Liberal Arts, Management, Marketing, and Business, etc.
"Currently, only 2-4% of esports and gaming industry professionals identify as African American. Therefore,we are thankful for these experiences, which have been made possible by a Title III grant from the Department of Education, and hope that they will position our students to secure more success within the esports and gaming landscape, including ascertaining potential career opportunities that willbridge this racial divide. This is the impetus for JCSU's Esports and Gaming Management minor, which prepares future students to acquire the skills necessary to not only organize and execute esports tournaments, but to also gain employment within the esports and gaming industries" added Lawson-Williams.
Next up for JCSU's Esports Club is transitioning into a varsity program, which will solely engage in competitive events against some of the nation's most competitive prigrams. Since its imception in 2020, JCSU's Esports Club has established a formidable reputation in the collegiate landscape as evidenced by victories against club and varsity esports programs at well-known Power 5 institutions such as: Duke University, LSU, Michigan State University, Virginia Tech, UNCC, among many others. JCSU's Trifecta is also widely recognized as the blueprint for HBCU Esports:
https://thegrio.com/2023/11/16/watch-jcsu-is-the-blueprint-for-hbcu-esports/ .
Future plans JCSU's Esports and Gaming Trifecta include continuing to serve as a viable recruitment and retention vehicle for JCSU, hosting or co-producing a mega esports tournament, and re-launching its certificate program to include innovative certification areas such as: Artifical Intelligence, Game Development, etc.
