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Video games or gaming is no longer the waste of time your parents used to call it, it has become a lucrative business, and Benedict College is giving its students a chance to get in on the action.
Benedict College, a historically Black college and university located in Columbia, South Carolina, became the first HBCU to launch an Esports gaming room and offer its students a degree track for gaming and a way into the world of Esports.
Last week, Benedict College cut the ribbon on its brand new game room, pressing the start button on its new chapter Esports, but that’s not all the HBCU is offering. Benedict College will also continue its development of new degrees and opportunities to help Black and Brown students find a place in the gaming business.
Local news affiliate WISTV reports Benedict College is building off the momentum it started in 2021 with “its first bachelor’s degree program in E-Sports Administration, aiming toward skills related to planning, organizing, and marketing events.”
Benedict College Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. Janee Witty, spoke on the university’s Esports curriculum.
“In keeping with Benedict’s strategic plan to offer transformational learning experiences, our innovative Esports Administration curriculum is designed to prepare students to create new applications and to engage in all facets of the industry,” Witty said.
“We are blazing trails,” Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis, President of Benedict College, added.
More Black and Brown faces in the world of gaming? We absolutely would love to see it.
The students, as expected, are all for the new gaming room. Mitch Roming, a student-athlete, said the unique opportunity is “an adrenaline rush.”
“I think it’s a little of an adrenaline rush. I think I just kind of enjoy it,” Romig continued. “it takes me to another place, and I get to relax when I play video games.”
Romig is no stranger to helping push the HBCU’s focus into Esports and gaming. Romig, who has been competing in Esports for three years, helped the Benedict Tigers win multiple competitions.
Benedict College has partnered with Blaze Gaming to help students obtain gaming certifications. The HBCU also partnered with Blaze Gaming in 2020 for Madden and NCAA College Football tournaments.
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Photo: mihailomilovanovic / Getty
