Computer science major Shane Gilligan and psychology major Alford Irons may compete in entirely different worlds within Raider ESports, but their experience and passion for their club is remarkably similar.
“It provides a great way to network and communicate with people. You can develop and improve the skills of leadership, team collaboration, communication, and even critical thinking as you make all sorts of gameplans with your team,” said Gilligan, captain of the “League of Legends” Team.
Irons, captain of the “Marvel Rivals” team, finds himself relying on and expanding that exact same skill set.
“It has helped me grow as a leader, having to come up with a plan of attack, improvise a new strategy when the original one isn’t working, and coordinating with my teammates,” Irons added.
While both captains acknowledge that a stigma still lingers around collegiate gaming, they believe that even a brief look inside the community reveals the truth. The “electrifying atmosphere” as Gilligan describes it quickly convinces skeptics that there is far more taking place here than just “playing video games.”
It’s a common sentiment among a growing community. The Raider ESports Club is home to 93 members. About 63 of those students are competitively active, with the remainder taking on a more casual gaming role.
This growth is a nationwide trend at colleges and universities across the nation. In 2016, the National Association of Collegiate Esports reported seven-member institutions. Today that number is well over 280, with 300 colleges in total participating in the NACE or independent conference structures. At the high school level, participation has doubled in the last four years.
At the activities fair this fall, Gilligan recruited nearly enough students to roster two full teams for rosters and Irons is seeing similar interest in current and prospective Ship students.
“We’ve heard and seen multiple people from both on campus to people outside emailing about whether Shippensburg offers competitive e-sports for a certain game. This encourages us to keep on growing and trying to make our presence more known to the public,” added Irons.
Beyond club recruitment, e-sports can also serve as a powerful student recruitment pipeline and retention tool. A recent article in EdTech Magazine shared that e-sports participants demonstrate an average GPA of 3.38.
“I hope that the future of e-sports at Ship can be a staple moving forward and a prideful offering of the university. I have seen through my time the things that it can provide not only the players/students, but also the university as a whole,” said Gilligan.
Gilligan’s hope is becoming a reality, with a new home for Raider Esports taking shape in the Ceddia Union Building. Thanks to support of the Shippensburg University Foundation and generous donors, six gaming tables and chairs are in place, and the funding is taking the program to new heights.
The next phase of the project focuses on equipping the facility with high-performance gaming computers. This critical technology upgrade will elevate the student experience and position Raider Esports for elite competition.
Interested in learning more about supporting Raider Esports? Contact Amanda Schaeffer at the Shippensburg University Foundation to express interest and explore how you can make this vision a reality.
