Esports story airs on KCRG-TV9

Students and faculty were featured in a story on Dec. 11, 2018, about Cornell’s future esports program, “Competitive esports program coming to Cornell College.”

Earlier this fall, President Jonathan Brand asked a task force of students, faculty, staff, and alumni to research the opportunity. After several months of study and discussion, including a campus forum, the task force recommended that Cornell sponsor a program with competition beginning in fall 2019.

“Students are working as a team, they’re collaborating, they’re strategizing, and those are skills that are really important no matter whether they’re in a science fiction battleground or they’re on a football team or a corporate boardroom,” said Cornell College Professor Scott Olinger to KCRG. “These are important skills for our students to learn.”

A nationwide search for a head coach is underway. This coming summer, Shaw Lounge in the Thomas Commons will be transformed into the new esports arena with specialized equipment that Cornellians will use to participate in nationwide esports competitions.