Building community with esports
02/13/2019
Senior Jeff Arnett
Club is Already 40-members strong
With a heart for video games and discovering a growing interest in esports at Bluffton University, senior Jeff Arnett is teaming up with Dr. Zachary Walton, associate professor of communication and avid gamer, to jump start an official esports club on campus. Arnett sees the club as key way to expand Bluffton鈥檚 core value of community.
鈥淢y dream is for the organization to be a place where people can get together, compete, play, mingle with each other and bridge every group on campus,鈥 said Arnett, a physics and mathematics double major from Tecumseh, Mich.
Esports is a growing, team-based community that focuses on the organized and competitive playing of contemporary video games. At Bluffton, the group will play and compete through video games including Madden, Overwatch and Rocket League.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a very long process, but I鈥檝e enjoyed it thoroughly,鈥 said Arnett of developing the club, which already has 40 students despite its official rollout in the 2019-20 academic year. 鈥淧eople have kept saying that I鈥檓 not going to get to enjoy it since I鈥檒l be gone after this semester. But I know by doing this, I鈥檒l have left an impact on the university that鈥檚 greater than the impact of me simply being a student, athlete or hall director. It鈥檚 something bigger that can be passed down.鈥
Walton is also excited about engaging current and future students through esports. 鈥淚 really like what esports has to offer to prospective students that may not be interested in campus athletics but still interested in competition, teamwork and honing the skill of being in a community,鈥 said Walton, who has taught a special-interest course on video games.
Additionally, Walton hopes to make Bluffton鈥檚 esports club distinctive by integrating learning opportunities and critical thinking.
鈥淭he connection to academics is less than clear in a number of other universities鈥 esports teams,鈥 Walton said. 鈥淚 definitely like to say my participation can also offer the intellectual, critical and cultural perspective, as well. I don鈥檛 see those as separate from the competitive and community sides.鈥
Both Walton and Arnett are passionate about the completion of the project. Arnett鈥檚 dedication to the club will be well remembered. 鈥淛eff is so passionate and he鈥檚 done so much work on this project,鈥 said Walton. 鈥淎ll of the work he did will pay off for a lot of students in the future, and that鈥檚 really cool.鈥
While a permanent location on campus has not been finalized yet, the equipment is state of the art. Custom built PCs with gaming monitors, gaming mice, gaming keyboards, gaming chairs and gaming headsets, along with Xbox and PlayStation controllers for those who prefer a controller over a keyboard are available to members of the club.
Arnett encourages other students to offer ideas to instill change on campus.
鈥淚f you have some sort of idea that pops into your head and you think it could work, talk to people about it,鈥 he states. 鈥淲hatever ideas you might have, don鈥檛 restrain them. See what can be done about it. Don鈥檛 hold back those ideas and ambitions.鈥
Cara Echols 鈥19, Student news writer