IIT PARTNERS WITH NEW ESPORTS ARENA
April Welch, Associate Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Director of the Esports and Digital Arts Center for Illinois Institute of Technology, has championed a new Esports Arena, Surge by Smash Interactive, that is coming to Bronzeville. Photo provided by April Welch
Esports and gaming have been gaining popularity, with gamers becoming celebrities and making money from esports A new Esports arena, Surge by Smash Interactive, is set to open in Bronzeville
and the Illinois Institute of Technology will leverage its esports and digital arts program to partner with the arena.
April Welch is the associate vice president of strategic initiatives and director of the Esports and Digital Arts Center for the Illinois Institute of Technology. Welch said that IIT is one of the old hats in the Esports world. She said the program started in 2013, but the Institute has had gaming groups and clubs as far back as the 1970s.
“Esports is not really new, what’s new is the bandwith that we have,” she said. “What’s new is the ability to engage the audience and connect with a broad range of fans and increase the fandom. That’s the part that we’re excited about.”
Welch said there is the potential to make esports and gaming a spectator sport, in the same way people attend football games. She said there is also an opportunity to enhance the aspects of esports that are connected to learning and the things that make you a good
student – dedication, communication and leadership – as young people get to the elite levels of the games.
Welch said IIT was an early partner of Surge and the Institute is excited to work on the educational component that will be offered at the facility. She added, Surge has dedicated a whole lab for IIT’s program.
“We’re going to be able to connect to the community by creating opportunities to learn game design programming,” she said, adding that some classes that IIT teaches in its summer camp will be expanded and taught at Surge. “I’m happy to be able to embed it more deeply into [a] curriculum people in CPS can really take advantage of.”
play, as well as managing their social media to build an audience.
“All these things you need to be an outstanding entrepreneur, our students are learning while enjoying their gaming,” she said.
Welch said in addition to the educational programs IIT will have,
a Bronzeville Esports League will be developed. Three Chicago Public Schools have been chosen to participate in the league so far -- Phillips, Drake and National Teachers Academy. She said it will
complement the co-curricular activities at schools and can lead to scholarships in college, as well as introduce students to computer science through gaming.
“As they learn how to log their games and get better and tweak their hardware to get the best performance out of it, they’re really using all of the skills they need to embrace a computer science career,” she said. “There are some really amazing benefits from gaming, they learn how to focus, they learn confidence, they
learn how to interact with each other.”
Welch said this is a wonderful opportunity to bring the African American community into the limelight. She said in gaming lounges, the African American community is filled with gamers. She said she wants to show the community a path to profitability, a path to college and a path to friendships, through gaming.
IIT will host a gaming event titled, Electrify! Esports, Education, Innovation, from 3 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 20, at Kaplan Institute, 3137 S. Federal St. To register, visit https://tinyurl.com/au2ra2rn.
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