On this episode, Joey Gawrysiak discusses the evolution of the esports program on campus, the progress made in its first year, the expanded opportunities available to students and what’s planned for the future.
Beginning in the fall, Syracuse University’s electronic sports, or esports, academic degree program will welcome admitted students to campus for classes.
This past academic year served as “Year Zero” for the esports degree program, which employs a holistic, experiential learning-based approach that will prepare students for career success in various industries, leveraging the largest collection of faculty and staff members of any esports program on a college campus.
It’s an all-encompassing venture, including both the academic degree program and the competitive teams that vie for national championships in their respective games.
Academically, students who embark on this first-of-its-kind esports communications and management program, offered jointly by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, will pursue one of three tracks:
Competitively, Syracuse University fielded its first varsity esports squad in January, with the Orange winning a national championship in the Counter-Strike game and experiencing plenty of success across other varsity and club sports teams.
Joey Gawrysiak, executive director of the esports degree program, was hired last August to bring his visionary research and skills to campus, helping Syracuse capitalize on the tremendous popularity of esports while continuing to offer students innovative career options in emerging fields.
Joey Gawrysiak
“Students will get a world-class education from esports-specific faculty that are at the top of their field in researching and teaching esports, with industry connections that will help you find an experience, a capstone, an internship and a job. That’s part of your educational journey,” says Gawrysiak, who developed one of the first esports degrees in the country at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia. He notes that the best-in-class esports facilities currently underway on campus will create standout opportunities for students to engage with esports and gaming.
On this “’Cuse Conversation,” Gawrysiak discusses the evolution of the esports program on campus, the progress made in its first year, the expanded opportunities available to students and what’s planned for the future.
Check out episode 164 of the “’Cuse Conversations” podcast featuring Gawrysiak. A transcript [PDF] is also available.
An esports degree program must include the communications side of the industry—the broadcast and production aspects—and the sport management side, including brand monetization and name, image and likeness opportunities as content creators. Our program pulls on one of the best sport management programs in the country with the Falk College and one of the best communications schools in the country with the Newhouse School.
We’re going to set new standards because of the skillsets and experiences our students go through while earning their degree. The three-pronged academic degree program will ensure our students are well positioned to succeed, both in the classroom and once they graduate.
I came to Shenandoah as a sport management professor and then developed the curriculum for what esports could look like in higher education. One of the biggest lessons I learned was how the program was based not just in the classroom, but also included running events out of our esports arena that we could use as a lab space for students to understand how to set up for an event, orchestrate a run of show and the broadcast and production that goes into an esports event. It’s important for students to handle tournament operations, advertising, social media posts and the promotional efforts that go with hosting an event, and our students were able to do all that as part of the curriculum to get a degree.
The biggest area of growth I’ve seen is helping people understand what esports looks like in higher education and that it’s not just a degree program, a club team, a varsity team or our great facilities. It’s how all those pieces work together to make an esports program under the Syracuse University umbrella. The top-down support we’ve received from Chancellor Kent Syverud and other administrators really is reassuring that we have a great support structure that will turn this program into something meaningful for our students.
The thing I’m most proud of is we had varsity competition for one semester this year. We had a Counter-Strike team win a national championship as the best Counter-Strike team in the country. I was so incredibly proud of what they did and how they embraced going varsity. I’m really proud of the competitive side of our esports program in their first semester of varsity play, and I’m also really proud that we’ve made some great connections for our students that are going to have the chance to work with some of the best esports organizations in the world as part of this degree program.
Note: This conversation was edited for brevity and clarity.
