This is a magazine article I wrote for feature in Lutheran Magazine to represent Newberry College (a Lutheran-affiliated institution) on a national level.

1. [HED] Newberry College Adds Residence Hall and Esports To the Wolf Experience
Newberry College opened the doors to Pearson Hall in fall of 2018, named in honor of the late
Wayne Pearson, a 1971 Newberry College alumnus, and his wife, Patricia. Construction on
Pearson Hall was completed in July and the building was opened for student occupancy in
August 2018. The residence hall is home to 82 students, including two resident assistants. It
features suite-style, double-occupancy rooms in pods of four, six or eight people, with a shared
kitchenette and living room. The building also features useful common areas, including a fully
equipped kitchen, television lounge, table seating and small group meeting spaces.
Along with the structural growth, Newberry College will be adding a new intercollegiate
scholarship sport for the 2019-2020 season in the form of Competitive Gaming, or esports.
Esports appeals to a broad range of competitors with leagues running at the recreational,
intercollegiate and professional levels. Competitive gaming has quietly grown into one of the
most popular team sports of the past decade. In fact, interest in gaming has become so
widespread that ESPN added esports as one of its coverage categories in 2014. The Washington
Post recently reported that substantially more people watched the 2017 League of Legends
World Championships (106.2 million) than watched the 2018 Kentucky Derby, Wimbledon, U.S.
Open and Daytona 500 contests combined (42.8 million).
Esports teams compete in different leagues based on the specific games they play. Newberry
College will compete in “Overwatch” and “League of Legends.” Both are multi-player games
where players compete as a team against other intercollegiate teams. A recreational league will
be offered concurrently for students preferring more casual competition or seeking to hone their
gaming skills to be considered for the intercollegiate ranks.
“This is an excellent opportunity for Newberry to establish itself in the arena of competitive
gaming,” said Dr. Sid Parrish, interim Vice President of Academic Affairs. “Not only will we
attract a new segment of students to campus who are highly motivated and technologically
savvy, they also will experience the benefits of team competition that strengthen their
connections to their teammates and enhance the overall student experience in college.”