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Syracuse University’s first group of students pursuing the new bachelor of science in Esports Communications and Management began their first semester of study this fall.

The degree program, a collaboration between SU’s David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics and S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, is the first of its kind at a Research-1 institution.

While the major only has four students enrolled in its inaugural semester and six prospective spring transfers, Esports Executive Director Joey Gawrysiak there are big plans for the program’s future.

“(The major) brings something that students are passionate about and can relate to and probably are already researching … and puts it through that new lens that they care about,” Gawrysiak said.

The new major was first announced by Chancellor Kent Syverud in a Jan. 18, 2023, message to the SU community. In February of that year, administrators told The Daily Orange they may admit students to the program as early as the fall 2023 semester but would have a guaranteed incoming class by fall 2024.

The program won the 2024 Emerging Program of the Year award at the National Association of Collegiate Esports National Convention this summer. The 2023-24 academic year served as “year zero” for the Esports major, as the university prepared and tested ideas for the unprecedented program, Gawrysiak said in a June SU News podcast.

The program currently requires students to complete a 36-credit Esports Core consisting of introductory communications, sports management and Esports-specific courses — including SMC 330: Topics in Esports and Media and SPM 342: The Business of Esports. Majors also are required to take SPM 415: Sport Law or an equivalent Communications Law course, according to SU’s course catalog.

In 2018, Newhouse collaborated with social video service Twitch to launch the first Esports and Media course at SU. The course became available via the Newhouse Sports Media Center, inviting industry partners to serve as case studies for students. Partners of this course in recent years include ESL, Microsoft and Super League.

Only one Esports-specific course, SPM 300: Introduction to Esports, accepted students this fall semester.

Students then select one of the three following tracks: Esports Business and Management, focusing on sports promotion, sport venue management and financing for emerging enterprises; Esports Communications, which studies public relations and social media tactics that exist in the esports world and Esports Media and Design, which teaches how to produce a game with enticing visuals.

Gawrysiak first joined SU in fall 2023, being appointed as the executive director and a professor of practice. He teaches SPM 300, which he described as a course required to supplement the rest of the core curriculum. Business of Esports, another class offered from Falk, will be held every spring starting in 2025.

“Starting next fall, we’ll start offering more classes as we hire more faculty, because we can’t offer more classes until we have the faculty and teachers,” Gawrysiak said.

SU will add “more in-depth” courses in the future and admit more students as the department hires additional faculty, Gawrysiak said.

One prospective student, sophomore communications and rhetorical studies student Anna Kim, plans to transfer into the Esports major this spring under the communications track. She is currently enrolled in Gawyrsiak’s introductory class.

Kim said she thinks the addition of the esports major will help diversify gaming, a historically male-dominated field.

“The diversity of this major is going to break the stereotype that males can only work in this industry. It’s going to bring many more opportunities for people who don’t really like their major, but they’re considering different experiences,” Kim said.

In the future, Gawrysiak said he hopes the Esports program will partner with other colleges at SU, namely the Martin J. Whitman School of Management. Along with the potential collaboration, Gawrysiak said there are plans to explore additional tracks and adjustments based on the needs and interests of the students as the semester progresses.

The arrival of the Esports major coincides with increased on-campus efforts to embrace the gaming industry. This year marks the first varsity season of SU’s Esports team, as well as the construction of a Gaming and Esports Center in Schine Student Center.

“Whether it’s with these gaming events or my favorite streamers in general, just seeing those amazing lights, set design (and) everything just made me so inspired to do this major,” Kim said.

Published on September 11, 2024 at 11:20 pm