BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Southern University Law Center announces the launch of an esports innovation lab on campus.
On Friday, March 10 at 9 a.m., the university will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Smith-Brown Student Union on Southern University’s campus.
“We are so excited to utilize the room to its fullest capabilities,” stated the Chancellor of the Southern University Law Center. “Of course, the overarching uses will include which will include esports competition, production, programming, and marketing. However, we want this lab to be an inspiration and valuable resource; therefore, we will be offering Discovery Days with K-12 schools, universities, professional development for teachers, administration, and working professionals.”
Esports has joined itself into being a part of the framework of the education realm. From creating teams to high-functioning gaming labs, the rising sport develops leadership, branding, and valuable career-building skills.
“The world esports industry is on track to reach five billion by the year 2029,” said Chris Turner, coordinator of the Mixed Reality Virtual Innovation Gaming and Esports Institute at Southern University Law Center. “The higher education institutions are looking to create labs, arenas, and esports programs. Most college students today are gamers with ninety-two percent playing regularly. With more colleges looking at recruitment and retention, we want to ensure that we are offering programming and curriculum to fit these needs. As far as historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), only two percent of the gaming industry are African Americans. Therefore, we want to continue to mold and train our students to create profitable and sustainable opportunities for themselves.”