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The racialized experiences of Black esports players: an exploratory study

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Content Copyright 2023 Jaymon Tijon Ortega

The Racialized Experiences of Black Esports Players:
An Exploratory Study

by

Jaymon Tijon Ortega

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(URBAN EDUCATION POLICY)

August 2023

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Acknowledgements
This dissertation is dedicated to my grandma and papa. For as long as I can remember,
you stoked the flames of my intellectual curiosity. Whether it was helping me build the San
Carlos Mission, an ancient Mesopotamian city, create a 1
st
place science fair experiment, taking
me to visit Alcatraz, or driving me back and forth to Blockbuster and Hollywood Video to rent
the newest video game, you always provided the emotional space to lean into my inner nerd.
Without you, this dissertation does not happen. I love and appreciate you both more than words
can describe.

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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... ii
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv
Chapter One: Background, Purpose, and Overview of Study ........................................................ 1
Chapter Two: Review of Related Literature ................................................................................. 11
Chapter Three: Research Methods ................................................................................................ 40
Chapter Four: Findings ................................................................................................................. 50
Community: Joseph ................................................................................................................... 50
Competition: Jean ...................................................................................................................... 65
Passion: Avery ........................................................................................................................... 80
Chapter Five: Summary, Discussion, And Implications ............................................................... 96
Discussion of Findings .................................................................................................................. 96
Recommendations ....................................................................................................................... 105
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 112
References ................................................................................................................................... 114

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Abstract
The underrepresentation of Black students in collegiate esports is a pressing issue, given the
increasing investment in the college esports ecosystem and the high rate of video game
engagement among Black teens. This qualitative study explores the experiences of Black
undergraduates participating on college esports teams and examines the role race plays in various
college esports contexts. Findings reveal that participants share a passion for gaming and
competing, valuing the sense of community they derive from playing with others who share their
interests. However, they also discuss the impact of their racial identities on their experiences,
including microaggressions and racism. Despite these challenges, they remain motivated to
pursue careers in the esports industry, attributing their online communities to helping them
connect with like-minded individuals and providing safe spaces for communication and
organization. The study underscores the importance of understanding the racialized experiences
of Black collegiate esports players and highlights the need for greater representation and
inclusivity in esports.

1

Chapter One: Background, Purpose, and Overview of Study
I participated in multiple organized sports throughout my childhood, including football,
basketball, and baseball. As a result, the spirit of teamwork and competition became deeply
ingrained in my being. In between practices and game days, I satisfied the deep-seated desire to
win and compete alongside teammates by playing online multiplayer video games. During my
time playing competitive online multiplayer video games, my callousness to racist insults, jokes,
and overall harassment hardened. Teammates and enemies would hurl antiblack and homophobic
slurs across text and voice chat lobbies for no other reason than to offend. As a 13-year-old in
middle school, it seemed that players across the video game ecosystem collectively agreed that
the most offensive word one can use against another is the n-word.
In 2017, professional Overwatch player Matt “Dellor” Vaughn confirmed my childhood
hypothesis. For roughly 30 seconds, in a fit of rage, Vaughn repeatedly screamed “nigger”
(approximately 60 times) at his teammates over the voice communication channel. The incident
was captured via his live stream and posted online shortly after. Following the video’s release,
Vaughn was dropped from his professional esports team. He then released an apology, offering
insight into his thought process, stating, “despite me using that word, I am not a racist. I was
extremely upset, and I was trying to make the person I was angry with upset as well, and so I
said the most offensive thing that came to mind,” (Vaughn, 2017). The “most offensive thing that
came to mind” was a word historically inscribed by lynch mobs, racial subjugation, and violent
death. Although condemned by his organization and other esports leaders, Vaughn's instinctual
deployment of antiblack rhetoric demonstrates the omnipresent racial hostility within esports
communities for Black players.

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One year prior to Vaughn’s outburst, Terrence Miller, a Black Hearthstone professional,
was subjected to racial abuse during a Twitch live stream of his competition at Dreamhack (a
popular esports tournament). As Miller battled for first place, viewers flooded the event’s live
stream chat with racist language and tri-hard emojis (an image of a Black player’s face
weaponized to exemplify Black gamers). The chatters, which even included some of the event’s
moderators, were too incessant to suppress. The incident garnered significant press coverage,
prompting Twitch to commit to preventing such an issue from reoccurring. More so, the event
reminded Black players what we already know: even online, you are Black. Yet, as many Black
gamers can attest, racism within competitive esports communities persists. In the first year of my
doctoral program, while scrolling the internet, I stumbled upon an article that forever changed
my research trajectory titled “Why aren’t more black kids going pro in esports?” (Peterson,
2018). The article opened my eyes to an entire field of study that, until that point, I had read
nothing about race and esports. From that moment on, I scoured the internet and online libraries
in search of anything related to people of color in esports. Not long after, I realized that many of
the extant articles that discussed race merely reported individual instances of racism and treated
them as isolated cases. This revelation led me to pilot a study where I interviewed seven current
Black college esports players. These conversations inspired me to write this dissertation
concerning the experiences of Black college esports players.
Over the course of several years, professional esports has grown from a fringe, niche
hobby to a highly competitive, billion-dollar industry (Pannekeet, 2019). As professional esports
teams increase worldwide, colleges and universities capitalize on industry growth by creating
academic majors and varsity teams related to gaming and esports (Bauer-Wolf, 2017, 2019;
Lyman, 2022; Writz, 2022). In addition to rostering players who compete against other collegiate

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teams, some higher education institutions even offer scholarships for students to play
competitively (Bauer-Wolf, 2017). With hundreds of colleges and universities investing
resources into esports teams and esports-related majors, a new area emerges for higher education
research. Most importantly, campus leaders have an opportunity to ensure equitable access for
historically marginalized populations in esports programs before the activity becomes more
deeply entrenched in the fully developed landscape of college athletics. Thus, the following
sections include a statement of the problem addressed in this study, the purpose and significance
of the study, and definitions of key concepts used throughout the study.
Problem Statement
The problem addressed in this study is the general lack of scholarship on Black collegiate
esports players, and more specifically around their racialized experiences. Data indicate Black
teens play video games for fun at rates higher than their non-Black peers yet are
disproportionately underrepresented on college (and professional) esports teams (Lenhart et al.,
2015; Midgame, 2019; Peterson, 2018). Considering the increasing number of colleges,
businesses, and players investing time and money into the college esports ecosystem, there must
be an intentional effort to provide inclusive access to students from all racial backgrounds. With
college esports still in the earliest stages of understanding, this study intends to add to a growing
body of literature and complicate existing discussions around toxicity and hostility for
minoritized groups by establishing race as a pivotal factor. Findings from this study will inform
higher education research around student engagement, college athletics, and college esports
access.
Without census data of college esports players, it is difficult to determine the exact
demographics of current varsity esports players. However, based on one survey of 130 colleges

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and universities with esports programs, only one percent of players are Black
1
(Midgame, 2019).
This finding is concerning compared to another study that indicates that Black teens (83%) are
more likely than white teens (71%) to play video games (Lenhart et al., 2015). Together, these
surveys evidence a discrepancy between teens playing for fun and those playing on
intercollegiate esports teams, warranting a deeper examination considering the ways that race,
racialization, and racism may be affecting Black students’ participation in collegiate esports
programs.
Extant literature on college esports and education spans its focus from the individual
players (Kauweloa & Winter, 2019) to the esports organization (O'Neil et al., 2018). Other
studies explore players receiving scholarships (Schaeperkoetter et al., 2017), gender disparities in
college varsity and club programs (Taylor & Stout, 2020), the emergence of esports on college
campuses (Rothwell & Shaffer, 2019), college esports organizational structure (O'Neil et al.,
2018; Falkenthal & Byrne, 2020), and diversity and inclusion efforts by college programs
(Amazan-Hall et al., 2018). While considerable research problematizes disparate gendered
participation, very little attention is paid to racial demographics and players' racialized
experiences or to the intersectionality of race and gender for girls and women of color who
participate in esports. Discourse on toxicity and hostility within video game communities is
incomplete when race is omitted.
Purpose of the Study
This study aims to discover how Black undergraduates experience their participation on a
college esports team. Also, this project aims to inspire future examinations of the role race plays
across other racially minoritized populations in various college esports contexts. Further,

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findings from this study also contribute to well-researched areas around higher education student
engagement and collegiate athletics.
Research from adjacent fields of higher education, sociology, and media studies
establishes race as one of several axes that shape and organize social worlds and phenomena
(Brock, 2020; Crenshaw, 1991; Gray, 2017, 2020; Parker, 2002). Race intersects with multiple
systems of oppression, such as gender, class, and sexuality (Crenshaw, 1991). In turn, the aim of
this dissertation is to insert race into a discourse primarily concerned with the axes of gender.
Certainly, gender warrants the level of scholarly attention it has received thus far and more. Yet,
as research from critical race theorists around intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1991) clearly
demonstrates, we must also consider race as a significant element influencing student
experiences in esports.
Paramount to any scholarly contributions this study may provide is the opportunity for
aspiring, current, and former Black esports players to have their stories uplifted. Part of my
intention for the study was to demonstrate that not only do Black esports players exist, but also
that they can thrive in this arena. At the core of esports is competition, teamwork, and most
importantly fun. Black students deserve to enjoy racially inclusive esports programs that
facilitate their personal growth through esports. Personal stories gathered during this study will
provide qualitative reflections of their peers in ways not yet shared in academic journals.
Considering the absence of racial discourse in the college esports literature I conducted
an exploratory study. This study aimed to highlight the primary research questions I seek to
answer in this study is, “What are the experiences of Black esports collegians?” Additionally, the
following questions will guide the study: (1) What did Black students expect their teams' racial
dynamics and climates to be before they became members of their esports teams? (3) How do

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Black students characterize the inclusiveness of their esports teams? (4) What do Black students
believe would make esports teams more inclusive for them? (5) Given their numerical
underrepresentation, what compels Black collegians to participate in esports? These questions
are designed to capture participants' lived experiences and their relationship with their respective
esports programs.
Significance of Study
In today’s generation of students who grew up with cell phones and online connections as
the norm, digital connectivity is central to the student experience. In the same way that many
students align with their hometown sports teams, in today's digital era, some students are also
identifying with their favorite esports teams. This sense of connection and common ground
should not be dismissed as a passing fad. Instead, notions of student engagement through college
athletics must expand to include esports. Thus, this study aimed to inspire future higher
education and digital media researchers to interrogate the social and cultural affordances esports
ecosystems seriously offers their participants while also considering the sociohistorical context
of its racially minoritized student body.
Historically, sports have been instrumental in driving racial integration on college
campuses (Davis, 1995; Hartman, 2000; Martin, 2010). College esports’ trajectory draws several
notable parallels to long-established college sports like crew, baseball, and football from the
early 1900s (Martin, 2010). Like these now universal sports, esports (more specifically video
games) have often been disregarded by parents as a frivolous, even harmful, play-centric activity
bearing no merit, distracting young students from their studies (Kutner et al., 2008; Ravitz,
2015). Both traditional sports and esport spawn from organic, student-led growth which
universities could no longer dismiss. With enough student support, esports have finally provoked

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higher education institutions to financially invest in supportive infrastructure such as esports labs
and coaches. Esports also work to galvanize the student body around a collective activity in
which students of all backgrounds can participate. In other words, esports are cultural anchors
from which students use to build and bridge connections with their peers. Thus, the onus is on
higher education researchers and practitioners to ensure that students of all racial identities have
access to inclusive esports programs. By highlighting Black esports players’ experiences,
collegiate sports scholars can include these players’ stories as part of a growing domain within
student athletics.
This research aims to expand our understanding of intercollegiate athletics to include
digital play. That is, esports function as sites of student engagement similar to traditional
athletics. The primary difference is that esports occupy digital and physical spaces. Such a
context should compel student engagement scholars to rethink student engagement occurring to
account for digital environments.
Although student engagement was not the central focus of this dissertation, findings from
this study are suitable for future studies seeking to evolve conceptions of student engagement to
include digital and online arenas. Student engagement has adapted significantly over the years,
becoming more inclusive and representative of a diversifying student body (Museus, 2014;
Quaye et al., 2019; Wolf-Wendel et al., 2001). Jolted by necessary COVID-19 health and safety
protocols, college campuses across the nation have been forced to adapt several of their in-
person student experiences online. Fortunately for gamers, online is our home. Casual and
competitive video game players have long existed in online spaces. Now higher education
researchers have an opportunity to explore the ways that students are leveraging online spaces to
participate in educationally purposeful activities. Research on student engagement in digital

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spaces has the potential to reshape how colleges think about providing rich student life
experiences in ways yet to be discovered.
In yet another higher education space, Black students appear to be excluded. Ultimately,
data indicates Black students are disproportionately underrepresented in college esports
(Midgame, 2019). When Black people are systematically excluded from roles as players,
coaches, producers, etc. college esports programs are communicating that these people do not
belong and are not welcome in the space. Fundamentally, my study aims to address this problem
and to promote a more racially inclusive environment.
Key Concepts and Definitions
Below are definitions of key concepts and terms used throughout this dissertation.
Black or African-American- United States born people of African descent. This term does
not include international Caribbean-Americans, Native Africans, or other international students
of color, as their college experiences differ from their United States-born peers.
Esports - This term refers to the activity of competitive video games. A specific esport is
determined by the video game being played by the users.
(Esports) Lab - refers to a dedicated facility for esports teams to practice and compete
equipped with gaming computers and consoles. Some universities have computer labs that are
reserved for esports teams at certain points of the days. Other programs have dedicated spaces
solely for the use of their esports teams.
Esports players - This term refers to undergraduate students who are current or former
college esports participants. Because I speak about esports in relation to traditional sports, I do
not refer to students on esports teams as student-athletes.

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Esports programs - Unless specified with a qualifier this is a general term used to
encapsulate both varsity and club esports programs.
Grinding - The term grinding is a term common in the video game community used to
convey a player’s intense dedication to a game. The term is referred to a long duration of time
invested in playing at a particular time.
IRL - Abbreviation for “in real life” This phrase refers to the physical occurrence or
existence outside of the digital realm. Common practice within online communication is to
abbreviate long, everyday phrases. For gamers, this phrase is often used to distinguish between
online and offline friends.
Minoritized - I use this term intentionally in lieu of minority to capture the fluid,
historical, and contextual nature of a person belonging to a group in the numerical minority. To
be racially minoritized is the result of an active process of systematic and institutional actions
limiting access and hindering retention (Benitez, 2010).
Race - a non-biological, socially constructed, indicator used to group people often by
their skin color.
Racism - The United States society is one that is upheld by systems that provide
advantages and privileges to white people and subsequently disadvantage racial minorities.
Racism can manifest in an individual’s behaviors and attitudes, and also systematically in the
philosophies, practices, and policies of institutions such as K-12 schools, higher education, and
the video game industry (Tatum, 2003).
Scrim - Abbreviation for scrimmage. This term is often used by esports players when
describing private exhibitions or scrimmages between teams.

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Traditional sports - I use this phrase to distinguish more established collegiate and
professional sports such as football, basketball, baseball, soccer, crew, etc. from esports.
VoD - Abbreviation for video on demand. This refers to the replays of a particular online
or esports match. Teams and players review their practice and scrimm VoDs to identify the
strengths and weakness of that particular match.
White -North American people of European descent.
Organization of the Dissertation
In the next chapter, I review extant literature around Black students' out-of-class
experiences and the racialized experiences of Black student-athletes. Then I conclude the chapter
by reviewing research on college esports as it pertains to race, gender, and inclusion. Chapter
three provides an overview of and rationale behind my proposed dissertation research design.
Overall, this study is intended to complicate a burgeoning esports discourse with hopes of
informing policy decisions within current and future college esports programs.
In chapter two, I first describe campus racial climate and its impacts on Black students'
out-of-class experiences. Second, I turn to studies on the racialized experiences of Black student-
athletes as a way to anticipate what esports players may also be experiencing. Third, I examine
and synthesize the literature around college esports as it pertains to race, gender, and inclusion.
Then, I discuss the state of the broader video game ecosystem and conclude with a race
affirmative conceptual framework.

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Chapter Two: Review of Related Literature
Students’ Out-of-Class Racialized Experiences
Yosso et al. (2009) define campus racial climate as, “the overall racial environment of the
university that could potentially foster outstanding academic outcomes and graduation rates for
all students but too often contributes to poor academic performance and high dropout rates for
Students of Color,” (p. 664). The “overall racial environment” alluded to by Yosso is
contextualized by internal (i.e., institutional) and external (e.g., government policies,
sociohistorical forces, etc.) factors (Hurtado et al., 1998). In 1992, Sylvia Hurtado developed a
four-factor model to assess campus racial climate. Within the internal context, Hurtado (1992)
outlines four dimensions impacting campus racial climate: historical, structural, perceptual, and
behavioral. For this particular research study, I focus on the behavioral dimension because of its
emphasis on the interpersonal cross-racial interactions between students (Hurtado, 1992). The
behavioral dimension is also useful in identifying the material ways racialization manifests in
out-of-class interactions.
A considerable amount of literature has been published on students of color’s out-of-class
racialized experiences. These studies make evident the ways in which hostile campus racial
climates manifest in microaggressions, stereotypes, prejudices, and even outright race-based
violence (Harper & Hurtado, 2007; Harwood et al., 2012; Hurtado, 1992; Solórzano et al., 2000;
Stokes, 2020; Yosso et al., 2009). In a more recent study, Stokes (2020) examined the number of
racist incidents on college campuses following former president Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Based on reports from three prominent higher education periodicals, Stokes (2020) identified a
significant number of race-based incidents involving: racist flyers, signs, and symbols posted

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around campus; students donning blackface; racially charged social media conflicts between
students; and overall demonstrations of anti-blackness.
One of the more insidious behavioral manifestations of racialization is microaggressions.
Originally theorized by psychiatrist Chester Pierce (1978), microaggressions refer to, “subtle
insults (verbal, nonverbal, and/or visual) directed toward people of color, often automatically or
unconsciously,” (Solórzano et al., 2000). Yosso et al. (2009) used CRT to explore the ways
Latinx students are affected by and respond to racial microaggressions on predominantly white
campuses. Results from their study indicate Latinx participants endured numerous covert out-of-
class racial assaults in the form of interpersonal microaggressions and racial jokes all of which
engendered feelings of self-doubt, rejection, and discouragement. However, students resisted
these feelings by finding and building culturally affirmative communities. This behavior is
consistent with research on Black students on predominantly white campuses who also resist
microaggressions by creating and joining counter-spaces (Givens, 2016; Guiffrida, 2003; Patton,
2006; Solórzano et al., 2000). Examples of non-academic (i.e., out-of-class) counterspaces
include multicultural Greek sororities/fraternities, culture centers, culture housing, and more
(Givens, 2016; Harper & Quaye, 2007; Harwood et al., 2018; Solórzano et al., 2000; Yosso and
Lopez, 2010).
Collectively research on the campus racial climate and students’ racialized out-of-class
experiences on predominantly white campuses are useful in contextualizing esports programs
and their players. Data from these studies point towards a potentially hostile esports
environment. Before turning to studies on racialization and esports players, the next section
discusses literature from traditional intercollegiate sports to better understand how participation
in college athletics impacts a student’s racialized experience.

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Race and College Athletics
“Sport is not just a site for the reproduction of racial stereotypes and formations but also a
site of potential struggle and challenge against them.” (Hartman, 2000, p. 244). This quote
originates from sociologist Douglas Harmann who argues that the institution of sport is uniquely
positioned to not only reinforce but also disrupt cultural understandings of race. Although the
focus of the study will not focus on the institution of sport, the quote above establishes the
centricity of race in college sports. Taking a step back, college sports engender a sense of school
pride, entertain the campus, and create a focal point of loyalty for the campus community at large
(Bailey & Littleton, 1991; Cady, 1978; Toma & Cross, 2000). Most importantly, intercollegiate
athletics are often the most visible domain in higher education research for discussions on gender
equity, racial diversity, and student development (Toma & Cross, 2000; Wolf-Wendel, et al.,
2001). Consequently, intercollegiate athletics have served as exemplary sites of investigation for
higher education researchers interested in cross-racial interactions and relationships due to their
keen ability to foster community among students of different demographics (Brown et al., 2003;
Comeaux, 2013; Jones et al., 2017). This notion is further supported by Levine and Cureton’s
(1998) findings that patterns of self-segregation by race were prominent on college campuses
except in athletics (and theater). Therefore, college athletics function as sites of cross-racial
interactions and help us understand how racial diversity impacts students. For these reasons,
traditional intercollegiate sports offer useful parallels to esports due to their similarity in
structure and function (Murray, 2021).
Racialized Experiences of Black Student-Athletes
The experiences of Black student-athletes mirror those of their nonathlete peers, with
some nuance. Similar to their nonathlete peers, Black student-athletes are subjected to subtle

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forms of racialization which materialize as racial jokes, microaggressions, and prejudices
(Comeaux, 2015; Harper, 2018; Lee et al., 2018; Ortega, 2021b; Simiyu, 2012). The subtle (vs.
overt) racialization reflects notions of “new racism”, or color-evasive ideology (Bonilla-Silva,
2006). Moreover, Lee et al. (2018) found that Black and Latinx student-athletes reported
instances of being microaggressed. However, the study also showed there were differences in the
types of microaggressions based on the participant’s race.
For the four Black student-athletes in Lee et al.’s (2018) study, they too were subjected to
microaggressions. However, Lee et al. highlight a discourse unique and central to discourses
within sport- sport as transcending race. Within this discourse, “sport is a meritocratic space
where athletes can participate, experience, and succeed irrespective of their race,” (Lee, 2018, p.
1030). This discourse was echoed by coaches, players, and athletic administrators. Notions of
sport as transcending race was so deeply entrenched in this Division-I athletic culture that the
participants minimized their microaggression experiences. The authors use a Foucauldian
poststructuralist perspective to make sense of this phenomenon and explain, “the participants’
adherence to dominant discourse and minimizing racial microaggressions are explained, not
because victims felt powerless to resist or challenge the dominant ideology, but because
discursive power is productive,” (p. 1032). This finding is contrary to many studies which
indicate people of color rarely minimize the effects of racial discrimination (Bonilla-Silva,
2006). By adhering to and internalizing meritocratic notions, the Black players themselves were
complicit in their own oppression. This offers an alternate perspective on the ways racialization
can appear benevolent but also, reinforce a long history of racial subjugation.
Benefits of Intercollegiate Athletic Participation

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In general, racial diversity is valuable to higher education institutions as it creates
opportunities for students to learn about commonalities and differences amongst people (Gurin et
al., 2002; Hurtado et al., 1999; Pike & Kuh, 2006). Looking at college athletics through the lens
of the intergroup contact hypothesis (Allport, 1954) provides another compelling reason to
ensure racially inclusive esports programs.
In 1954, Gordon Allport conducted a study exploring the effects of cross-racial
interactions. His intergroup contact hypothesis argues that positive cross-racial interactions rely
on environmental factors around equal status, cooperation, shared goals, and support from
authorities. Sherif et al.’s (1961) superordinate-goal hypothesis builds on intergroup contact
hypothesis research by adding that conflict will be minimized in diverse groups when goals are
achieved insofar as the group is cooperative. Hurtado et al., also (2003) expand on this arguing
that extended opportunities for group members to interact are a crucial component missing from
the hypothesis. Early quantitative research around Allport’s intergroup contact hypothesis and
Sherif’s superordinate-goal hypothesis found that results vary according to the race of the player
(Chu & Griffey, 1981; McClendon & Eitzen, 1972). For example, white athletes playing on
teams with Black players had more positive racial attitudes than control groups (Chu & Griffey,
1982; McClendon & Eitzen, 1975; Scott & Damico, 1984). Whereas for Black players on mixed-
race teams, the same increase in positive attitude is not evident (McClendon & Eitzen, 1975).
Positive intergroup cooperation has also been shown to be limited to sports context and not as
transferable to other domains (Miracle, 1981). More recent research demonstrates similar
findings pointing towards the tension between student-athletes of different racial groups
(Lawrence, 2004; Singer, 2005; Stratta, 1995; Wolniak et al., 2001).

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In spite of these mixed results, Wolf-Wendel et al. (2001) used intercollegiate athletic
programs as sites of inquiry of the diversity-related benefits. Focusing on the ways that diverse
teams can bring people together rather than apart, Wolf-Wendel et al. conducted a five-
institution case study where they visited each campus for several days gathering data via
interviews, focus groups, document reviews, and observations. They found that athletics do
create environments conducive to positive intergroup interactions. In speaking with student-
athletes, coaches, and athletics administrators, the following traits were identified as facilitating
intergroup cooperation: sharing a common goal; engaging in intense, frequent interaction;
sharing adversity in the form of hard work, suffering, and sacrifice; having a common “enemy”;
recognizing that each individual has something important to contribute; holding team members
accountable; having coaches who guide them; and, exposure to difference from an early age.
Together these traits are useful in thinking about the conditions which promote cooperation
across differences. However, this study took a color-evasive approach. While the authors
mentioned the teams in their study had differences across multiple dimensions, including
socioeconomic status and geographic backgrounds, the study did not disaggregate by race;
therefore, leaving room to investigate how reliable these traits are in teams where racial
composition is disproportionate.
One challenge of drawing strict one-to-one comparisons between esports and traditional
sports is due to the heterogeneity of traditional athletic departments. Each sport within an athletic
department has different characteristics across gender, race, class, and. For example, revenue-
generating sports such as football and men’s basketball are disproportionately composed of
Black men (Harper, 2016). Whereas other sports such as golf, sailing, lacrosse, and fencing are
made up of majority affluent white men/women (Desai, 2018). Although the professional esports

17

industry is projected to become a billion-dollar industry (Bauer-Wolf, 2019), we cannot extend
these projections onto college esports. Intercollegiate esports programs and their audiences are
still growing. Without conclusive evidence demonstrating revenue generation from
intercollegiate esports, I will consider esports as non-revenue generating sports. This distinction
is pertinent to questions around diversity-related benefits because, in Wolniak et al. 's (2001)
examination of male athletes’ openness to diversity, they find student-athletes competing in
nonrevenue sports demonstrated fewer gains in openness to diversity. Altogether this research
reviewed in this section paints a messy, complicated picture of diversity-related benefits of
intercollegiate participation. Nonetheless, the conflicting data is useful in informing our
understanding of what racially minoritized players may be experiencing in their participation on
a non-revenue generating esports team.
The Emergence of Esports on College Campuses
College Esports: Definition and Context
The definition of esports is contentious. Neither sports science, cognitive science, law,
business, media studies, nor informatics can reach a consensus on how to define esports
(Hallmann & Geil, 2018; Reitman et al., 2020). A common definition of esports revolves around
concepts of competitive gaming, computer-mediated sport, and interactive spectatorship
(Freeman & Wohn, 2017). For the purpose of this dissertation, I define esports as a sport in
which there is competition between teams or individuals in a particular video game. Put simply,
esports is competitive video gaming.
College esports programs house multiple teams, each of whom plays a specific game.
Esports teams play games that can range in genres from first-person shooters (e.g. Overwatch &
Valorant), multiplayer online battle arenas (e.g. Defense of the Ancients 2 & League of Legends),

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battle royales (e.g. Fortnite & Call of Duty: Warzone), digital collectible card games (e.g.
Hearthstone & Magic: The Gathering), fighting games (e.g. Super Smash Bros. & Street
Fighter) and sports simulations (e.g. NBA 2K & Madden NFL). The most popular collegiate
games are team-based (3 vs. 3, 5 vs. 5, etc.) and played on personal computers (PC). In some
tournaments, teams even compete for financial prizes ranging from $50 to $30,000 per player
(Schaeperkoetter et al., 2017). Unlike traditional student-athletes in the National Collegiate
Athletic Association (NCAA), esports players are allowed to keep money earned from their
performance.
Research from Taylor & Stout (2020) outlines the differences between esports at the
varsity and club levels. Esports programs vary in the organizational structure from one campus to
the next. However, they can be broadly categorized as either a varsity sport or a gaming club.
The central difference between varsity programs and gaming clubs lies in institutional support,
where varsity teams garner more funding, have dedicated infrastructure (i.e., arenas for
competition and practices), and often offer scholarships to their players. The distinction between
varsity and clubs is significant as clubs tend to be more inclusive spaces. I further discuss this
distinction below.
High School Esports
While this dissertation is primarily focused on the presence of esports on college
campuses, it is important to note that high schools are also forming esports teams (Cho et al.
2018; Flannery, 2021; Ryan, 2021). Across the United States, there are more than 8,600 high
schools that have created esports teams (Flannery, 2021). In fact, in 2019, the governing board of
California high school sports, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), recognized esports
as an official sport and signed a contract with a third-party esports platform to schedule, host,

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and stream competitions (Paxtor, 2020; Ryan, 2021; Sondheimer, 2019). High schools are even
incorporating video games and esports into their curriculum as a way to engage students’
interests. The adoption of esports by high schools is a monumental move that could greatly affect
the future of college esports in terms of recruitment, marketing, and overall participation. There
is a concerted effort to appeal to younger students’ extracurricular interests by introducing them
to the professional esports ecosystem (Reitman et al., 2018).
Esports on College Campuses
According to the National Association of Collegiate Esports, one of the largest governing
bodies of intercollegiate esports, over 170 U.S. colleges have varsity esports programs (NACE,
2021). The overall number is certainly higher as NACE is just one of several governing bodies
that esports programs can opt into. Motivations behind creating an esports program vary from
one campus to the next but benefits are universally enticing to schools who wish to increase
enrollment, retention, revenue, and create more opportunities for student engagement (AnyKey,
2018; Bauer-Wolf, 2020; Piper, 2018). In their assessment of the college esports landscape,
Murray et al. (2021) argues that college esports offer a wide range of student and organizational
level benefits. For the college, they argue, esports programs, similar to traditional NCAA sports,
should consider the revenue potential and regard programs as a large business venture.
Furthermore, esports programs serve as a multifaceted venue to fulfill institutional missions
around inclusion, equity, and curriculum development (Murray et al., 2021). For students, on the
other hand, benefits are similar to those of traditional sports where they have opportunities to
engage in teamwork, critical thinking, connect with like-minded peers, and participate in an
emerging industry (Murray et al., 2021).

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As mentioned above, varsity programs commonly offer scholarships to retain current
players and incentivize potential recruits. Some colleges pay up to 75% of expected costs, while
others simply offer a semesterly stipend of up to 50% of tuition (Bauer-Wolf, 2017; Stoller,
2019). To accommodate new teams, some colleges have built practice and game arenas equipped
with state-of-the-art PCs, graphics cards, monitors, chairs, and other essential equipment (Stoller,
2019). Esports teams, arenas, and majors pertaining to the esports industry serve as recruitment
tools to attract more students and earn publicity (Keiper et al., 2017; Murray et al., 2021; Stoller,
2019).
Esports Player Demographics
Although broadly speaking video game players are diverse in age, gender, and race
(Entertainment Software Association, 2021), college esports teams remain relatively
homogenous in both gender and race. One study found that teen boys are more likely to play
video games than teen girls (Lenhart et al., 2015). Lenhart et al., (2015) further report Black
teens are more likely than white and Hispanic teens to play video games. Moreover, despite
Black teens playing video games in high numbers, there is scant representation on prominent
professional esports teams (Peterson, 2018). The same holds true in collegiate esports. Based on
a survey of 241 players representing 125 colleges and universities with esports programs, 76% of
respondents were white, 16% Asian, 6% Latinx, 1% Black, and 1% Native American (Midgame,
2019). As for gender, 89% of participants were male, 9% female, and 2% other. While ample
research justly scrutinizes gender disparities, very little attention is paid to the racial disparities
that plague the sport (Bailey & Littleton, 2011; McCullough et al., 2020; Ratan et al., 2015).
Racial disparities in esports are the driving force behind this research.
Identity Research in Intercollegiate Esports

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Overall, professional esports is historically a male-dominated sport whose gender
disparities extend into college campuses (Ratan et al., 2015; Voorhees & Orlando, 2018;
Witkowski, 2017). As a result, researchers have investigated esports athletes' identities. One of
the largest studies investigating college esports player identity comes from Schaeperkoetter et al.
(2017). The authors sought to examine the role of athlete identity and social capital for esports
athletes on scholarship and interviewed 33 players at a large private university. Notably, all but
one participant identified as male. Their findings illustrated that players view themselves as
athletes despite external stereotypes depicting gamers as “nerds.” Results from Schaeperkoetter
et al. (2017) provide insight into ways players see themselves in relation to the larger campus
community and how they navigate external criticism concerning the legitimacy of the term
“athlete.” However, Ortega’s (2021a) study neither accounts for students’ racial identities, nor
does it even report them.
Similarly, Kauweloa and Winter (2019) explore how belonging to an esports club or
scholarship varsity team shapes students' identity. Despite intentions to solicit participants who
reflected “a diversity of perspectives based on age, ethnicity, and gender” (p. 2451), their study
only included one woman. Of the 16 students, nine were on scholarship and were members of
their university’s esports club. Once again, neither were players’ racial identities mentioned, nor
were issues around diversity raised during interviews. Instead, their findings focus on how
playing esports engenders a sense of pride and satisfaction and reinforces players’ self-
conception as a gamer. Schaeperkoetter et al. (2017) and Kauweloa and Winter (2019) discuss
the meaning players ascribe to participating on esports teams. However, unintentionally, these
two studies also affirm the male dominated nature of professional and intercollegiate esports.

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Yet, focusing solely on gender obfuscates the racial makeup of teams and the glaring need to
investigate the ways in which race impacts collegiate esports players’ experience.
Women’s Video Game/Esports Experiences
The co-educational (coed) nature of esports evokes promise for athletic departments
aiming to create a more inclusive program (AnyKey, 2019; Murray et al., 2021). Creating a
competitive environment where a student’s gender expression does not dictate which team, they
play for should be a primary driver for universal adoption. Unfortunately, men and women
experience online video games quite differently. In fact, research reveals that online gaming
spaces are the least welcoming environments for women (Duggan, 2017). Repeatedly, women
are subjected to misogyny, racism, sexism, and harassment (Consalvo, 2012; Cote, 2017; Ratan
et al., 2015; Gray, 2020) and toxic online player environments (Beavis, 2005; Cote, 2017; Tang
& Fox, 2016; Vella et al., 2020). Women also confront a prevailing stereotype of video games
and esports as male-dominated activities, whereby women inherently perform at lower levels
than men (Consalvo, 2012). While this stereotype has been refuted and outright debunked
(Pennington, 2018; Ratan et al., 2020; Shen, 2016; Vermeulen & Van Looy, 2016), the looming
threat still poses a challenge for women to overcome, especially in spaces overwhelmingly
represented by men. Together these barriers unique to women players intersect to create what
Paul (2018) calls “Toxic Meritocracy.” These challenges are furthermore compounded when race
and gender intersect (Gray, 2012b; Gray, 2020; Paul, 2019).
Inclusion and Esports
AnyKey (2019), a nonprofit organization dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion in
gaming and live streaming, provides an assessment of diversity and inclusion in collegiate
esports. They champion the rapid emergence of collegiate esports while simultaneously

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cautioning against replicating the monolithic representation of males, as evidenced in
professional esports. In their appraisal of collegiate esports, AnyKey suggests that despite
numerical underrepresentation, women are, and have been, central to collegiate esports both as
players and leaders. The authors urge universities to address the underrepresentation of not only
women but also other minoritized identities asserting, “Students deserve equitable and safe
environments for all genders, sexualities, races, and ethnicities. They deserve access that is not
constrained by socio-economic factors,” (p. 10). AnyKey (2019) also contends that, amongst
other issues, limited scopes of diversity pose significant threats to full participation. In other
words, varsity esports programs must prioritize intentionally recruiting diverse teams.
In direct response to AnyKey’s (2019) evaluation of collegiate esports, Taylor and Stout
(2020) conducted a qualitative study investigating the conditions promoting gender inclusivity in
college esports. After interviewing 21 leaders of esports clubs and varsity esports programs, the
authors find “clubs continue to carry out the work of forming esports communities and are still
where we are most likely to find the most diversity (in terms of both skill and background), but
varsity programs are where the money’s going,” (p. 12). Differences in recruiting create what the
authors call, a two-tiered system separating esports clubs and varsity sports programs. Unlike
varsity programs, esports clubs are positioned as low-stakes, casual, and cooperative
communities whose love for all games creates space for anyone to join. Therefore, esports clubs’
primary form of recruitment is via word of mouth, club fairs, and an online social media
presence. Conversely, due to the heavy resource investment by the university, varsity programs
are incentivized to assemble teams with the sole intention of winning. Since varsity teams are
often sponsored and garner media and university stakeholders’ attention, Taylor and Stout (2020)
determine, “Getting top-ranked players wins out over the riskier project of actively cultivating

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(more diverse) talent” (p. 12). This sentiment is supported by coaches and directors they
interviewed who reported a shift towards actively recruiting professional esports players.
Another important finding from Taylor and Stout (2020) is that participants reported
some intentional efforts to recruit a more culturally and ethnically diverse team. Several
participants wanted to assemble teams mirroring their respective college’s racial demographics.
One varsity program organized a PUBG Mobile tournament in an effort to appeal to Indian
students who are not interested in PC-based esports. Another program partnered with the
multicultural student union to host an NBA2K to appeal to students typically marginalized by
mainstream esports titles (i.e., games). Despite these efforts, Taylor and Stout (2020) maintain
that esports recruits are evaluated by their skill. In doing so, color-evasive notions of meritocracy
serve as the lens through which coaches and program directors construct their varsity teams.
Meritocracy is the belief that success results from individual effort, work ethic, attitude,
and innate abilities (Fletcher, 2020; McNamee & Miller, 2009; Rogstad, 2021; Siutila &
Havaste, 2019). Fletcher (2020), in his interrogation of the notable absence of Black
professionals in PC-based esports, scrutinizes how skill is used to justify discrepancies in player
representation. He argues that “in the colorblind gaming world, professionals are not chosen by
color but by skill. ‘Skill’ comes to function not just as a tool of measure, but as a means to ensure
unbiased play” (p. 2673). Skill, therefore, is the currency by which players are evaluated and in
turn, afforded opportunities. However, demonstrating skill (i.e., playing well) requires not only
individual work ethic or natural talent but also necessary external conditions (e.g., time, money,
resources, etc.) which facilitate competency (Fletcher, 2020; Paul, 2019; Taylor & Stout, 2020).
Like any craft, ascending to the elite ranks of a particular esport requires many hours of practice.
In fact, practicing up to twelve hours in one day, multiple times a week, is a cultural norm for

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esports professionals (Stanton, 2015). Moreover, one’s ability to afford expensive high-end
gaming systems for computer-mediated esports provides distinct advantages in favor of players
with stronger systems (Kauweloa and Winter, 2019). Fletcher (2020) contends that the esports
industry effectively excludes Black players due to neoliberal logic, which values individual skill
and merit, ignoring external forces. Together these logics provide ample justification for the
following questions: “What are the racialized experiences of Black players who participate in
esports?”
Until this point, I have reviewed literature that clearly demonstrates the ways in which
Black students’ out-of-class experiences are constantly rife with racialization. I discussed extant
literature from fields adjacent to college esports that have a longer history of inquiry into race,
racialization, and inclusion for Black undergraduates. Research on campus climate and students’
out-of-class experiences are riddled by microaggressions, stereotypes, and race-based violence.
These experiences are echoed throughout the literature on Black student-athletes, albeit focused
on their racial and athletic identity. Although the literature is all but silent on racialization in
esports, issues around meritocracy and toxic masculinity point towards the dismissal of structural
factors impacting marginalized student participation. However, there are some promising data
from cross-racial interactions amongst intercollegiate athletic teams which point towards a host
of benefits from racially diverse teams.
Collectively, the preceding sections situate my study within a developing esports
discourse. The aim of this dissertation is to embed race within this emerging discourse.
Therefore, I construct a race-centric conceptual framework that accounts for students’ long
history of racialization and their intrinsic proclivity towards video game communities.
Racialization in Online Multiplayer Games

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Central to competitive esports is the online multiplayer experience. Player ranks are
essential to competitive online multiplayer games as they function to create teams of players of
similar skill levels with the hopes of creating a fun balanced play experience (Graepel &
Herbrich, 2006). All esports titles allow their player base to compete against each other online.
With many of these games being team games, players are often interacting with other players,
generally in the same skill level. Research from internet and game studies have long-established
racism's prevalence in online multiplayer video games (Daniels, 2013; Gray, 2012a, 2014;
Nakamura 1995, 2002). As a result, my study will not only consider the physical interpersonal
relationships of esports teammates but also their online interactions with the greater video game
player ecosystem. Since college esports teams practice and compete in person and online, we
must account for interpersonal interactions occurring in physical and digital spaces.
Gamergate
In 2014, GamerGate (GG) took the internet by storm and revealed a darker side of online
video game culture. In short, GG exposed the video game community’s potential to unleash
relentless hate and harassment. GG was an online harassment campaign that targeted women in
the video game industry. Along with sexist harassment, the victims were threatened to be raped
and even had their home addresses exposed online (doxing). As Mortensen (2018) describes, GG
is more than a disgusting display of patriarchy, but a demonstration of the darkest sides of the
internet. Although seemingly tertiary to esports, GG represents a pivotal moment in gaming
history as it garnered high levels of media attention, revealing the insidious dangers of the online
gaming community. Nearly all professional esports tournaments are streamed online through
websites like Twitch or Youtube. The allure of these websites lies within the ability for
audiences to interact with each other and the people streamers through a live chatbox. Users log

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in to their profile and chat with fellow fans in real time about what is occurring in the match.
While this is a unique and potentially galvanizing opportunity for fans to cheer in tandem, GG
unveiled the ways in which online platforms can morph into a space for unrelenting sexism,
racism, homophobia, and outright hate. Although the central focus of GG were women, as Gray
(2020) notes there was also a racial divide amongst the victims as GG coincided with the
emergence of #BlackLivesMatter.
The Video Game Industry’s Lack of Racial Diversity
Before concluding this literature review, it is important to connect the lack of racial
diversity in esports to the industry at large. In fact, the impetus behind this research is
multifaceted. First, there is currently a trend amongst STEM focused colleges demonstrating
more willingness to adopt esports programs as a way to recruit and retain students (Taylor &
Stout, 2020). With these universities promoting students’ involvement in the tech and gaming
industry, there is an opportunity to diversify a white, male-dominated field. Moreso, racial
diversification in college esports has the potential to promote a more diverse STEM field by
exposing students to professional opportunities aligned with their interests. Consider a 2019
survey from the leading association for game developers that reported, 67% of game developers
identify as “white”, 10% identify as “Hispanic/Latinx”, 7% East Asian (incl. Chinese, Japanese,
and Korean), 4% “Aboriginal or Indigenous” and 4% identify as “Black/African-
American/African/Afro-Caribbean” (International Game Developers Association, 2021).
Williams, et al. (2009), demonstrates how a racially homogeneous video games industry is
reflected in the characters they design and the racist stereotypes and tropes they feed into. The
study found that Black characters were often featured as gangsters, and whites as heroes. Part of
this can be attributed to the developers’ racial and gender make-up. On the other hand, pressures

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to sell coupled with the looming uncertainty of success compels game developers to default to
problematic stereotypical narratives and tropes. The results perpetuate racist tropes of Blacks as
gangsters and whites as heroes. Overall, universities have a unique opportunity to intentionally
diversify their programs as a way to not only benefit their students and campus but also the video
games industry altogether.
Conceptual Framework
Video games are composed of more than just the software and hardware rendering them
playable. What makes them special is not just the joy of play, but the learning, stories,
challenges, and shared experiences that result from engaging with your favorite game. Below, I
construct a conceptual framework that draws from interdisciplinary theories and leverages video
games research to better understand the racialized experiences of Black esports collegians.
I maintain a race-affirmative stance that fundamentally assumes the centrality of race to
the experiences of Black esports players. Consistent with critical race theory (CRT), race and
racism are endemic to the United States, and therefore extend into higher education and
intercollegiate athletics (Harper, 2012; Gayles, 2019; Patton, 2016; Yosso et al., 2009). My
conceptual framework reflects this notion and argues for a race-centric approach to assess the
extent to which racialization is occurring. There is already a substantial body of evidence of
racialized experiences for Black student-athletes in traditional sports (Comeaux, 2015; Harper,
2018; Ortega, 2021b; Simiyu, 2012). Thus, I construct a framework built off tenets from CRT
and passion affinity spaces. The race-affirmative framework accounts for the ways in which race,
racism, and dominant ideologies (meritocracy, hegemonic masculinity, and color-evasiveness)
uphold esports programs, otherwise considered as a passion affinity space. This framework can

29

provide more insight into the ways esports programs are- or are not cultivating racially inclusive
programs.
Passion Affinity Spaces
Since esports fall within a larger video game umbrella, it is useful to understand how
collegiate esports players are participating in what James P. Gee (2014) coined, passion affinity
spaces (PAS). Passion affinity spaces connect people by common interests and passions,
providing opportunities for a diverse network of peers to interact around complex issues within a
group that values high-quality content, while simultaneously fostering meaningful interaction.
Gee (2004) encourages educators to consider video game PAS as legitimate sites for deep
learning to challenge traditional notions of teaching and learning practiced in schools. Core to
PAS is the belief that learning is best when people are highly motivated and connected to the
social practices they value. This concept is a critique and alternative to notions around
communities of practice (Wegner et al., 2002). Unlike communities of practice, which rely on
labels differentiating between insiders and outsiders of a particular group, PAS allows for more
fluid interactions between various sub-communities within a space. Recognizing video games
broadly as PAS helps explain what might attract players, irrespective of racial identity, to play
college esports.
Analyzing women players in The Sims, Gee and Hayes (2010) identify a web of activities
separate from the game itself that create a rich, collaborative, and interactive learning
environment. The Sims affinity space is populated by tutorial websites, photoshop (a popular
image editing software), virtual contacts, personal and friend’s websites, in-person meetings with
fellow players, and more. Gee and Hayes (2010) argue this combination of intrinsic interest in
the game and the wide-ranging opportunities to learn about and contribute to the game’s

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community creates a games-based learning paradise. Their assessment agrees with Engerman
and Hein’s (2017) commentary on the draw for esports players, “The competitive nature of
eSports culture revolves around high levels of mastery,” (p. 63). Unlike traditional sports where
the average viewer may not be able to emulate their favorite star, esports spectators are not
limited by their physical attributes, and can immediately apply strategies, moves and skills
demonstrated by their favorite esports professional. Overall, the concept of PAS is an effective
piece of an analytical lens to situate and understand how students, generally, are making meaning
of their college esports participation.
For higher education institutions, Gee (2014) argues PAS provides a chance to cultivate
opportunities for students to develop twenty-first century skills, foster a sense of belonging, and
become more engaged students. Gee (2014, p. 181) outlines the following fifteen characteristics
associated with PAS:
1. A common endeavor for which at least many people in the space have a passion - not
race, class, gender, or disability- is primary
2. Passionate affinity spaces are not segregated by age
3. Newbies, masters, and everyone else share a common space
4. Everyone can, if they wish, produce and not just consume
5. Content is transformed by interaction
6. The development of both specialist and broad, general knowledge is encouraged and
specialist knowledge is pooled
7. Both individual and distributed knowledge are encouraged
8. The use of dispersed knowledge is facilitated
9. Tacit knowledge is used and honored; explicit knowledge is encouraged

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10. There are many different forms and routes to participation
11. There are many different routes to status
12. Leadership is porous and leaders are resources
13. Roles are reciprocal
14. A view of learning that is individually proactive, but does not exclude help, is
encouraged
15. People get encouragement from an audience and feedback from peers though everyone
plays both roles at different times
Together these characteristics demonstrate interactive and collaborative traits critical to a
PAS whose commonality revolves around their collective passion for, in the case of this study, a
particular esport. Taken at face value, these characteristics also describe an egalitarian space by
which participants are free of strict hierarchies and open to equal contributions. In some respects,
Gee (2014) conceptualizes a community where identities such as race, class, gender, and ability
are secondary to members’ deep connection to video games. While this is possible Gee (2014)
admits, PAS are not inherently benevolent or inclusive, “People can be cooperative within these
spaces, but they can also compete fiercely for status,” (p. 181). Understandably, characteristics
three, four, five, eleven, and twelve indicate a fluid hierarchy that creates opportunities for
conflict when people disagree on the value of individual contributions. One glaring issue with
this list of features is number one which effectively minimizes an individual's identity. This is
especially problematic, for all spaces are contextualized within a larger socio-historical history.
Yet, by dismissing identities that have a long history of systematic subjugation and
oppression the concept of PAS is limited in scope. Leonard’s (2003) assessment is useful to
understand the shortcomings of PAS, “the work of Gee (2003) is especially problematic in this

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regard, since he believes that games teach children and teenagers 36 core learning principles. Yet
he makes no mention of how games perpetuate stereotypes, induce racialized fantasies, and
affirm racial inequalities,” (p.2). For reference, the first of Gee’s characteristics, listed above,
notes that individual identities such as race, class, gender, or disability are not central to a PAS.
To be sure, Gee (2014) does acknowledge these aspects of identity are present but not
foregrounded and instead are, “particularly enabled and enhanced in virtual affinity spaces
(internet sites) because people can enter these spaces with an identity and name of their own
choosing,” (p. 182). Unlike aforementioned virtual affinity spaces, interactions between college
esports players will not be anonymous. There will likely be participants who initially met,
currently practice, and/or socialize with their teammates online (this will be especially true for
students impacted by COVID-19 in-person restrictions), but at one point or another, they will
have likely interacted with their teammates IRL therefore revealing aspects of their racial
identity. Nonetheless, Gee’s minimization of race in light of higher education’s long racist
history against people of color renders this approach incomplete (Harper, 2012).
Considering racial and gender disparities, relying solely on PAS as a theoretical
framework ignores the insidious ways race impacts Black peoples’ experiences (Fletcher, 2020;
Gray 2020; Gray & Leonard, 2018). To fill in gaps left by PAS, I draw from critical race theory
which centers on the socio-historical context of race to reach a deeper understanding of how race
and racism may be impacting Black esports players’ racialized experiences.
Critical Race Theory
In order to center and critically analyze Black players’ racialized experiences, I turn to
CRT. Broadly, CRT is concerned with interrogating systems of power. Born out of Critical Legal
Studies, CRT first applied a racial lens to challenge legal power structures and has since

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expanded to the field of higher education (Harper, 2012b). CRT in education has at least five
guiding tenets (Delgado & Stefanic, 2012; Ladson-Billings, 2013; Solórzano, 1997; Yosso et al.,
2009), but for this study, I focus on two - race as endemic to US society and challenging
dominant ideologies in education (i.e., color-evasiveness, meritocracy, and hegemonic
masculinity).
Race, Racism, and Subordination are Endemic
The first and most central tenet of CRT declares race, racism, and other elements of racial
subordination as endemic to US society (Bell, 1992). Within the United States, race is a
sociohistorical construct shaped by political, economic, and social forces (Omi and Winant,
1998). Race is dynamic, varying by time, place, and space. Most importantly, race and racism
are intricately embedded in the United States’ institutions and organizations, including higher
education (Harper, 2012; Patton, 2016; Wilder, 2014). Recognizing the long and pervasive
history of racism, we must foreground race when examining college esports programs. Though,
college esports does present a unique context that is both virtual and in-person. Whereas a
person's racial identity is on full display when competing in person, for example on a basketball
court, it is not immediately salient when playing online. In games where voice chat is central to a
game’s function, race is not always obvious, but can still be a point for players to latch onto. For
example, Gray (2012a) conducted an 8-month digital ethnography with Black online players on
the online console and digital network, Xbox Live. Her results indicate that phenotypic
expression is but one way to assess (and subsequently harass) one’s racial identity. Participants
were subject to linguistic profiling, leading to racialized interactions ripe with racial slurs and
insults. In collegiate esports, where teamwork and communication are integral to success, I
anticipate participants will speak to incidents of their racialization.

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Challenging Dominant Ideologies
Central to CRT scholars aim to directly oppose white privilege and deny claims of
meritocracy, objectivity, color-evasiveness, and hegemonic masculinity racism in education
(Calmore, 1992; Solórzano, 1997; Yosso, 2009). Critical race theorists argue that dominant
ideologies conceal the power and privilege of dominant groups in U.S. society (Solórzano,
1997). To understand how pervasive racist ideologies are in higher education, we need only
analyze the inception of our nation’s oldest university system - the Ivy Leagues. Wilder (2014)
describes the instrumental role of slavery and slave labor ideologically, and quite literally, in
constructing the country’s most prestigious institutions. The establishment and function of higher
education has always been racialized such that whites and white supremacy dominate at the
expense of people of color (Patton, 2016). Today is no different. This socio-historical context is
relevant to the study of esports because the practices, policies, and procedures (i.e. systems) in
place today are precluded by the racialized history described above. Therefore, I argue, there are
three dominant ideologies upholding esports affinity spaces, meritocracy, hegemonic
masculinity, and color-evasiveness.
Meritocracy
Deeply entrenched in competitive video gaming culture is the dominant ideology of
meritocracy. Similar to traditional sports, esports is often thought of as a meritocratic activity in
which those who exert the most effort, irrespective of race, will be rewarded accordingly
(Fletcher, 2020; Paul, 2018). This ideology is further reinforced through in-game ranking
systems that assign each player who competes competitively online, a rank based on compiled
performance statis, such as wins and losses. Player ranks are then used as proxies for individual
skill and ability. Although useful in creating balanced player experiences, rankings create a

35

stratification system and stereotypes around each stratum (Kou et al., 2016). After interviewing
players of the extremely popular esport League of Legends, Kou et al. determine, “social
positioning represented by player ranks suggested [to] players what kind of players they are, and
with whom they are playing with” (p.5).
On the surface, ranks directly reflect individual effort and skill, and are verifiable metrics
for assessing one’s skill. Certainly, wins and losses are useful in evaluating player aptitude.
However, as stated in the sections above, these assumptions discount contextual social factors
which facilitate players’ ability to perform at the highest level in their esport. A meritocratic
ideology fails to acknowledge the structural privileges afforded to those who have access to
equipment, coaches, tournaments, high-speed internet, space to play, and time to invest in
improving. Through the lens of meritocracy, the most skilled players will earn a position on their
respective teams. This notion is further complicated by each game’s ranking system which is
controlled and organized by the game’s publisher and not the university. As a result, a player's
position on the leaderboard serves as a seemingly objective metric to assess skill relative to the
entire player base and can even determine whether a player receives a full or partial scholarship
(Kauweloa & Winter, 2019).
Hegemonic Masculinity
Drawing from a wide range of academic disciplines, hegemonic masculinity is a concept
used to understand how asymmetrical gender relations are legitimated worldwide (Connell &
Messerschmidt 2005; Messerschmidt, 2019; Rogstad, 2021). Hegemonic masculinity was most
notably synthesized by Connell (1987; 1995) and has since been reformulated to include a more
complex model of gender hierarchy and broaden its and then revisited In esports the hegemonic,
or dominant, nature of masculinity is pervasive. As alluded to earlier, Paul (2018) refers to toxic

36

meritocracy as the intersection of multiple privileges afforded to men. Women must constantly
contend with a number of forces that men do not, therefore freeing up more time, energy and
overall presenting less friction for any player interested in improving in their respective esport.
In their review of 21 peer-reviewed studies focused on esports and gender, Rogstad (2021)
identified 3 themes evident throughout the literature: masculinities in esports, online harassment,
and negotiating gendered expectations. Collectively these three themes outline the ways in which
hegemonic masculinity is weaved throughout the social fabric of esports organizations.
Online competitive video game environments are hypermasculine spaces (Cote, 2017; Fox and
Tang, 2014; Fox and Tang, 2017; Vorhees & Orlando, 2018). Masculine norms refer to the
beliefs and resulting expectations of how men are expected to act, feel, and think (Fox & Tang
2014). Often, masculine norms mirror traditional assumptions of male dominance, competition,
demonstration of strength, controlling one’s emotions, and preserving self-reliance. In spaces
where men are numerically over-represented, and masculine behaviors are rewarded, women are
often subjected to gender policing (Cote, 2017; Fox and Tang, 2017; Gray, 2020). That is, when
women act in masculine ways they are corrected by men for not adhering to gender norms. Since
the social architecture of competitive games often rewards masculine behaviors, these spaces
tend to reflect exaggerated versions of masculinity.
Color-evasiveness
Color-evasiveness originally stems from Bonilla-Silva’s (2006) concept of color-
blindness
1
Color-evasiveness is a prevailing perception that race does not matter, is immaterial,
and the act of recognizing race itself is problematic (Annamma et al., 2015; Bimper, 2015;

1
I use the term color-evasiveness interchangeably with color-blindness to move away from implicitly ableist terms
which effectively function as a metaphor for weakness or limitations (Annamma et al., 2015)

37

Bonilla-Silva, 2006). This idea can be further broken down into four interpretive lenses, or
frames that may be employed: minimization of racism, cultural racism; naturalization, and
abstract liberalism. The minimization of racism is the assertion that discrimination is not central
to an individual’s potential for success in life. Cultural racism argues that race is secondary to
cultural norms and values. Naturalization refers to the belief that certain essentialized qualities
are inherent to specific racial groups. Finally, abstract liberalism is similar to meritocratic ideas
which adhere to individualism, equal opportunity, and personal choice. Collectively, color-
evasiveness represents a cadre of innocuous beliefs that dismiss long histories of racial power
asymmetries.
In order to understand the racialized experiences of Black intercollege esports players on
varsity teams, I propose a conceptual framework that recognizes esports teams as passion affinity
spaces and assumes racialization is manifesting in unconscious ways. As noted in above,
dominant ideologies around meritocracy, hegemonic masculinity, and color-evasiveness have
been demonstrated across various studies of college esports. Therefore, I argue racism’s endemic
nature serves as the bedrock from which these dominant ideologies uphold latent racialization
within passion affinity spaces.
Alone PAS describes an amorphous learning community that attracts people based on
their love for, in this case, an esport (i.e., a video game). Within this PAS, players are part of a
larger network or team whose shared interest revolves around developing their mastery within a
particular game in order to win. However, this space is framed such that identities of race, class,
gender, ability, sexuality, etc. are minimized to the point of insignificance. This benevolent
conceptualization is incomplete because it fails to recognize the conscious and unconscious ways
racialization materializes. As a result of this, I apply tenets from CRT which recognizes the

38

endemic nature of race as a way to analyze overt and covert forms of subjugation and
racialization guised under the ideological veils of meritocracy, hegemonic masculinity, and
color-evasiveness.
Esports PAS are supported by three dominant ideologies depicted as columns. Below
these three columns are a central ideology guiding CRT- race, racism, and subordination are
endemic to US society. One limitation of the building-like depiction is the way each column
appears to function independently of the other columns. It is likely that students report
experiences that fall under a combination of these three ideologies. The advantage of the
structural representation is the verticality. Similar to a house, the least visible feature is the
foundation. The foundation supports the entire building regardless of its visibility. Foundations
are deeply rooted in the soil. Columns on the other hand are constructed with a purpose. They
function to create structural integrity of the home allowing for walls and a roof to complete the
enclosure. These support beams are justified in their existence. For example, meritocracy is a
criterion that ignores an individual’s background and instead focuses on their performance at a
try-out. Each ideology functions to support the roof, or in this case, collegiate esports. The roof is
arguably one of the most visible components and sits atop a complicated set of schematics
designed to create a protective cover.
Extant literature on racially minoritized college esports players fails to identify the ways
race and racialization impact Black students’ experiences. Current studies that focus on player
identity tend to spotlight gender ignore or minimize race. To better understand how Black
players are racialized in college esports, I propose a framework that situates esports as PAS
which is upheld by two dominant ideologies, race-evasiveness and meritocracy. This framework
assumes that the aforementioned dominant ideologies play a role in students’ racialization. Next,

39

I outline a research design that applies the conceptual framework to produce a set of researchable
questions.

40

Chapter Three: Research Methods
This research seeks to understand the experiences of Black esports players with a focus
on their racialization. In the chapters above, I highlighted the significance of examining the
racialized experiences of Black esports players. I suggested a conceptual framework based on
passion affinity spaces and critical race theory to embark on this intellectual investigation.
Therefore, this chapter describes the methods used to explore and examine the experiences of
Black esports players. The first section introduces qualitative inquiry to explain why qualitative
methods are employed in this dissertation study. Then, I discuss the rationale behind my
methodological approach and subsequent methods. Following the methodology, I outline data
collection, including participants, recruitment, and sample selection. Finally, I conclude the
chapter by detailing how I maintained trustworthiness.
Qualitative Inquiry
To gain insights into the experiences of Black esports players, I conducted a qualitative
analysis. Qualitative inquiry “is a means for exploring and understanding the meaning
individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem, (Creswell, 2009, p. 4). Maxwell
(2012) identifies several intellectual goals that are appropriate for qualitative design. The first is
to understand participants’ meanings of experiences, events, and situations in which they are
involved. For this study, I sought to understand the meaning of Black player experiences on
esports teams with a particular focus on encounters with and instances of racialization.
Considering the insidious nature of racialization, I employed a race-centric framework to identify
racialization in instances where participants may not have the language to pinpoint these
phenomena. Intellectually, I am interested in how students make sense of the tension between
their passion for esports and their numerical underrepresentation (Fletcher, 2020; Midgame,

41

2019). Finally, the researcher’s relationship to the research questions and participants is
imperative to qualitative inquiry, as this informs how the researcher interprets the data
(Cresswell, 2009). My experiential knowledge is valuable and something to be leveraged rather
than eliminated (Maxwell, 2012). Thus, to reduce personal bias, I engaged in reflexivity and use
participant quotations to support the findings. After recruiting eligible participants, I conducted
one-on-one interviews across three separate sessions. Correspondence with each student
occurred via direct messaging using Twitter, Discord, and phone texting.
In summary, this study seeks to address the following questions:
1. What are the racialized experiences of Black and esports players?
1a. Given their numerical underrepresentation, what compels Black collegians to
participate in esports?
Research Design
To answer my research questions, a phenomenological methodology informed by
narrative inquiry. Phenomenological research is a qualitative approach in which, “the researcher
identifies the essence of human experiences about a phenomenon as described by participants in
a study,” (Creswell, 2009, p. 231). The core function of phenomenological research is to obtain
exhaustive descriptions of participants’ experiences of a given phenomenon (Moustakas, 1994).
More importantly this approach, “seeks to disclose and elucidate the phenomena of behavior as
they manifest themselves in their perceived immediacy” (van Kaam, 1966, p.15). Another
critical component of the phenomenological approach is recruiting and engaging participants
who have experienced the phenomenon of inquiry (Moustakas, 1994). The goal is to avoid
“common sense descriptions” based on a person’s non-lived experience (Polkinghorne, 1989).
Instead, this method seeks to tap into participants’ consciousness where meaning-making and

42

experience coalesce (Polkinghorne, 1989; Moustakas, 1994). Then, based on each participant’s
responses, it is my duty as the researcher to interpret the underlying structures of their
experiences. It should be noted also that researchers should attempt to avoid assumptions or
hypotheses before collecting data (Dobrovolny & Fuentes, 2008). This point may seem counter
to the arguments forged in the literature review and conceptual framework above. However, my
questions were framed using neutral language asking participants to reflect on and describe
various moments throughout their esports careers.
A phenomenological approach is appropriate for my set of research questions because it
allows participants to elucidate the phenomena of racialization and shed light on the ways they
perceive esports programs to be inclusive or not. Rich descriptions of individual stories and
reflections based on lived experiences will speak directly to each of the research questions
above. Similar to participants in Lee’s (2018) study, I do not expect participants to have the
language to pinpoint or name racialization, hegemonic masculinity, meritocracy,
microaggressions or any other academic parlance. Instead, it is my duty to interpret the
underlying structures in their portrayals during the data analysis stage.
Narrative inquiry is a way of understanding the world by recognizing the importance of
stories in shaping our lives (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000; Connelly & Clandinin 1990).
Contextualizing participants’ lives is a critical component of this methodology Creswell & Poth,
2018; Mishler, 1979). Narrative inquiry is a powerful tool for understanding the experiences of
individuals and the ways in which they make sense of their lives. The interactive nature between
researcher and participant within narrative inquiry interviews relies on stories as data and
analysis (Clandin, 2006). By asking participants about their perceptions and interpretations of
their lives leading up to and throughout their esports journey they contextualized and highlighted

43

objects that are critical in the study of social science: human relationships, interactions,
dispositions, and culture (Clandin, 2006). Together these objects create context, embedding
myself and readers in the participants' world. Another crucial component to narrative inquiry is
the relationship between researcher and participant (Creswell, 2013; Reisman, 2008). It is the
researcher’s duty to make sense of the participants’ story and reflect back meaning in an effort to
understand their experiences. Finally, this research design relies on Seidman’s (2006) three-
interview series approach: interview one focuses on life history; interview two details the
experience of their history; and the final interview allows students to reflect on the meaning of
their experiences. I drew upon narrative inquiry to develop interview questions across all three
interviews.
Participants
Participant recruitment is a vital step in phenomenological study designs. For this study, I
will use criterion sampling (Patton, 2002). The criterion of participants will be limited to those
who: (1) are current undergraduates (or recent alumni); (2) attend a 4-year US college or
university; (3) are active or former esports player; and (4) identify as Black. I specify US
universities since esports programs are a global phenomenon and some US colleges compete
against teams based in Canada (CCEL, 2021). As long as a student had played in one esports
season they were eligible. The rationale behind a threshold of minimum seasons played is some
students may be able to provide a unique perspective as to why they left voluntarily, or possibly
pushed out, of their programs. Recent alumni mean no more than one semester removed from
enrollment at the time of the study.
Sampling & Recruitment

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Purposive sampling relies on an intentional selection of settings, people, or activities
relevant to the research questions and goals (Maxwell, 2012). Because the literature indicates an
increasingly large number of national collegiate esports programs, there were likely to be more
Black players competing than were reported in the Midgame (2019) survey. However, I also
employed snowball sampling to ensure I was able to recruit a sufficient number of participants
(Cokely & Awad, 2013). Participant recruitment occurred online via video game forums and
popular social media websites such as Reddit, Twitter, and Discord. These sites represented
online social media hubs for the player base and provided the most accessible avenue to solicit as
many people as possible.
Recruitment methods included a variety of strategies. I created online and printed flyers
with a description of the study, participant eligibility requirements, a QR code linking to a
Qualtrics participant profile form, and the $25 gift card for participating. The participant profile
form included general questions about their desired pseudonym, major, year, esport, and a
chance to suggest any other students that may be eligible from their network to participate. To
preserve anonymity, their address was not linked to their responses. I also reached out to official
esports teams and campus esports gaming clubs and asked for each group to post, print, and
share recruitment flyers in their training facilities and on their respective websites and Discord
servers. Ultimately, I completed the three-interview series with a total of three participants,
Joseph, Jean, and Avery.
Data Collection
To collect my data, I employed a three-interview semi-structured interview protocol
engaging participants in a series of questions about their racial identity while participating on
their esports team. A semi-structured protocol was appropriate because it allowed me to ask

45

theoretically oriented and follow-up questions (Galletta, 2013). These types questions allow
participants to provide insights into the phenomenon of participating in collegiate esports as a
Black person. Because participants attended various colleges and universities across the nation
and represented a variety of esports, interview questions were flexible and relevant to their
specific context. Moreover, interview questions will be one of three types of questions: open-
ended, theory-driven, or probing (Rubin & Babie, 2011; Spradley, 1979). An example of an
open-ended question is: “What was your family/caretaker’s perspective on playing video games
growing up compared to now?” A theory-driven question is: “How does your racial identity
come into play while playing for your team?” Finally, a probing question is geared to understand
their points more deeply or with more detail.
After completing recruitment, I conducted one-on-one interviews. Each individual
interview lasted between 60-90 minutes. The initial interview protocol was constructed based on
several iterations of field testing before its use in this study (Kallio et al., 2016). All three
interviews took place online, using the online video conferencing software Zoom. Zoom is
preferred over phone interviews because it allows the interviewer to replicate the synchronous
audio and visual interaction of in-person interviews (Hannah, 2012). More importantly, Zoom
allowed me to recruit participants from across the country and automatically record audio from
each session. To ensure confidentiality when reporting findings, each participant provided a
pseudonym. Lastly, after every session I wrote a detailed memo noting any themes, expanding
on concepts, and lingering thoughts from the exchange. Memos are especially useful in ensuring
validity, for the time between data collection and analysis can affect how researchers make sense
of the raw data (Creswell, 2009; Straus & Corbin, 2008).
Data Analysis

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Data analysis followed steps outlined by Creswell (2009). First, to organize and prepare
data, I used a professional, third-party service to transcribe each session. Second, after
transcriptions were complete, I familiarized myself with the data and double-checked
transcription accuracy by reading and re-listening to the interviews. During this process, I
obtained a “general sense”, or better understanding of the students’ experiences. I paid special
attention to tone and content while also notating any emerging themes in each memo. Then, I
initialized the process of coding.
Coding is, “the process of organizing material into chunks or segments of the text before
bringing meaning to information,” (p. 186). To specify, I engaged in “open-coding” which is
described by Strauss and Corbin (2008) as breaking data into manageable segments, interpreting
the data, and then identifying emergent concepts or themes. Straus and Corbin encourage
researchers to abstract and refrain from defaulting to labels provided by participants. Rather, it
was my duty to identify one or two words that captured the essence of the underlying structures
described by participants. Some codes aligned with my conceptual framework, while others did
not. All memos, transcriptions, and coding schemes were analyzed using the qualitative data
analysis software, Nvivo.
Trustworthiness
Trustworthiness refers to the credibility and dependability of the research findings in a
qualitative investigation. Credibility refers to the extent to which the research findings accurately
represent the participants' experiences and perspectives. Establishing credibility involves
building trust with participants, collecting rich and detailed data, and engaging in reflexivity to
consider the researcher's biases and assumptions that may influence the research process (Guba,
1981). Dependability refers to the consistency and stability of the research findings over time.

47

This aspect of trustworthiness addresses the reproducibility of the research process, ensuring that
the study's procedures are well-documented, transparent, and can be followed by other
researchers to achieve similar results (Guba, 1981). Trustworthiness is a crucial to ensure that the
data collection, analysis, and interpretation are conducted rigorously and systematically,
resulting in findings that accurately represent the participants' experiences, perspectives, and the
phenomenon under investigation (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Thus, I made an intentional effort to
ensure trustworthiness by maintaining participant confidentiality, member checking, and
triangulating. Triangulation refers to the collection of data using multiple sources and is
considered a viable strategy to validate results (Creswell, 2009). By conducting three series of
interviews, I was able to triangulate participant responses for accuracy. To ensure participants
are represented fairly and accurately I allowed each participant to review the portions of the final
manuscript in which they are referenced (Guba & Lincoln, 1989; Cresswell, 2007). Finally, I
preserved participant confidentiality assigning a pseudonym prior to our initial one-on-one
interview.
Positionality
Crotty (2020) refers to paradigms as a philosophical stance that grounds one’s logic and
offers context for ensuing methodologies. Paradigms establish fundamental assumptions that
guide one’s research. Principally, this study is undergirded by the assumption that the
researcher’s subjectivity cannot be distilled to objective findings. As a result, I do not align with
positivist thinking, instead of identifying more closely with the classification of critical inquiry
and elements of Karl Marx’s philosophy as described by Crotty (2020).
Similar to Marx, I am concerned primarily with material reality. His bottom-up approach
grounds lived experiences as driving forces informing high-level theories. This idea resonates

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with my inner pragmatist which prioritizes material results over theoretical debates. I prefer
theory tied to actionable implications for material outcomes and solutions. Without it, theory
merely serves as currency for academics to profit from and build their careers. This is not to say
a theory is not necessary or valuable. Instead, I believe the theory is fundamentally linked to
lived experience and should serve to impact said realities.
As a Black and Mexican male, and avid consumer and player of video games and esports,
I am reflected in my population of interest. Although I did not play college esports, I see the
potential benefits for this emerging field and care deeply about applying a critical lens to a fairly
uncritical body of literature. I leverage my domain expertise as an avid video game player, to
speak my participants language and identify online social hubs such as Discord. My insider
knowledge will be useful in establishing trustworthiness. On the contrary, this perceived
expertise may render me overly confident. With technology, and the esports space in particular,
evolving so quickly there were times during the semi-structured interview where my assumptions
about a particular game or community were outdated. Reflecting on each participant’s reaction to
my questions allowed me to be cognizant of my positionality’s influence on the study.
Conclusion
Ultimately this dissertation proposal seeks to shed light on the growing field of college
esports. Still in early phases of development college esports, programs have an opportunity to
develop and implement policies that ensure equitable treatment and opportunity for all players
responsive to their racial or gender identity. As I have demonstrated throughout the previous two
chapters, extant literature on esports has established the necessity for gender equity. Through my
study, I hope to complicate this discussion by also accounting for race. With colleges and
universities adapting to an increasingly digital society, they must account for the out-of-class

49

racialized experiences their students may be encountering. The nexus between online multiplayer
video games and college esports serves as an integral site for further investigation.

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Chapter Four: Findings
The following chapter reveals findings from interviews with three Black undergraduates
participating in their college’s esports program. Insights and reflections gleaned from each set of
interviews with Joseph, Jean, and Avery are compiled in the sections below. Each participant
described how their individual traits and external factors shaped their collegiate esports
experiences. Each participant speaks to the ways in which their Black identity is salient
throughout their esports journey, recounting instances of racialization. Individually, each student
outlines their journey from playing video games for fun as a child to competing in tournaments
for their college’s esports program. Together, they each demonstrate the inextricable relationship
between race and campus cultures. Their engagement in esports provided a space to connect with
the campus community through the vehicle of competitive video games. In alignment with the
literature, their esports engagement also confronted them with unique challenges and obstacles
provoked by their Black identity within their particular campus culture. This chapter is organized
around data gathered from each participant’s narrative oriented interviews. Based on our
interviews, each participant’s story is denoted by a theme: Joseph is characterized by
community, Jean by competition, and Avery by passion. While themes and participants showed
considerable overlap, and each story was assigned the theme it represented the strongest.
Community: Joseph
At the time of our interview, Joseph was in his third year of study at Oakwood College, a
Historically Black College in the U.S. South. Joseph was introduced to me by his college’s
alumni and fellow esports community member. Each time we met on Zoom, Joseph was propped
in a chair located in what looked to be his bedroom, equipped with a Nike floppy cap and
HyperX headset. Although the videoconferencing software intentionally blurred the space behind

51

him, the camera, unable to distinguish silhouette from the background, would sometimes reveal
blank walls and a disheveled bed behind him. Joseph’s story as a founding member of his
college’s emerging esports program revolves around a deep sense of pride, passion, and
patience.
Embracing Authenticity
Being the only student in this study attending a HBCU, I asked Joseph about his
experience attending a predominantly Black college. He described it as “comforting” and
“different.” Despite being born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, a city with approximately 75%
Black population, Joseph’s middle- and high school did not represent this demographic. He
reflected on how his K-12 experience differed from college:
I was the minority in all of my schools. So [attending an HBCU] was definitely different-
seeing more faces like mine. I literally was in middle school [and] there were 3 black kids
in the entire middle school of like a few thousand students. So, I know what it's like to be
the real minority.
This minoritization did not seem to bother Joseph on the surface as he voiced more concerns
about moving away from home. Transitioning from a predominantly white high school to an
HBCU, “where I don't see nothing but my people [was] definitely different...it was a lot more
comforting...like a lot less code-switching, you know a lot more me being me and having people
who can relate to me.” Seeking a safe and comforting community where he can exist
authentically is a persistent theme woven throughout Joseph's collegiate esports journey.
Before college, Joseph considered himself a casual player who used video games as an
“outlet” to “blow off steam and relax.” This was in part shaped by his parents, who, early in his
life, restricted play to certain times of the day and used it as leverage. With a sense of mature

52

understanding, he recounts an incident in middle school when he forgot a homework assignment
and immediately knew, “okay, now my PlayStation 3 is taken away.” Even though he was
allowed to play under certain restrictions, his parents considered playing video games as
“goofing off,” a “distraction,” and would patronize him with questions like, “why are you always
on the game?” As he prepared to move into campus housing, his parents even questioned, “You
sure you wanna take your PlayStation with you on campus?” to which he said, “Yeah, I know
what I’m doing.” They simply did not see the value of investing much time into a game. That is
until he competed in his first esports tournament and earned $500 for taking first place. Finally,
their perspective shifted. They may not understand video games, but they certainly understand
money. Joseph recalled his parents' reaction to learning about his winnings, “their eyes blew up.
They’re like, ‘What?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah just playing video games.’” Underlined by a
misunderstanding of esports, the disconnect between Joseph and his elders appears again
throughout his attempts to establish legitimacy from his college’s leadership.
The GroupMe Era: Unofficially Recognized
In the months leading up to Joseph's first official introduction into collegiate esports, the
Coronavirus outbreak of 2020 forced him back home in the Spring of his first year. For many
students, the abrupt separation from friends and peers made cultivating and sustaining a
community arduous. However, for online natives like Joseph, the time at home created more
opportunities to connect and play with peers. Shortly after going home, he was added to a group
messaging application called GroupMe. In our third interview, I asked him to tell me more about
the “GroupMe era,” referring to the initial app where club members communicated before the
club was formally established. He let out a chuckle and emphatic “Man... The GroupMe was
super casual, like it was probably 40, 50 of us just in a GroupMe.” All members were part of the

53

same dormitory and used the app to keep in touch even as they were separated at home. Within
that group, several students would send invitations to anyone interested in playing Call of Duty.
Joseph explained his initial entry into the club, “I kind of got my footing and the club by, like,
you know, always being on. I was the first one to go, ‘I can play.’” His eagerness and willingness
to participate in group activities would prove to be a pattern.
During his first year at Oakwood, while living in his home state, Michigan, Joseph did
not intend to create an esports club. Instead, he was simply driven by his desire to play video
games with his peers. Joseph describes the early stages of the club’s foundation as a small group
of students with a shared passion for video games, “...this is just five dudes who happen to be in
the same group chat, [we were] just trying to play. Like no other intentions but to play together
and stuff like that.” At the core, the foundation of what would eventually become the esports
club was an intrinsic desire for community. “Before esports,” Joseph admits, “it was just us
wanting, like communion, people to play games together.” United by a shared interest in video
games, Joseph and his friends were, unknowingly, developing a passion affinity space. As the
stay-at-home orders persisted, these students used online video games to cultivate their own
community:
“we were all just you know in the house, didn’t have anything to do...That’s when I
started playing casually with some friends, you know, we’re all in our dorm lobby
playing Call of Duty competing with each other and then came an opportunity to play as
a team in a HBCU event.”
The tournament was hosted by Cxmmunity, one of several third-party organizations that
host esports tournaments, events, and professional development for HBCU students. This
particular event was one of Cxmmunity’s first and marked the early stage of momentum building

54

for an increasing appetite for esports programs across HBCUs. Joseph and his teammates
registered and competed in the Call of Duty (CoD) tournament. By the end, his team won first
place. Reeling from the victory and sensing a general budding interest in esports, Joseph and his
teammates wanted to continue playing in organized events, “So, after that tournament, we were
like, this is really cool. We want to keep doing this. Do we have a club or anything like this? It
turns out we did not have a club.” The tournament highlighted a new wave opportunity
catalyzing the future esports club.
Joseph continued to immerse himself in the college esports scene by participating in more
collegiate tournaments outside the “HBCU bubble.” Interestingly, he considered his first “real
introduction into collegiate esports” to be when he participated in the Collegiate Call of Duty
League. Similar to the previous tournament, this was also hosted by a third-party organization.
However, the host Activision is also the publisher of CoD, attracting amateur, collegiate players
interested in playing CoD professionally across the nation. By stepping outside of the HBCU
network, Joseph was exposed to esports programs at PWI’s and noted the differences: “I was like
okay, they have a full on esports program, they have a lab, coaches, advisors, they have buses
that take them across the country to play and stuff. I kinda want that.” Inspired by the
possibilities he determined it was time to bring esports to his campus, “I’m like okay since this
doesn’t exist, why don’t we just make it.”
Building an esports club allowed Joseph to cultivate a community of fellow game
enthusiasts and generate opportunities for people to earn money while doing something they
love. Continued tournament participation showed Joseph “how big esports was” and motivated
him to meet the growing student demand “...because we saw an opportunity that nobody else at
our school saw.” Even as the students remained at home and classes online, Joseph and his

55

teammates created a team name, logo, and corresponding social media accounts (e.g., Twitter,
Instagram, and Discord). As Joseph and his co-founder began developing the club infrastructure,
they soon learned about a group of upperclassmen who attempted to form an esports club but
graduated before its completion. “We kind of were handed the club by our predecessor(s)...”
Joseph recalled, “they laid the groundwork down because they were trying to do something big,
too. They did all the initial planning, and then we built upon that.” Part of that initial planning
was the creation of a Discord server which establishes an online hub for current members and
interested students to congregate and communicate. Thus, Joseph and his team took over the
Discord server and used this as their digital headquarters, effectively ending the GroupMe era.
The Discord Era: Official Club Recognition
Discord is a popular social media application that allows users to make private servers
where members can talk over voice, video, and text. The application is popular within gaming
circles because users can curate and join communities that revolve around the games they play.
Discord is commonly the primary mode of communication for esports programs. Throughout our
conversation, Joseph references two different Discord servers. The first is “the actual official
Cxmmunity Discord where all the schools are.'' Since Cxmmunity serves all HBCU esports
programs, members in their server include staff, faculty, and students representing their
constituent universities.
In contrast, the second Discord server is “the hangout spot. Like away from all the
officials and whatnot.” Here students have to worry less about Oakwood College or Cxmmunity
staff monitoring and moderating their conversations. In other words, students can speak without
fear of punishment from their universities and respective teams. Primarily it is used to organize
scrims between various programs, “we often play with Morgan State, JCSU, Howard, Hampton,

56

and Oakwood. Like playing with them a lot. We just do random teams, run around the map, and
stuff.” Discord servers can be configured such that each institution has a private chat room
within the larger server. In totality, the move from GroupMe to Discord symbolizes the club's
evolution from casual to official. More importantly, Discord servers are digital hubs where
students can seamlessly remain in community with each other online and in person.
During the initial stage of club formation, Joseph found himself suddenly thrust into a
leadership role. Reflecting on how the transition happened, he candidly replied, “I was really
thrown into it actually because by nature I prefer to be like a second in command type of person,
supporting role.” However, Joseph would not allow his leadership preferences to slow down the
execution of necessary club tasks. Time and time again, Joseph would volunteer to help with
various tasks such as “doing social media, making flyers, making events, talking with people,
trying to get stuff for the club, doing literally everything...” Over time his position morphed into
more leadership roles, and he eventually earned the role of co-president of the club. Together
these reflections indicate how important the club was to Joseph. His commitment to building an
esports community was paramount to his own needs, even if that meant his grades would suffer.
Time Commitment
Throughout each stage of the club’s development Joseph and the executive board were
actively recruiting, organizing events, and competing in tournaments. He estimates that during
the first year and a half, while the club was still working towards official recognition by
Oakwood, he spent an average of 20 hours per week working on club-related matters- the
amount of time equivalent to a part-time job. Surprised at the number, I asked him what
consumed so much of his time to which he replied:

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So, we do a lot, one of our biggest focuses is social media and keeping that intact. So,
we’re trying to post every day, trying to keep in the know, for one, things in the esports
scene. So doing research on what tournaments in our area, what’s going on. Trying to
leverage more sponsors because there’s still a cost for building out the lab. We could
always use more equipment and talking to our actual team members.
Like we’re pretty chill now, like probably less than five hours a week now. But,
initially, right before this semester, it was a lot of logo making, making graphics for this,
graphics for that. I even made the introduction. We have a hype video for our COD team
on our Instagram. I did the graphics for all of that. So, we try to touch bases everywhere
as much as we can.
In his second year, when the club was at its smallest, the work was too much, and his grades
suffered. Joseph admits his grades were “terrible.” Thankfully as the club’s application for
official recognition was undergoing review by the college, the work came to a halt. This gave
Joseph time to take a break from the club and focus on his schoolwork. Since then, his grades
have improved, and he feels much more in control over balancing academics and esports.
In the Spring semester of his second year, Oakwood officially recognized the esports
club. With the club officially recognized, they could now reserve space on campus, apply for
funding, and recruit students more formally using college resources. In response to why he
invested so much into the club’s growth and overall success, Joseph declared,
It’s my legacy, 100 percent. I put blood, sweat, tears, [and] majority of my time into this
club. Aside from getting my degree, it is my number one priority. Mostly because I feel
that as somebody that can do, I should do. So, there’s nobody else at [Oakwood], aside
from the co-president, who can do this for our students. And kinda create this new path,

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new career, or a new avenue of people at [Oakwood]. And because I’m able to do that, I
feel like I should. So, our goal from the start has been to create community and
opportunity for the students at [Oakwood] in gaming and esports. Which is even more
than just competing. We need people from video, video producers, animators. Anything
surrounding the business of it, that’s stuff that we’re trying to make an ecosystem for. So,
I’m really just trying to make a new path for those who come after me.
And in terms of leaving behind a legacy, we will have a plaque with our name on
it, I will make sure of that. All the how do you say, kinda famous, Morehouse graduates
have a plaque with like their year and their achievements and stuff. We want one of
those. And we’re going to hang up a jersey. We’re going to sign a jersey with all the
founding members and then we’re going to encase it and put it up in the lab.
In other words, Oakwood College esports was more significant than the game. Joseph saw an
opportunity to create an organization that would last long after he graduated and seized the
moment. Outside of winning tournaments, part of Joseph’s legacy is establishing a fleshed-out
infrastructure that allows current and future Oakwood students to pursue their passion within the
esports ecosystem. As he mentions, the esports ecosystem extends beyond players to include
marketing, video production, coaching, and shoutcasting.
A Flourishing Infrastructure
The invested time, energy, and stress were worthwhile for Joseph because of his deep
conviction in esports' capacity to create satisfying and long-lasting experiences for him and his
peers. Part of Joseph's belief in the power of esports is informed by the many benefits he has
experienced, which include mentoring younger students, competing in tournaments, and
leveraging professional contacts.

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As the seasoned esports veteran in his final year, Joseph takes pride in mentoring younger
club members. Part of the team’s participation in HBCU tournaments includes competing for
cash prizes and sometimes having their matches live streamed online. With several tournaments
under his belt, Joseph gets satisfaction from exposing less experienced players to his world. He
confidently responds to what the most rewarding aspect of starting the club has been:
Showing the students at [Oakwood] the world that we live in. Because this stuff is simple
to me. Like, this is my bread and butter. You know, winning money from playing games,
getting notoriety for it, like I’m used to that, but they aren’t. So, being able to show these
underclassmen that’s on the team like yo, we’re big-time bro. You get to be on TV. You
get to win money. This is basically free money. And to see their excitement, that’s
probably my biggest takeaway.
Joseph then goes on to provide an example of a recent interaction between him and a first-year
student who is new to the collegiate esports space:
I was fielding a team early this semester trying to get people on for the Call of Duty
tournament. And then you tell them how much money it is, but they don’t really realize it
until they’re actually playing. So, we finish group play, we beat two teams relatively easy
and that’s $4500 that we get to split amongst ourselves. And then when I showed them,
I’m like, hey we’re on stream in front of a couple thousand people on Twitch and we just
won $4500 for free. And he’s in the chat going crazy like “yo, what? It’s that free?
We’ve gotta win it all then. We’ve got to go to finals.” He’s blowing up the group chat.
I’m like yeah bro, this is what we do. It was so good. It feels good.
Along with introducing new students to the possibilities of esports, Joseph derives a great
sense of motivation from the competition. Multiple times throughout our interviews, he

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confidently asserted that his skill is far above the across the league. Competition fuels him, and
his desire to execute in a tournament setting drives his investment in the Oakwood esports club. I
asked him what about esports is satisfying, and he excitedly asserted the following with two
accompanying examples:
Definitely the competition. That adrenaline rush, you win, you do something crazy in
front of a crowd. I would definitely do it over and over again. It’s addicting to win. It’s
addicting to see your own improvement and to be able to share that with other people.
I’ll say for one when we won one of the HBCU tournaments- this was probably
the first one. We were all screaming and yelling after that last kill... [Then] the game
chat’s was filled with a whole bunch of [my teammates] yelling like, “Oh my God!.
There is no way!” Like, “come on now, we just won this!” I think I still got clips of that.
Just a whole bunch of us yelling and it was really nice, especially when you finally got to
see each other in person after events and stuff.
It was huge. I’d say that was [one example], the COD tourney. and then when I
played solo for a Fortnite tourney. This was like last year. It was a little HBCU thing with
some pros sprinkled in it just for content and I ended up getting fourth at that, winning
money. I was streaming during the time, so I almost ended stream on accident from
throwing stuff around, like, oh my God it’s like super adrenaline rush, whole bunch of
endorphins running through. Very, very fun.
During our interviews, Joseph was eyeing graduation and had one big project left to
complete: building an esports lab. All of the interactions and stories described to this point
occurred without a designated space on campus. Club meetings and team practices all occur
online. They had to reserve a room on campus if they wanted to meet in person. To address this

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issue, Joesph and the other club leaders made a concerted effort to advocate for physical space
on campus. To best create the infrastructure, Joseph is most excited about building an esports lab
on his campus.
Shortly after winning a Cxmmunity HBCU esports tournament in his first year, Joseph
was added to the Cxmmunity Discord server. In the server, an advisor to another HBCU esports
program solicited participants for an upcoming HBCU tech conference. Joseph applied and was
selected to host. Part of his hosting duties included interviewing a general manager at a
prominent tech company heavily involved in professional and collegiate esports. Following the
interview, Joseph and the manager connected offline. Over the next two years, the two remained
in contact, and Joseph eventually leveraged that connection to secure equipment donations from
the company. In the end, the company donated ten PCs, peripherals, and monitors to his club’s
esports lab, which at the time of our final interview, was nearing the final stages of completion.
With the addition of the lab, students will now have a physical space to connect with each other
beyond the digital walls of Discord or their respective online games. Joseph reflected on the
importance of an esports lab:
One for growth. It's hard to maintain student interest when we aren't doing much as a
club. And in order to have student interests which you know benefits us and the school,
we have to have some central location- somewhere we can meet, somewhere where we
can have operations or something to do. Not everyone has their own console, PC, and
stuff like that. So having a lab on campus will give people incentive to stay on campus.
So, helping the school and helping us. Then it gives them something to do. [If] you don't
got a console, you left it at home, or your parents made you leave it at home, you in a
dorm stuck with no game, [then] you're gonna want to come out to the gaming lab, you

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know to play a game or something. So that really helps with getting our members active
and involved.
Intergenerational Disconnect
As much as Joseph lauded his overall esports experience club, he chided some of
Oakwood’s lack of institutional support. By the third interview, I sensed a sort of unresolved
tension or frustration whenever he spoke about his college. I reflected this sentiment to him, and
he acknowledged that establishing the esports club has been a “positive experience in some
ways,” but because he loves Oakwood College so much, he holds them to higher standards. As a
result, he is often frustrated by the institution's lack of financial and administrative support. For
example, he claims that the college did not buy into its vision until it began to earn sponsors and
additional outside financial support. Joseph points out that he had to solicit third-party donations
to supply their esports lab with the appropriate equipment. He describes the turning point in the
relationship between Oakwood and the esports club:
What it took for our school to recognize us as a club was money. We brought in sponsors
from Intel gaming and all the scholarship money. We have over 10k in earnings and
that’s what got them to recognize us. Without that, we probably would’ve been swept
under the rug and wouldn’t have anyone supporting us.
Joseph attributes the lack of support to a generational disconnect. He believes the older
generation of staff, faculty, and even parents are quick to dismiss students’ passion for video
games as a waste of time. In general, he asserts that video games are “looked down upon by our
elders.” He says, “We don’t really have [support] because of Black culture. You know, a lot of
the older generation can be pretty stubborn in what they know, what they think. It’s kinda hard to
find open-minded older people in our community.” This belief is supported by his interactions

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with club members’ parents. He illustrates a moment where he spoke with another player’s
parents who were concerned about their children playing video games when they should be
focused on school:
Because they didn’t like them on the game. Mostly freshman. Some of them are still
living their parents' lives so it’s like 11, 12a.m. and they’re on the game. Their parents are
like, “Why are you on the game? Don’t you got class in the morning or something?” And
I have to kind of talk to them like, “Hey, I understand, it’s your final decision but this is a
career path for him. He’s really good at this. He’s making money doing this. Scholarship
money. Can you please let him play?” Stuff like that. And my parents, up until the
[Oakwood esports] club, I’d get some backhanded remarks like, “You still playing the
game all the time?”
Blackness
Unsurprisingly, Joseph's racialized experience is minimal. Attending an HBCU shields
him from racial isolation yet does not protect him from feeling like his identity as a gamer is
marginalized. Overall, the entire esports club is composed of approximately 200 students, and
they are all male. Of those, there are approximately four students who are not Black. I asked
Joseph how his teammates discuss race, and he said:
Stuff like that hardly ever comes up, I’m not gonna lie. The only things similar to race
that’ll come up occasionally is us competing outside of this and me trying to encourage
them like, “Hey, we still got this, we’re still good. It doesn’t matter who we go up against.
Y’all, we got this. It doesn’t matter that they go to a PWI, doesn’t matter if they have more
funding. We can still compete.”

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Overall, Joseph’s racial identity was most salient when juxtaposed with students from PWIs. He
noticed that when Oakwood would compete against PWI teams, the communication and
camaraderie appeared to be more open and genuine within his club than theirs. For Joseph, the
team dynamics are starkly different:
I’d say that we show a level of camaraderie that even when we go compete against PWI’s
it’s like, okay, it’s kind of obvious that we’re closer together than you guys are. A lot of
people on their teams are on teams because of pure ability, but we actually have
chemistry with each other. Like we’re able to talk freely, say what we want, give each
other feedback, actually be our brothers.
In conclusion, Joseph's experience as a black college esports player at a HBCU sheds
light on the profound impact of racialization in the gaming community and educational
institutions. His journey reveals the significance of attending an HBCU, where he found a sense
of belonging and authenticity, surrounded by peers who shared similar racial backgrounds
Moreover, the misunderstandings and skepticism he faced from his parents and college
leadership regarding esports illustrate the broader societal challenges in recognizing the
legitimacy and value of competitive gaming. As we continue to explore the racialization of Black
college esports players, Joseph's story calls for greater inclusivity, understanding, and
recognition of the diverse experiences and contributions of these players in the evolving
landscape of both academia and competitive gaming.

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Competition: Jean
Jean’s story unveils the value of passion affinity spaces which account for racial
minoritization. Competing at the highest level of collegiate Overwatch, Jean was confronted
several times by the challenging nature of merely existing as Black student at a PWI, and also
engaging within an misunderstood campus community. Jean spent a significant portion of our
interviews discussing the complicated relationship with his family and their perspective on video
games. Yet, familial disapproval combined with explicit racism from his peers did not deter Jean
from pursuing a career in college esports. His commitment to competition, the love for esports,
and camaraderie are themes threaded throughout his narrative.
Time-sink or Investment?
Jean and I met twice near the end of his senior year and once more shortly after his
graduation. Jean graduated from St. Francis University, which is located in the U.S. Midwest,
and majored in Business Administration. He primarily played Overwatch for his university’s
varsity esports team, but also spent time playing Rocket League at the end of his esports tenure.
Jean is a very highly rated Overwatch player. At the peak of his Overwatch playing career, Jean
reached Grandmaster which is an in-game ranking that comprises the top one percentile of the
North American player base. Jean is a non-traditional transfer student, and his experienced
perspective is embedded throughout each of his reflections. He spoke in a soft, soothing tone and
often paused in between questions to gather his thoughts. Each time we interviewed on Zoom,
his background was blurred, revealing only vague images of a bedroom behind him. From the
first moments of our initial interview, I noticed how clear his audio was. I recognized his Shure
branded microphone and Bose headphones, which are industry standards amongst online esports
content creators. I suspected he either live-streamed or recorded videos of his gameplay. Later I

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would learn that he did occasionally live stream, but only for his friends. As a Black man in
collegiate esports, Jean’s story reflects the importance of having both a space where he can
pursue his passion for esports, and support network to ease the challenging moments of
racialization while navigating a PWI.
Jean’s higher education journey was one of constant flux. He attended four different
colleges in six years. Despite multiple institutional transfers, his passion for video games
remained constant throughout. Although he did not officially participate in collegiate esports
until his third year of study, he was “grinding” Overwatch online for the duration of his
undergraduate pursuits. Across our interviews, Jean shared his arduous journey attempting to
balance his competitive drive for Overwatch, family struggles, and finding a career. Both of his
parents disapproved of such an intense time investment into video games. His mother has been
especially vocal. Yet Jean’s longstanding commitment provides a unique perspective that his
parents cannot fathom. Video games give him purpose, satisfy a competitive drive, facilitate
social relationships, and have even forged a career in college esports. Experienced racism but not
within college esports, tennis yes, overwatch online yes. Not only is he playing on a team of elite
Overwatch talent, but also experiences various levels of racial hostility outside and within his
esports program. For him his Blackness is omnipresent on a PWI but was able to find a support
network within esports and amongst select Black administrators.
Family Background
Born to a Jamaican mother and an Egyptian father, Jean is the oldest of two. Along with
his younger brother, Jean spent his childhood just outside of Orlando, Florida, or, as he describes
it, the “boondocks.” He attributes his early interest in video games to his hometown's rurality and
watching his brother play. Without many people in his local area, Jean turned to online video

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games as a way to make more friends. His brother was infatuated with video games ever since
they were in middle school. Jean noticed his brother investing all his chore money and spare time
into online PC games like Counterstrike: GO. Eventually, Jean followed in his brother’s
footsteps, started playing online multiplayer video games in middle school, and has been hooked
ever since. Even though Jean considers his brother the “better gamer out of the whole family,”
both of them ascend the competitive multiplayer leaderboards. This trend continued for Jean as
he consistently placed in the top 10% of games he commits to, including Overwatch and Rocket
League.
Jean acknowledges that both parents shared an immigrant ethos of hard work. This often
led to disagreements between Jean and his parents around his heavy time investments into
playing video games. Together, his parents owned a business and were each practicing
pharmacists. Both parents believed playing video games was “a waste of time.” Jean’s father
would often encourage him to learn more about investing and markets as a way to better himself
rather than play video games. Jean’s mother, who earned a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences,
especially disapproved of his intense time commitment to online video games. Jean illustrated a
conversation between him and his mother. After researching the effects of gaming, she said,
“Hey, this is not good for you,” in which Jean responded, “this is my social aspect of my life. If I
were to take this away, I wouldn’t be able to meet all the people that I did.” Video games
facilitated social relationships not only between Jean and strangers online but also his brother.
With a sense of fond admiration, Jean described how video games fortified the bond between
him and his brother:
It came to a point where one of the main reasons that I did get into gaming was because
my brother took a massive toll in his mental health. And he basically needed someone

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there. So, I was like, okay, I see what he’s doing. I can see how fun [video games are].
Let me just join him. So, I initially joined because he told me about Overwatch. And I
was like, “Yeah, why not? I’ll join.” And ever since then, our relationship skyrocketed.

Jean’s mother wanted him to take after the family and pursue a career in healthcare. Until
his final years of undergraduate study, Jean was on track to becoming a nurse. However, his deep
seeded passion for esports finally boiled over when he realized that the nursing profession was
not for him and a career in esports was not only possible but what he genuinely wanted to pursue
professionally.
Escape or Opportunity?
As mentioned earlier, Jean attended four colleges in six years. After one year of
community college, he transferred to a local university to complete his bachelor’s degree.
Although his time at both institutions was short, he reflects on esports' impact, “all throughout
that time, I found community through esports, and it was great to know that people share my
same interests as well.” He actively participated in both institutions’ esports clubs. Jean remained
in university for one academic year until, as he puts it, he “flunked out.” Back home, his family’s
business was in turmoil, causing great emotional and financial stress. The pressures grew so
intense that Jean fell into poor academic standing with the university. As a result, he dropped out
of university and moved back home to help with his parents’ business woes.
For the next two years, Jean dedicated most of his time working full-time to help his
family escape debt. He describes this period as “depressive” in which he was in a deep
emotional “rut.” Besides working full-time and exercising occasionally, Jean spent most of his
free time grinding Overwatch. Near the end of his two-year stint at home, once his family no

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longer needed his financial assistance, Jean began intentionally seeking out collegiate esports
opportunities. At this point in his life, online competitive video games shifted from an escape to
an opportunity.
One day while scrolling Twitter, Jean stumbled upon a collegiate esports coach recruiting
Overwatch players for Mountain College, located in a neighboring state. The coach sought
players ranked Diamond (top 10% percentile) or higher. This was the fresh start Jean was
looking for. Not only could he pursue esports, something he was already heavily invested in, but
he could also change his physical environment. Jean recounted the exchange between him and
the Mountain College esports coach,
I was like wow, is this real? There’s no way. A college is looking for an esports
team? And he was like “yeah, we’re looking for Overwatch players to play on our
team.” And ever since then, that’s basically how I got into esports.
The recruitment tweet was incredibly enticing because it meant Jean would have another
chance to complete his Bachelor's degree while also engaging in his passion for competitive
video games. I ask him whether his driving motivation was their esports program or the distance
from his home, to which he responds, “Well, it was mainly the esports because that was how I
found out about the school.” The distance “was kind of like an added factor because I can build
into a new environment and build up myself when it comes to leaving stuff behind basically.” He
later admitted that he would have never heard of this college, let alone apply for admission, were
it not for the recruitment post appearing on his Twitter feed.
Unfortunately, Jean’s time at Mountain College only lasted one academic semester. As he
describes, “the coach basically lied to me when it came to the experience, he had promised me,”
but the experience “was still the boost that I needed to get to where I am now in life.” While

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recounting his time at Mountain College, Jean briefly blames the coach for poor leadership but
quickly shifted focus to the relationships built, which would go on to change his esports
trajectory dramatically.
On the Mountain College Overwatch team, Jean was ranked Master (top 3%). Two of his
other teammates were ranked in the Top 500. One of those teammates played in Overwatch
Contenders, a league dedicated to aspiring professionals serving as a pipeline into professional
teams. Unfortunately, his other teammates were ranked significantly lower. Three of the five
starting players ranked considerably higher than the other two teammates who were ranked
Platinum (top 25 percentile). Jean attributes this skill disparity as a significant hindrance to their
team’s ability to compete for championships. With a sense of sympathy for his lower ranking
teammates, Jean explains why rank matters in esports:
It's kinda hard to compete when some of the individuals aren't exactly as skilled
as you. You know, great guys and everything. But you know, when it comes to
just competing at a high level like you need to have those mechanics. You need to
have this reaction time and need to have an understanding of the game.
Despite not competing in notable collegiate esports tournaments, Jean and his two Top
500 ranked teammates’ high individual ranking provided them access to a small subset of the
Overwatch community. As they climbed the online ranks, the two of them were invited to join a
private and “very popular Overwatch [Discord] server” composed of “all the pro players,” “all
the top-tier [Overwatch] Contenders,” and “all the top-tier collegiate players.” This server was
effectively a social hub for elite ranked Overwatch players. In hindsight, this Discord server
created the opportunity for Jean to transfer to another university and form a sort of superteam
loaded with Overwatch talent. Another collegiate player on this server, TeeJay, befriended and

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eventually recruited Jean. Teejay was also a Grandmaster player who ranked in the top 150 NA
Overwatch players and played Varsity esports for St. Francis University in the Midwest. Jean
spoke very highly of Teejay and still considers him a good friend. Jean describes, Teejay, who is
also Black, as “very, very pivotal in bringing the whole team [together].” Teejay yearned for
equally elite-ranking teammates because, at the time, he “was playing with a lot of Platinums and
Silvers and Bronzes.” As part of his recruitment pitch, Teejay assured Saucy they could
“definitely win something” if they joined forces. Saucy would eventually extend the invitation to
Jean and their other Grandmaster teammate. Jean jumped on the opportunity, excited by the
prospects of competing against the nation's top college Overwatch teams. Before fully
committing, Jean met with the esports Director to discuss potential financial support. By the end
of their meeting, Jean was offered a scholarship and said the following about it:
So initially, when it comes to the person that gave me this scholarship, that’s
Coach [Hart], and he was able to give me a lot of money based on my experience
as a leader and also as a top-ranking member on the team basically. So, it was
great to hear that I was valued in this school, but learning, when it [comparison]
to the average scholarship of this school, it’s a lot lower.
Superteam
On his undergraduate journey's fourth and final educational stop, Jean moved to the
Midwest and enrolled at St. Francis University. Jean reflected with a sense of satisfaction and
surprise at how much he had accomplished while there. In addition to playing tennis and creating
an esports club, Jean won two esports championships at St. Francis University. Before Jean and
his Mountain College teammates’ arrival, he describes the Overwatch team as “really bad” with
“only” one Grandmaster player. The other players on the team were mainly Platinum and Gold

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players. The entire team dynamic shifted with the addition of Jean and his two Mountain College
teammates. Jean describes the Overwatch team’s dramatic shift:
But once I came in, I came in with two of my teammates that also wanted to leave
[Mountain College]. So, I came in with – I was around mid-masters. My other
teammate was about top 50. And my other teammate was top 150. So, we both
came in. We instantly changed the dynamic of the team. We didn’t win anything
that semester mainly because we had some unfortunate substitutions when it
comes to that semester. But that following semester we got some more people in,
mainly because all high-rank players know each other. And brought in another
support [player].
As an Overwatch player, I was visibly impressed by his team’s overall skill level. I could
not help but wonder how a collegiate program assembled a team with four of the five starting
players comprising the top 1% of the entire North American Overwatch player base. Jean
explained simply, “connections.” In other words, these players’ relationships were forged
through the fires of competitive online video games. Their shared passion for competitive
Overwatch led to online and IRL friendships that eventually manifested in three students
collectively transferring universities across the country for an opportunity to compete at the
highest level in their respective esport.
Despite the team’s overall elite skill ratings, success did not immediately translate. They
spent the first semester building rapport and fine-tuning their strategies. However, they found
their stride and won two championships during his second semester. During our interview, as
Jean recounted his championship run, he suddenly remembered his championship ring, which
had recently arrived. He proudly hoisted the championship ring in front of the camera. It

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glistened and shined with engravings of the university’s logo, his name, the university's athletic
conference, and the esport. Jean’s team was great, and they knew it. He described the final game,
“It was stomp. You know how in Overwatch how people troll if they’re higher rank lobbies?
That’s basically how it was in our finals. We went Hog-Ball the entire time. Yeah. It was a
stomp." To translate, Jean’s team was so confident that they played off-meta characters that,
based on their in-game stats, were considered some of the weakest options. Perhaps if his
opponents were interviewed, they might describe the move as toxic. But Jean and his teammates,
were just looking to have fun.
Of all his achievements, winning two championships was not Jean's most celebrated
achievement. Instead, he is proudest of placing in the top 16 of a highly competitive national
tournament - the HUE Invitational. The HUE Invitational had the stiffest competitive pool
relative to the other tournaments. Jean explains that “basically everyone that has top tier talent
was there at HUE [Invitational].”
This annual “invitation only” esports tournament was hosted in person by Harrisburg
University in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Jean notes that his team was invited due to having two
players who were top 150 and on the cusp of playing professionally. Since it was a LAN
tournament, Jean and his team traveled to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Considering the limited in-
person events during this time, he expressed a deep sense of joy around the experience, “[HUE]
was great, absolutely great. I loved it, you know, seeing all the people that you see online the
majority of the time, it was great.” Even though this was not his team’s highest placement (they
finished in the top eight), Jean reeled with excitement while recounting the event:
It was fun. It was really fun. That was one of the two LANs that I was able to do.
It was my favorite experience, because you know everyone that was there is

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proficient in esports right now, like they have some kind of career...everyone is
competing at the highest level.
In all, competing against some of collegiate Overwatch’s highest rated players, placing
top 16, and meeting online competitors, friends, and pro players made the HUE Invitational one
of the brightest highlights of Jean’s esports career. For online digital natives like Jean, this in-
person esports tournament provided a unique opportunity for him and community members to
finally meet each other and share their love for competitive Overwatch IRL.
Race
Perhaps Jean’s deep adoration for his experience at the HUE Invitational is due to the
toxicity he grew accustomed to expecting while playing in Grandmaster Overwatch lobbies
online. Although he did not make that explicit connection, his online experience is drastically
different from his IRL experience at HUE invitational. Consistently playing in high SR
Overwatch lobbies, Jean developed a callousness against toxicity and racism, often including
racial insults, jokes, and slurs. Jean credits those online experiences for his capacity to remain
calm and composed when confronted with racism and microaggressions, “The one thing that
gaming does to you is you build tough skin. Very, very tough skin. I knew what I was getting
into when I switched my whole [social life] to gaming.” He explained that online Overwatch was
particularly toxic, and most of the player base is racist. The Grandmaster lobbies, in particular,
have been, in Jean’s experience, especially racist. He went on to break down the ever-present
toxic culture in Overwatch Grandmaster lobbies:
And when it comes to the level that I’ve seen when it comes to Top 100 players,
Top 200 players, they will say anything just to get under your skin and to
basically throw off your mental. I’ve dealt with a severe amount of racism when it

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comes to any pro players, even top tier collegiate players. It’s very blatant too.
Once they figure out that you’re Black in certain games, they will actually go out
of their way to call you the hard r and things like that. But when it comes to a lot
of the higher-ranked players that play in all these games, a lot of them – I wanna
say 95 percent of them – are racist. They spew out the hard R. You know. The N
word, like it’s playdough basically.
The tough skin developed online would prove to be a valuable attribute as he navigated
St. Francis esports. Within sanctioned St. Francis esports events and activities, Jean denied
encountering any explicit racism from his teammates. However, there were several examples of
microaggressions and racism he experienced at both Mountain College and St. Francis. During
his short stint at Mountain College, Jean had an unsettling interaction with his esports teammate,
For example, I met this kid, he was from Texas, and I was literally the first Black
person he’d ever seen. He was just so weird about it, he was constantly like, “Yo,
can we hang out sometime? Let’s go smoke some weed.” And I’m like, “Dude, I
don’t really do that.” He’s like, “What?” And I’m like, “Why would you think I
do that?” And he’s like, “Oh, don’t you all do that?” I’m like, “Huh?” And then
I’m like, “Yeah, dude, stay away from me. Don’t talk to me.” It was literally the
first thing he said to me. I was like, wow, no, just leave me alone.
Jean characterizes the St. Francis campus climate outside of esports as an
overwhelmingly white, conservative student body. In response to how his Black identity comes
into play while navigating St. Francis University as a whole, Jean outlines several instances of
racial hostility and tension. Without hesitation, he responded:

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I’ve been called the hard r multiple times...Not in person, but behind my back.
Like I’ve heard people – people told me that people called me the hard r. I’ve
been spit at a few times. Yeah, I’ve been spit at. I was so close to fighting; it was
not fun.
As mentioned, Jean plays on the St. Francis tennis team and esports. While on the team,
he traveled and competed against different institutions around the state. Jean describes an
interaction between him and another team that he interpreted as a racial slight:
When it comes to traveling, you travel to more red areas than we are currently.
So, I forget the school, but basically, I shook the hand of this opponent and then
their parents’ kind of spit near me, and I was like, huh, interesting. Then my
coach, who was also Black – tennis coach, also Black, she looked at me like don’t
do it. So, I was just like, okay, all right, I’ll just go back to my team and chill out.
But, yeah, that was the worst that’s happened.
Generally, the college esports community at St. Francis has been much more welcoming
and less hostile than the campus, especially the online Overwatch community. In response to
whether he experienced the same toxicity with his St. Francis teammates, he replied:
No, in the [St. Francis] esports community they’re very, pretty understanding. I
would say that everyone is a little smarter like when it comes to the general public
on esports, ‘cause when it comes to playing these games, I think you have to have
a high level of understanding with certain things. But it is majority white, like
when it comes to my esports community here, but at the same time they’re very
understanding and they know when to ask what’s proper to say, basically, they’re
not full-on ignorant about some things.

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Jean elaborated on the point above by also mentioning how some of his white teammates’
upbringing influences their lack of cultural sensitivity. Some of his St. Francis teammates did not
grow up around Black people, and Jean attributes this to the periodic awkward social situations
between the Black and white Overwatch players. Despite their upbringing and ignorance of the
Black experience, Jean does give his St. Francis teammates the benefit of the doubt by
acknowledging how some of them use video games to distance themselves from their families:
So, when it comes to a lot of the people that are in my current team, a lot of them
do have racist families, but then they turned to gaming in order to escape that
dynamic because they know it’s wrong. But then at the same time they know that
when it comes to their habits and the things they say, it’ll come to the point where
they can say something entirely wrong, but they don’t realize because it’s out of
habit. So, it was very interesting meeting those kinds of people, because they
really wanted to make friends with us, but they didn’t know how, and they didn’t
have enough experience – exposure to us to actually get to the point where they
can say those things without sounding racist.
So, yeah, that’s one of the biggest things that I’ve noticed was that they
tried to understand but unless they’ve had really close Black friends, they
probably won’t ever understand.
Black Leadership
Unlike his experience at Mountain College, Jean felt mainly supported by his esports
coach at St. Francis. Coach Hart was a Black man and former college student-athlete who
advocated for Jean from the beginning of their relationship. Having a supportive Black coach
was incredibly formative and instructive about how to safely navigate a predominately white

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institution as a Black person. When asked how his racial identity comes into play daily, without
hesitation, Jean acknowledged the obvious stress of being in the racial minority. Having a Black
coach and two other Black teammates (on a starting team of five players) was instrumental in
cultivating a safe community. In addition to the coach, there was Black representation within the
esports staff that created a safer and more inclusive environment:
And when it comes to [St. Francis], we did have a Black coach, and we did have
three Black players at one point, and that was for the majority of my time. And
that was great, because when it comes to having a role model such as him, kind of
leading both me and my teammate to having – to understanding how it is to
navigate through a white space as a Black person. It was a lot of, I guess, holding
back when it comes to some of the things that we can’t say, basically.
It’s wild to me to think about it now. But for the past two years, I’ve had
all Black leadership all throughout this two years. And they’ve taught me so much
about how to navigate- Graduating as well. And how I could always come back to
them for advice or anything. So, that’s definitely the most rewarding part is
having those relationships and having those connections.
One thing Coach Hart did that was particularly helpful was adding all the Black players
into a private Discord group chat. This created a safe space insulated from tokenization or
judgment. It also allowed him and his teammates to vent, ask questions, and overall make sense
of their experience while on the Overwatch team. Jean describes what this group chat meant to
him:
It let me talk with them about anything, basically. Especially some of the things
we’d experience, like some of the teammates, some of the things they would ask

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like what are we saying or some of the things like how people act basically, cause
when people are just interesting, they’re very, very interesting. I think the
weirdest people I’ve met through esports are the super-spoiled privileged kids that
never have seen a Black person in their life. Just expressing my feelings about
that to them was just the best thing basically.
When it comes to the old director that was with us before he left to a new school,
he did include all of the Black players on the team into a Discord group chat in
case we wanted to talk about anything when it comes to anything that we wanted
to express.
Altogether, Jean’s story provides insight into a high-performing college esports
player dedicated to his craft while also uplifting the people around him. As shown in the
quote above, Jean’s persistence can be attributed to the race-conscious support staff
surrounding him. In the instance of his coach, not only did Jean acknowledge the value of
seeing Black folks in leadership positions, but he also lauded his coach’s initiative in
creating a safe space specifically for his Black players. Like all of the players in this
study, competition fuels their engagement. Yet competition alone is not sufficient to
ensure Black students persist when faced with racialization.

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Passion: Avery
Avery’s love for esports was evident from the earliest moments of our first interview.
Commitment to esports and competing was evident from the moment he enrolled. Although it
was not the primary motivation, he had his sights set on it from the initial moments of
matriculating. When I asked him how he learned about college esports, he shared, “I don’t even
watch traditional sports. I strictly pretty much only watch esports.” During each interview, he
spoke to me from the desk in his room. Behind him was a shelf hoisting a large Pikachu doll with
a hard hat on its head. Behind his left shoulder peeked the edge of a poster. Near the end of our
final interview, I inquired about these items, and he enthusiastically picked up his camera and
whisked it around the room. He then highlighted his collection of Nerf guns, Pokémon cards,
shoes, gaming mice, and his dual monitor gaming set-up and revealed the Hunter X Hunter
poster, which peeked behind his shoulder during previous meetings. At one point, he even
described himself as just a “kid at a heart.” Following each interview, I noted his thoughtful and
reflective responses, particularly when addressing issues around race and the esports industry.
Passion, curiosity, and competitiveness are consistent themes weaved throughout Avery’s esports
saga.
Avery's story is rooted in family. His first memories of gaming were playing Mortal
Kombat with his father. His parents supported his gaming efforts insofar as his academic
responsibilities were taken care of. He is currently an Information Technology (IT) major at
Riverdale University. Riverdale is located in the US South, outside of Avery’s home state Texas,
and is a predominately white institution.

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Moreover, reminiscing on his introduction to video games, Avery joyfully recounted
early memories of him tinkering and playing with his grandfather’s computers. Avery’s
grandfather helped him build his first PC shortly after high school graduation. After completing
his PC build, Avery left his console behind and considers this the moment when he took
competitive gaming more seriously.
Introduction to Collegiate Esports
Throughout high school, Avery was a big fan of professional esports as he consumed all
facets of esports online content, including the regular season games, behind-the-scenes videos,
and live streams of individual players. Yet Avery remained oblivious to the comparably small
collegiate esports world until he began applying to colleges. Although college esports was not a
factor when deciding between colleges, Avery stumbled upon the esports team shortly after
accepting his admission. Upon learning of Riverdale’s esports program, Avery’s excitement to
enroll grew. Outside of the mere existence of an esports program, Avery discovered that
Riverdale recently won a national championship in Call of Duty. More importantly, two of the
team’s four starters were Black men. As a high school student, seeing Black players succeeding
on the Riverdale team gave Avery the resolve and motivation to pursue college esports at
Riverdale.
Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, Avery spent his first year at Riverdale at home, taking
online classes. This also meant he could not fully integrate into Riverdale’s esports program until
his sophomore year when classes resumed online. While taking classes online and still living at
home, Avery played competitive Fortnite online. Trying to compete in online tournaments,
Avery explains how he discovered a way to represent Riverdale esports without technically
being a member of the club:

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Well, at first, my first collegiate esports experience wasn’t necessarily through our
esports club. I don’t know if you’re familiar with PlayVS, but they were a TO
[Tournament Organizer] that partnered with Fortnite. It was actually integrated into the
game. So, I had to register using my university email. The [Riverdale esports] org didn’t
even know I was playing for them. But I found two other guys to run a trio event with,
and it was pretty bad. We did horrible. But it was something I was super passionate
about. I was always hounding them to get online- “Let’s play. Let’s scrim.”
So, after that, I was like, “These guys weren’t really esports savvy, they were just
guys who played Fortnite that went to my school.” So, I kind of want to integrate myself
more with the organization.” So, that’s when I started talking more with the people, like
the officers and whatnot, trying to see what I could do to further my esports career,
whether that meant playing another game that I haven’t played in a long time. I was just
gonna do whatever I could.
In Avery’s second year, classes resumed in person, and he moved out of his parent's
home and into on-campus housing. This allowed him to join and more fully participate in the
Riverdale esports club. His love for first-person shooters led him to play on the Fortnite, Call of
Duty, Halo, and Overwatch teams. He was determined to play in any way possible. Since he was
not only playing one esport, but his responsibilities for each team were also compounded. Avery
acknowledged that playing multiple games competitively at once is difficult but said each game
required different amounts of time and practice. He described the balancing act simply as a
“mental shift” when transitioning between games. Competing at a high level requires a great deal
of in-game knowledge, such as tactical positions within each game’s assortment of maps,
specific weapon strategies, and individual character strengths and weaknesses. He described

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Overwatch as “easy” because he only plays the tank role and Halo as similarly simple in
mechanics because he played so much growing up. Call of Duty seemed to be the most difficult
of the three because the newest version (Modern Warfare 2, released around the time of our first
interview) drastically differed from the previous. During our interviews, Avery’s team competed
in two collegiate CoD leagues, the Call of Duty College League (CCL) and CXP. Both
tournaments include prize pools. Avery could not remember the amount for CXP, but winners of
the CCL were set to earn $25,000.
Across each interview, conversations about competition and his drive to improve
emerged often. His commitment to competition was particularly evident when we discussed his
extracurricular activities. In addition to esports, Avery is an active member of two clubs, works
20-35 hours/week, and is taking a full academic course load. His club responsibilities include
competing in tournaments, organizing and participating in team scrims and VoD reviews, and
finding additional time to practice independently. One club is a professional organization for I.T.
majors, and the other is a recreational club called Humans vs. Zombies, where students role-play
on campus. To squeeze all his responsibilities into a 24-hour day, Avery sacrifices sleep,
averaging about six and sometimes less. He admitted sacrificing so much sleep that he
sometimes gets to a point where he is “just running on fumes.” He did not seem to mind such a
time-intensive schedule and articulated why:
I would say devoting time into something. Especially with me, when I pick up a game
after not playing it, and then I’m finally able to compete with people and hang with
people that have been playing it and be comparable at it, I think that’s pretty satisfying.
Being able to really see the fruits of my labor. Like the time I put in directly correlates to

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winning matches. I’m able to celebrate those matches with my teammates and build in
that bond. Basically, just seeing the fruits of my labor.
I like the grind. I love – because just picking something up that I have little to
nothing about, and then pushing towards a goal, and then reaching that goal, and then
putting another one down – I love seeing the fruits of my labor and just – It’s not like I’m
looking for gas from anybody else. It’s more just like me being able to look back like,
“Yeah, I’m kinda gross at that.” Yeah, I had to work at it, and I sacrificed a lot, but it’s a
satisfying feeling knowing that I – just because I wanted to do it, I did it. I just love
competing, especially because online multiplayer – mainly, shooters are the only thing I
play, so I wanna be good at them. I don’t really play anything else, so –
Putting on for Black People in Esports
Avery’s high involvement in Riverdale’s esports program is fueled by his competitive
drive and desire to be a positive representative for the Black esports community. When he
reflected on what it meant to be Black in a space where there is so little Black representation,
Avery quickly declared:
Oh, I feel like I’ve gotta put on. That’s the simple way to put it. I look at it like – that’s
why I’m picking up different games just out of the blue...I just want to put my hand in as
many things as I can because I know that there aren’t many people like me out there, and
I’m tired of seeing that. As a Black person, it’s just – it’s not frustrating, but it’s – if
somebody like me saw me and had the same mentality about it, and it made them more
inclined to play, then I’m all for it.
Avery acknowledges that he benefits from former Black trailblazers within Riverdale’s
esports program and embraces the opportunity to inspire others like him. Moreover, his family's

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involvement in their community shaped his strong connection with his Black identity. Growing
up in the US South, his grandparents were educators who, after desegregation, “were some of the
first Black teachers in Georgia.” Similarly, his father is currently a politician with a strong
reputation in Avery’s small hometown. Avery has a great deal of pride in his Black identity and
attributes that largely to his father’s messaging:
My dad, he’s from a smaller town than even I’m from. So, he always taught me the
importance of growing up as a Black man and what you should do to represent yourself
and what you shouldn’t do. What to look out for. And he’s like, “If you ever see an
opportunity to unify with some people, and you can, and you identify with those people
beyond just race, then you should. But especially if they’re Black because like-minded
Black people are a dangerous thing if you’re all working towards one common thing.
With his father’s messaging in mind, Avery feels a deep sense of responsibility and pride
in representing Black esports players in a positive light. Early high school experiences exposed
him to the ongoing challenges of playing video games while Black. Avery pointed to several
incidents in high school where white students made racial jokes and backhanded comments that
forced him to reconcile his love for a community that might not love him back in the same way.
In high school, there were incidents where he was playing with his peers, and they would adhere
to the antisocial norms of online CoD lobbies, which is to scream obscenities and racial slurs to
try and trigger your opponent (and sometimes even one’s own teammates). As Avery attempts to
recall the encounters, he struggles to find the exact words to make sense of the situation
retrospectively,
I used to play CoD casually with people. You know the memes about CoD lobbies. It can
cause trouble. But it’s people I’m seeing every day. And it’s just like I don’t – and

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typically, I’ve got really thick skin, but it’s the principle behind it, you know? I’m not – I
don’t want you to think that. It doesn’t hurt me, but that’s just not true. I just don’t wanna
– I don’t even know how to describe it. It was just super – not infuriating, but it was just
like, dang. I can’t believe that. These people are real.
Yeah. And that’s how they really felt. They got comfortable with me enough to
act like that around me. Because they’d be talking crazy about people on the other team,
and I’m right there. And it’s just like, “Bro, you can’t be talking like that, Bro.”...Yeah,
[racial] slurs. All types of stuff. I heard it all. And it’s just like even if you see it as a joke,
I’m not a joke. I’m not gonna take that. I don't know. It was tough.
Early experiences like this built a callous and sort of optimistic caution in which he was
always aware of the possibility if not likelihood, that an online teammate could at any moment
reveal their racial biases in the heat of online play and lash into a racist tirade. After those
encounters, he decided he would avoid confronting people who make insensitive racial remarks.
When mulling over how his father’s messaging continues to show up within his Riverdale
esports experiences, Avery observers,
A lot of times, especially in gaming, Black people are just odd ones out, and in my mind,
my goal, remembering what my dad has taught me, I was like, too many people have died
and put in X amount of effort for me to compromise who and what I am, so I’ve always
made it my mission to, when I see something, I stand on all 10.
I’m not really gonna let it slide just because, for the sake of the team or team cam
– I don’t really care anything about that. I’m gonna voice my opinion regardless because
why not? I’m not really gonna compromise my integrity for somebody just to let it slide.

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If you let stuff slide, more stuff is gonna keep on sliding, and it's just gonna be an
avalanche. At some point, you gotta say something, so it’s best to nip it in the bud early.
Thus, transitioning from a predominantly Black city to a predominantly white university, Avery
maintains a strong sense of his Black identity and refuses to compromise his authentic self.
Club Racial Dynamics
Before officially joining the program, Avery had mixed expectations about his esports
teammates. On one hand, seeing other Black players on the championship CoD team was
essential and “comforting” to Avery. Their presence signaled to him that the environment was
likely welcoming enough for these older CoD players to stay as long as they did. However,
experiencing racism online and his university’s history of burning books caused him to temper
his expectations. Hoping for the best and preparing for the worst, Avery joined the esports
program with an open mind and laser-focused on winning.
The reality of his team dynamics was ultimately better than he expected. Even though he
had his “guard up as high as it could be,” nothing happened. Instead, he found a group of club
leaders who shared a passion for esports and creating content. He attributes this to the
organization's leadership, especially the club president, and the fact that Black players were
already present and accomplished in their own right. The club president during his first year,
Tim, is white. Tim is also the person who responded to my call for participants and connected
Avery and me. Each time Tim’s name came up in our interviews, Avery spoke highly of him.
Shortly after joining the club online, Tim invited the team for a video shoot. Avery cites this as
an example of feeling included because “it showed that for people who wanted to put in the work
and meet the people, they [club leadership] were open to it.” Focusing on the work, in this case,

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creating a video, allowed Avery to showcase his passion and willingness to contribute to the
team for the greater good.
By the time Avery made the starting CoD team in his second year, there was one other
Black person on his team named Carl. The other three members were white. For Avery, race
matters, but it is not everything. For example, when he first saw Carl in their esports lab playing,
they took special notice of each other as the only Black people in the space. Their shared
Blackness, though, did not forge an immediate friendship. As Avery explains, they still needed to
feel each other out and determine whether their personalities meshed:
[The camaraderie] was unspoken because there was – even though we were both Black
and playing games, there’s still that barrier. That’s not enough to just bring it together off
rip. So, we still had to find out who we were as people and how we were gonna interact
with each other. And even then, we’re actually pretty similar, which is kinda funny. So, I
would say the comradery initiated [the relationship], and it enhanced it a little bit because
we’re both Black.
Avery now considers Carl to be one of his closest friends. Carl is among the few people
Avery feels comfortable talking about race too. Even so, Avery admits that conversations about
race are limited. Although Avery is comfortable talking about race with Carl, he does not like to
talk about it with his white teammates. He generally feels safe around his CoD teammates and
tries to keep conversations focused on the game. Conversations about race are not in service of
the larger mission of winning. Thus, Avery makes a concerted effort to keep conversations
“lighthearted” and contends that “even though I take race relationships seriously, I don’t wanna
take them too seriously to the point where it jades my perception and makes me predisposed
towards a certain group of people.” He explains that he must “be fair to everybody because that’s

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what I want done to me.” Overall, conversations about race are avoided because they are all there
“to play the game.”
Racial Jokes
Overall, Avery feels most comfortable with his CoD teammates but does not experience
the same sense of safety when interacting with either Halo and Overwatch teammates or club
members from other games. In particular, there have been several instances of racial jokes.
Avery tells me about a white club member telling him and Carl a “funny” story about their
grandmother at a family party, singing a song that had the n-word in the lyrics. The teammate
thought Carl and Avery “were gonna get a kick out of it.” Baffled and confused, Avery
concluded, “that just goes to show that even though, on the surface, people may seem cool, their
concept of race and race relations just isn’t developed.”
Another racial joke occurred when Avery and his Halo team were scrimming together in
the esports lab. During this session, Avery was the only Black person in the room. In the middle
of the match, one of Avery’s white teammates asked if he could tell Avery a joke. Suspicious of
his intentions, Avery questioned, “Why are you asking me?” To which the teammate responded,
“I don't know if you’re going to find it funny.” Avery’s suspicions were confirmed, “[the
teammate] was about to make a Black joke.” After Avery warned against saying the joke, his
teammate acquiesced, and the rest of the team, including Avery, laughed it off. To be sure,
Avery’s laughter was not in jest. In fact, he described it as an “awkward” laugh and thought to
himself, “there’s no way I just experienced that.” In retrospect, he reflects to me on that
encounter,

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It’s just not something you really can comprehend until you experience it. And even
now, I’m looking back on it. It’s a joke to them, but to me it’s just like that’s not really
something I should have to be dealing with, policing people as they talk around me.
In addition to experiencing racial jokes directly from teammates, Avery felt especially
disdain towards his Overwatch team members. One day, a friend of the Overwatch team joined
the Riverdale esports Discord server. Avery was shocked when he saw the person’s Discord
alias. It read: “massa.” Avery immediately interpreted the name as short for “slave master.”
Before jumping to conclusions, Avery joined the Overwatch team’s voice channel and
confronted them about the name. He asked the group, “yo who’s massa?” None of the teammates
responded. Instead, they snickered and ignored his question. Avery took note of who was
laughing and left the call. He referred to incidents like this as “tone deaf” and tried to only
interact with the team as little as possible.
Each of the encounters above is under the guise of humor. Racial jokes are made in the
spirit of attempts to make an otherwise offensive subject funny. In response to whether he thinks
these incidents are intentionally nefarious or simply ignorant, Avery gives most of his teammates
the benefit of the doubt and says, “I’d like to think they’re just naïve and ignorant, basically.”
Outside of the Overwatch team’s debacle, Avery believes the previous incidents were primarily
due to his teammates' ignorance. This sense also led him to describe the overall esports club
climate as welcoming and inclusive. Outside of allowing specific individuals to participate, he
has not felt excluded in any way. He recognizes the challenge of building a competitive esports
club. There will always be tension between an individual’s in-game performance and their ability
to get along with other players. In response to whether his program has done to make him feel
excluded, he remarks:

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There have been people in the program that are just like creatures. Not all gamers are
social people. And they’ll say something. They’re just like out of touch, and they’ll just
say something so bogus. And I’m just like, “bro.”
And that’s not directly a reflection on the program, it’s just the people that we let
in. Because obviously, they’re good at games, and race doesn’t really come up. Just like
the way you conduct yourselves around other people doesn’t come up until you’re
actually around those people. So, we’re like, “Okay, this guy’s pretty good. He’s cool."
Oh, he made a joke. It’s not one of those good ones; it’s just really bad, and it’s really out
of touch.” So, yeah. Nothing the program has done directly but just the people that the
program facilitates, I guess.
Despite the interpersonal conflicts and awkward interactions between Avery and his
teammates, he remains committed to the club’s overall success. In fact, Avery successfully
earned the club treasurer role and planned to run for President in the upcoming semester. His
passion for competition, appreciation for the esports space, and a deeply held belief that the
esports space overall can improve are the driving forces behind his commitment. Avery reflected
on why he continues to pour so much energy into the club:
I don’t know, just because I guess, looking at the org, back before I even came to this
school, I was like, “That seems pretty dope.” I’d kinda grown attached to it because I’ve
always been a follower of esports, and I would hate to see all the people that came before
me, all the fruits of their labor die by the wayside, and I’ve talked to them. They’ve even
said they don’t care at this point. They’re like, “I’ve graduated. You don’t have to keep
going.” I kinda feel like I have to because I know I’d probably lose sleep over it, like
“What could I have done more?

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Winning is Paramount
For Avery, the club’s central focus should be on winning. As someone who has observed
and studied professional esports organizations for several years, Avery considers himself
knowledgeable. In his time with the club, he has attempted to apply his knowledge of
professional esports to his own teams. This is evidenced throughout many of his responses
around making esports more inclusive for himself and other Black players.
If you’re not already in that competitive mindset, I wouldn’t... recommend you play
collegiate esports then. Just because the goal is winning. If you’re not already in that
competitive mindset, I wouldn’t really – because you might be a League fan, but you
don’t care about playing competitively. I wouldn’t recommend you play collegiate
eSports then. Just because the goal is winning.
Winning is the central focus of any highly competitive esports. In order to earn
tournament prize money and its accompanying notoriety, teams must win. Thus, winning is the
central focus for any player seeking success in the space. At his core, Avery is a fierce
competitor who wants to win every time he plays. Since every esport has an online leaderboard
and ranking system, I asked him how individual player ranks impact team dynamics. For one, a
high rank positions that player as more knowledgeable and trustworthy than lower ranking
players. Avery wondered aloud, “If I wasn’t the best player, would they listen to me? I’ve
thought about that quite a few times. I feel like – I don't know.” This question motivates him to
perform at the highest level. Furthermore, pressures to perform as a way to maintain authority or
respect are compounded when adding race to the equation. Avery shared a poignant example of
how his racial identity shapes his relationship with competition:

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I remember one time – or even just in another game, like in game chat. Not anybody on
my team, but in random matchmaking in Overwatch, they’re talking hot after a game, and
I’m talking crazy. And then, they’ll be like, “Well, you’re this, and you’re this.” One of
them is a slur, and one of them is my rank. I’m like, “Well, I can do something about one
of them.” So, I can boost my rank. I can’t change my race, and I don’t wanna do that. So,
I’m just going – it lit a fire under me to wanna be a better player, holistically.
Shortly after, he connects the online experience detailed above to his relationships with his
Riverdale teammates:
And then, you never know what kind of prejudice people might have that are underlying.
“I’m not gonna listen to him because he’s Black.” If I’m good, they’re gonna be like,
“Well, he’s Black, but he’s good. So, I’m gonna listen to him.” So, I always try to
mitigate that as much as I can.
Put differently, Avery can work to improve his rank, but his Blackness will never change.
Not only is he aware of the prejudices his teammates and competitors hold, but he uses it to
motivate him. The prospect of improving and winning fuels Avery’s passion.
Competition vs. Inclusion
Similar to competition, another theme threaded throughout Avery’s reflections on team
dynamics and interactions was around skill and ability. This idea came to the forefront of our
discussion when discussing his plans to run for president of the esports club. The person Avery is
running against is a woman named Sara. Sara and Avery held positions on the club's executive
board during our interviews. Sara held the role of Vice President, and Avery the Treasurer. They
both plan to run for club president but have opposing philosophical views. The opposing views
can be summarized as efforts to prioritize competition vs. inclusion.

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From Avery’s perspective, Sara believes that any student who wants to join and play can.
She does not want any team to have a cap and suggests the club include all players regardless of
skill. Avery vehemently disagrees with this approach. He believes the players should be selected
based on their ability to help their respective teams win games. On one hand, he argues that each
team will be diluted by including every player. If the best players are spread out across teams, it
becomes increasingly difficult to field a dominant team. Additionally, Avery argues accepting
any player who shows interest will add additional strain on their already limited resources,
specifically their esports lab. Since there are a limited number of PCs in their lab, the more teams
there are, the less time each esport will have to be able to practice together. Avery passionately
outlined his perspective on their philosophical differences:
I think I can articulate- she wants to make the esports organization more inclusive. But
that doesn't necessarily translate to, making it better. That sounds super condescending
when I say that. But I feel like the goal of an esports organization should be to win or do
your very best to put yourself in a position to win. But when you're just inviting anybody
that has ever played Overwatch to play on an Overwatch team that's kind of
counterproductive, and I respect it. But there should be another org for that.
Like I said, the goal of an esports organization should be to win and produce
results. I never want anybody to feel cut out. But like, you know, it just doesn't make
sense, right?
Two teams, most like a main team and academy team. That's just how traditional
sports and esports works. You just don't field the team just for the sake of the team. That
doesn't incentivize anybody to try hard or like want to get better, They just get

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complacent. They’re like “I already made a roster. I'm fine.” Whereas somebody who
doesn't make a roster. They come back the next trial looking to make it roster this time.
Esports After College
With graduation still, in the distant future, Avery was unsure about his future beyond
college. He shared with me the tension between wanting to work for an esports organization and
recognizing the industry's volatility. In the times between our interviews, esports organizations
across all esports were conducting mass layoffs. Avery preferred the idea of pursuing a more
stable career. However, he recognized that after four years of intense competition, his
competitive flames would not extinguish, and he admitted that he would likely still participate in
open CoD tournaments.

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Chapter Five: Summary, Discussion, and Implications
Fundamentally this study aimed to add to the growing body of higher education esports
literature. More specifically, this study aimed to insert race into an otherwise race-less discourse.
Focusing on the interpersonal interactions occurring in the physical and digital spaces, this study
sought to answer the following research questions: (1) What are the racialized experiences of
Black and esports players? (2) Given their numerical underrepresentation, what compels Black
collegians to participate in esports?” Through a qualitative methodology including three separate
semi-structured, in-depth online interviews, I met Joseph (Oakwood College), Avery (Riverdale
University), and Jean (St. Francis University). Using a narrative inquiry approach, I learned
about the intricacies of each participant's collegiate esports journey. Based on participant
narratives, in the following sections, I discuss how these findings relate to higher education
discourse around diversity in collegiate esports and review the implications on practice and
research.
Discussion of Findings
In this section, I discuss the findings, comparing and contrasting the narratives of all three
esports players. All participants shared a passion for gaming and competing. They also value the
sense of community derived from playing with others who share their interests. However,
participants also discussed the impact of their racial identities on their experiences. Not only do
they share stories of microaggressions and racism, but they also talk about the importance of
having safe spaces and seeing representation within their teams. Despite their challenges, all
three students are motivated to pursue careers in the esports industry. They credit their online
communities, like Discord and GroupMe, for helping them connect with others who share their
interests and for providing a space for communication and organization.

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Gender
Before discussing the most evident conclusions from this study, it should be noted that
findings around gender were not substantial. Each of the three participants identified as male, but
did not talk about themselves in terms of their masculine identities. Nevertheless, as the literature
indicates masculinity is ever present in the space and its impact ought not be discounted. For
example, although not explicitly gendered, Avery’s philosophical disagreements with Sara lends
itself to additional scrutiny around gender’s role in the conflict. The findings discussed
throughout this chapter are discussed according to the robust amounts of supporting evidence.
Because none of the participants spoke substantially about gender, I cannot reliably draw
conclusions about the impact of gender in these participants’ racialized experiences. I implore
future research to explore the intersection between race and gender in collegiate esports.
Race Matters
One key finding is that Black students experience racism is college esports. The racial
stereotypes, microaggressions, and jokes indicates pervasive racism even in esports. Regarding
the racial climate of their teams, each participant characterized their esports teams as inclusive.
However, Jean and Avery were more critical of other esports players within their respective
programs. Both students not only considered their programs to be safe and welcoming but also
recounted several instances of microaggressions and racial jokes. As Black men attending PWIs,
Jean and Avery were keen on their racial minoritization and took pride in positively representing
Black people in esports. On the other hand, Joseph attended an HBCU and had great pride in his
esports program altogether. He even referred to his club’s camaraderie as a brotherhood. It was
clear through our interviews that Joseph’s identity as an esports player was more salient than his
Blackness within the context of his campus environment. Unsurprisingly, Joseph’s only

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encounters with racialization occurred online when playing with people in Call of Duty lobbies.
Despite these challenges, Black students have demonstrated resilience and agency in navigating
higher education systems.
Avery and Jean attend PWIs and spoke more directly about how their Blackness
impacted their esports experience. Jean spoke about the safety and comfort provided by a group
chat consisting of the team’s Black players. That group chat allowed him and his teammates to
process various experiences without needing to self-sensor. Jean was expressly grateful for his
coach (who was also Black) taking the initiative to create that space for the Black players.
Similarly, Avery mentioned the value of seeing a Black upperclassman in the esports program
before joining. That player’s existence signaled to Avery that the program was safe enough from
racial hostility or violence, encouraging Avery to join. Avery added nuance to this point when he
described his first encounter with a different Black teammate when first joining the club. He
noted that while his new teammate’s Blackness was undoubtedly a welcome sight, that was not
enough to guarantee friendship or, more generally, safety. In short, the racial composition of
teams and programs matters.
Motivations: Community, Competition, Passion
All three students in this study participated in their university’s esports programs within
their first year of matriculating. Joseph and Avery played for an esports club, whereas Jean
participated solely in varsity programs. They all actively played online multiplayer video games
in high school and looked to continue playing with their peers after college enrollment. During
their collegiate esports careers, all three students participated in tournaments. Jean and Joseph
successfully won several tournaments, which included prize money. As part of Jean’s
participation on the varsity team, he was the only student to have an esports scholarship. Joseph,

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Jean, and Avery reported grade point averages of 2.8, 3.4, and 3.5 in our final interviews.
Looking beyond their undergraduate, all participants expressed interest in pursuing a career
related to esports or within the video games industry.
Passion, competition, and community motivated each player to participate in college
esports. Competition is obviously central to esports, i.e., competitive gaming. Community is
formed and forged around a shared interest in various online games. Passion translates to an
outpour of energy into esports without questioning the required emotional, physical, and
sometimes academic sacrifices. Although all narratives encompass elements of these three
motives individually, each story represents one motive with more intensity. Joseph’s
commitment to the community is depicted in his relentless dedication to his esports club. Jean’s
drive towards competing in esports championships led him to move across the country and
transfer institutions several times. Avery’s inexorable passion for esports pushed him into
playing on multiple teams just to get a chance to compete in tournaments. Together community,
competition, and passion make up the magnetic forces of a passion affinity spaced around
esports.
Passion
Passion is exemplified by each student’s burning desire to compete and perform at the
highest level. Passion is especially evident throughout Avery’s narrative. From his willingness to
play multiple games to his conflicting organizational philosophies with the club’s Vice President,
Sara. He is all in on esports. That feeling is evident in his hunger to compete and win. Rather
than dedicating his time to one particular game, his passion precludes him from specializing in
one. Of the three participants, Avery appeared to be the most in tune with his Black identity.
With his family’s pro-Black messaging ingrained in his psyche, Avery’s passion for competition

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compelled him to assume a leadership position in a club where he is the only other Black player.
Similarly, Joseph’s willingness to sacrifice his time and energy to build an esports program
demonstrates a deep love for the game. He admits that in the earliest stages of the club’s
development when the demands were highest, his desire to grow the program caused his grades
to suffer.
Competition
Innate to esports is competition. As expected, each participant loved the competitive
nature of college esports. Jean’s trajectory was particularly symbolic of an intense affinity
towards competition as his esports career largely dictated his higher education trajectory.
Ranking in the top 1% of Overwatch players, Jean’s talent was highly sought after. After taking a
leave of absence, Jean was subsequently recruited by one coach to attend Mountain College.
Unsatisfied with his team’s performance, he was again recruited by a player and coach at St.
Francis University. At both institutions, he was offered scholarship money to play. Ultimately,
Jean’s desire to compete was capped off by winning a conference championship and placing top
16 in collegiate esports' most competitive tournament. Comparatively, Joseph’s esports
participation was unequivocally motivated by competition. When asked what was most
satisfying about playing esports, he emphatically described how the adrenaline rush from
competing and winning is addicting. That satisfying feeling derived from competing in
tournaments is what motivated Joseph to help establish and grow his college’s esports club.
Finally, Avery’s competitive nature was most apparent when our conversation veered into his
vision for his club. Planning to run for club president, his platform directly opposed his
opponent. Avery believed that esports programs’ primary goal is to win. For him, competitive
integrity was paramount.

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Community
Online communities and connectivity were central to each participant’s narrative. Digital
communities, such as Discord, GroupMe, and Twitter, provided a centralized space for players to
communicate with their teammates and stay in tune with their esports program’s events. It should
be noted that each participant was forced to rely on online communities for some of their
undergraduate studies due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. However, even after students returned
to on-campus housing and in-person classes, social media websites like Discord were the hub for
their esports programs. For example, Avery’s first interaction with his esports organization was
online via their team’s Discord server. From there, he learned about a video they were shooting
and met the team in-person several days later. Joseph connected with like-minded friends, who
would eventually become founding members of his esports club, on GroupMe. In an effort to
develop a more robust infrastructure, he transferred members from GroupMe to Discord. Finally,
Jean catapulted his esports career after stumbling upon a recruitment post via Twitter. He later
connected with other high-level Overwatch players on Discord. As technology advances,
websites, and applications ebb and flow in popularity. Thus, a takeaway from this study is less
about the importance of Discord and Twitter as facilitating community and more about students
actively identifying online resources to create networks. With the click of a few buttons, students
can subvert geographical distances to forge online groups united by shared interests. Colleges
and universities should embrace these digital spaces to engage students who otherwise may not
be as inclined to engage with the campus community.
Complicating Diversity Discourse in Collegiate Esports
The college esports literature is devoid of analyzing diversity using a racial lens. While
diversity in gender and sexual orientation are often advocated for (Ratan et al., 2015; Taylor &

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Stout, 2020; Voorhees & Orlando, 2018; Witkowski, 2017), findings from this study indicate
that race should be added to the discourse. Race and racial diversity are consequential axes when
considering the inclusive nature of esports programs. Avery and Joseph experienced explicit
racialization through racial jokes and microaggressions. These findings echo higher education
literature demonstrating the manifestations of hostile campus climate environments in students’
out-of-class experiences (Harper & Hurtado, 2007; Harwood et al., 2012; Stokes, 2020). While
this study assesses campus racial climate, Avery and Jean described their college context as
conservative and racially hostile. Consistent with the literature on counter-spaces (Givens, 2016;
Guiffrida, 2003; Patton, 2006; Solórzano et al., 2000), Jean’s coach sought to buffer against any
potential hostility Jean and his Black teammates may encounter by placing them in a group
message together. Within the context of an HBCU, Joseph did not have any direct experiences
of rationalization, as we would assume, being in a racially homogenous, predominantly black
team. This indicates the importance of racial diversity.
It should be noted that some esports players are native to a domain where anonymous
racism is normalized. Jean and Avery allude to their experiences playing online multiplayer
video games before college as desensitizing them against racist language. Just because racist
encounters are commonplace, each student’s sensitivity to and resilience toward online racism is
vast and should not be taken for granted. Avery and Jean described themselves as calloused,
seeming to brush off racial jokes and microaggressions at the moment. Yet each told a story
about their teammates exhibiting racially insensitive behaviors and subsequent feelings of
offense from their teammate’s behaviors. In other words, Black students who may be
accustomed to enduring racism in online video games should not be expected to do the same
within their college esports programs.

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Esports as a Legitimate Form of Out-of-Class Engagement
Higher education research has yet to legitimize college esports explicitly. Considering the
amount of time and labor each participant invested in their respective organizations, college
esports should be considered a legitimate extracurricular activity. Within games studies, gamers
have been shown to be stereotyped as nerdy, lazy, and anti-social (Schaeperkoetter et al., 2017;
Shaw, 2012, Williams, 2003). While university financial investments in esports programs are
indications universities are seriously considering esports, findings from this study signal there is
still resistance to recognizing competitive video games as legitimate investments of time. The
participants’ parents also undermine the legitimacy of this activity.
College esports is more than just playing video games. The growing popularity of college
esports has resulted in a unique opportunity for Black students to engage in an extracurricular
activity that fosters their professional development and contributes to their overall success.
Evidenced throughout the participant narratives is how demanding esports programs are. Each
participant invested significant amounts of time and energy into their respective programs.
Joseph and Avery spent approximately 20 hours a week on club-related duties, including
practices and the administrative duties required of club leaders. Administrative duties include
recruiting students, managing practice and tournament schedules, as well as developing their
social media branding. Both were deeply committed to ensuring their programs' growth and
assumed positions on their respective club’s executive committees.
Findings from this research support Murray et al. (2021), indicating the professional
skills developed and attained while participating in the esports ecosystem. Each student in this
study outwardly expressed how their participation in esports inspired them to continue pursuing
a career within the video games industry. Their interest in esports as a profession was bolstered

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through their investment in this extracurricular activity. Findings from this study should also
legitimize esports on college campuses as a space for professional development. In particular,
college esports can operate as a professional pipeline into the video game industry that is
predominantly white. Esports exists within a creative ecosystem that fosters professionally
legitimate media and technological skills. For example, Joseph helped maintain and build an
esports program by using social media, editing digital graphics, conducting in-person, and
fundraising money for his program to build an esports lab. In comparison, Jean demonstrated a
commitment to his passion and ascended to the top 1% within his craft. The level of dedication
required to attain that should be recognized. Additionally, Avery’s willingness to be a multi-
esports athlete cannot be understated. Overall, they are leveraging social media, marketing skills,
managing small teams, and performing in a high-pressure environment. Together, these skills are
highly valuable in today's job market and may inspire future Black students to pursue a career
within the predominantly white video game industry. As esports programs continue to sprout on
campuses, it is critical that higher education staff and faculty recognize esports programs as a
legitimate source for extracurricular enrichment.
Each participant described a sense of tension or disconnect between their passion for
esports and their parents' understanding. In Joseph’s case, his parents made snide remarks about
his video gaming habits. At one point, they even asked if he was sure about bringing his gaming
console with him to college. Their minds quickly changed once they learned that Joseph earned
scholarship money from winning an esports tournament. Similarly, Jean’s parents were
outwardly critical of his esports participation. Even after ranking top within the top 1% of
Overwatch players, earning a scholarship, winning a collegiate esports championship, and
accepting a paid position to coach college esports, Jean's mother was skeptical of his esports

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career. She worried that his career choice would not make him money. It was not until days
before graduating from St. Francis accepted Jean’s professional decision. Furthermore, Avery’s
parents were much more neutral towards esports. All they cared about was Avery’s in-class
performance. In fact, Avery’s earliest memory of playing video games was with his father. As
long as his academic responsibilities were handled, they supported him. Yet even Avery
admitted that conversations with his parents about his esports experiences were limited.
Together each participant’s guardians' understanding of esports is misunderstood. This
finding is critical in contextualizing Black college esports players. Not only are Black students
dealing with ostracization within the esports community for their race, but also with their own
families for playing video games. Although the intentions behind marginalization are different
Black esports players, are experiencing pushback from loved ones and strangers.
Recommendations
Implications for Practice
The experiences of Black esports players, as highlighted throughout this study, provide
valuable insights for higher education practitioners seeking to foster more inclusive and
supportive environments for diverse student populations. Moving forward, it is important for
higher education institutions to continue to examine and address issues of racism and inequality
in order to support the success of Black students. This includes actively working to dismantle
institutional and structural racism, as well as creating and sustaining support networks and
programs that empower and uplift Black students. Furthermore, the findings also highlight the
unique challenges faced by Black college esports players, who not only face marginalization
within the esports community but also from their own families who may not understand or
support their participation in video games. This underscores the importance of creating

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supportive environments that validate and value the experiences and contributions of Black
college esports players. While small in scope, this study based on the findings, implications
emerge that can inform practice around campus climate, recruitment, mentorship, representation,
and recognizing esports as legitimate sites for engagement.
The professional skills developed through esports, such as social media management,
marketing, and team management, are highly valuable in today's job market and can serve as a
pipeline for Black students into the predominantly white video game industry. Higher education
institutions should recognize and promote college esports programs as a source of extracurricular
enrichment and professional development, and work to create supportive environments that
validate the experiences and contributions of Black college esports players. By doing so,
institutions can contribute to the success and well-being of their Black students and help to
dismantle the longstanding stereotypes and marginalization faced by gamers in higher education.
Continuing to improve campus climate conditions is one area of focus for higher
education practitioners. Institutions must work to create a more inclusive campus climate that
supports the success of Black esports undergraduates. This includes addressing racism,
discrimination, and microaggressions in and outside the esports community. One way to do this
is by offering mandatory diversity and inclusion training for all esports program staff, coaches,
and players. These trainings will help raise awareness of the unique challenges faced by Black
students and provide guidance on creating a more inclusive environment. This training should
also be extended to the broader campus community to foster a culture of inclusivity. Establishing
affinity groups, safe spaces, and diversity-focused programming promotes inclusivity and fosters
a sense of belonging.

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Another way esports programs can ensure Black players feel included is to recruit Black
players. Each participant in this study acknowledged how having another Black teammate within
their program made them feel at ease about potential exclusion. Institutions should develop
targeted recruitment strategies for attracting Black students to their esports programs.
Collaboration with high schools, community organizations, and esports communities can help
raise awareness and foster interest among underrepresented populations. High schools with
predominantly Black student populations should be particularly targeted to introduce esports as a
potential college pathway. Organizing workshops, information sessions, and visits to college
esports facilities can spark interest and provide a comprehensive understanding of the
opportunities available in college esports. As evidenced by Joseph’s experience with
Cxmmunity, partnering with community organizations can help institutions connect with
potential Black esports talent.
Similarly, higher education practitioners should actively promote the representation and
visibility of Black students in esports, both in leadership positions and as members of
competitive teams. Not only will this inspire other Black students to join but it will also
challenge existing stereotypes and misconceptions about esports and race. Avery’s reflection on
seeing a Black player in the program exemplifies why representation matters. To be clear,
representation and visibility matter but are not comprehensive solutions. Solely increasing the
number of Black players without addressing other systemic issues, such as racism, is insufficient
and may lead to tokenism (Milem et al., 2005; Yosso & Solórzano, 2006). Tokenism is a
symptom of solely focusing on representation. While representation and visibility are essential,
narratives similar to Jean’s will continue to emerge without additional support services and a
healthy campus climate.

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Mentorship and support from campus leaders are other areas practitioners may consider.
Substantial research indicates the role of mentorship and support for Black undergraduates
Blake‐Beard et al., 2011; Bordes-Edgar et al., 2011; Strayhorn, 2008). Higher education
practitioners should work to create and sustain mentorship programs that connect Black esports
students with experienced players, coaches, and industry professionals. These relationships can
provide guidance, support, and inspiration, ultimately increasing retention and success rates.
Joseph is an excellent example of this, as he spoke about wanting to leave a legacy of community
building. Students like Avery, Joseph, and Jean should be encouraged to mentor their successors
and serve as resources. Furthermore, as seen through Joseph and Jean’s narrative, support staff
are valuable resources. Joseph’s feeling that the staff did not respect the esports club until they
made money indicates a need for staff who understand the esports space. While it is not
necessary for staff to be native to esports, respect for the craft and, in turn, the student’s esports
experience will create a more supportive relationship between students and their institution. In
addition to knowledgeable staff, institutional support could come in the form of on-campus space
and funding. While these are often two very sought after resources, institutions could leverage
their partnerships with outside businesses to solicit funding and equipment donations for esports
programs.
Finally, higher education staff, faculty, and scholars must recognize esports programs as
legitimate sites of extracurricular engagement. There is an imperative for institutional
stakeholders to understand such an environment for not only Black players but other minoritized
student populations as well. Online communities such as esports represent student engagement
within a digital, online context. Esports are necessary spaces to recognize and examine student
engagement as a whole. Students are steeped in a world of technology that is constantly evolving

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and often emerge as the earliest professionals moving the industry forward. This is evidenced by
Jean, who is pursuing a master’s in business with a focus on esports programming, and Joseph,
who is preparing to work in the video games industry after graduating with a business degree.
Both are amongst the earliest leaders of collegiate esports. Thus, higher education professionals
and curricula should encourage students to continue leveraging their passions into professional
opportunities.
Future Research
The rapidly growing field of esports presents a unique opportunity for higher education
scholars to investigate its impact on students' development and success. As esports continues to
gain prominence on college campuses, it is essential for researchers to examine the specific
benefits that participation in these programs can offer, particularly for Black students, who
remain underrepresented in both the esports and the broader gaming industry. Empirical
evidence from studies on extracurricular activities has consistently demonstrated the positive
impact of participation on students' academic performance, cognitive skills, psychosocial
development, and overall success (Gerber, 1996; Eccles & Barber, 1999; Mahoney et al., 2005).
However, a more comprehensive understanding of the benefits associated with esports
involvement for this population is needed. By focusing on these areas, higher education scholars
can contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the benefits associated with esports
participation for Black students. This knowledge will be invaluable for higher education
professionals and policymakers as they work to create more inclusive and supportive
environments that promote the success of all students, particularly those from underrepresented
backgrounds.

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Higher education researchers should also continue examining issues around racial
diversity in collegiate esports and how gender and sexuality complicate this issue. This includes
research on other racial and ethnically minoritized student populations. If the men in this study
were experiencing hostility for their Blackness in a space dominated by men, racially minoritized
women are likely subjected to a distinct kind of toxicity. Moreover, higher education student
affairs professionals must have language, practices, and tools that can equitably support students
who engage in it. Additional studies should consider more nuanced approaches to addressing and
protecting students from racism within these hybrid, digital, and physical spaces. More generally,
my findings provide strong claims that we need more research and overall support for Black
athletes/players in predominantly white sports.
Additional scrutiny should be placed on third-party tournament organizers. Be critical
and intentional about which third-party organizations clubs are engaging with. Future research
should consider the efficacy and legitimacy of third-party organizations. Without adequate
regulation or models for best practices, third-party organizations could capitalize on the limited
legitimacy and agency of college esports programs. Colleges should recognize the potential harm
and advantages of esports programs participating in tournaments hosted by community
organizations. Particular focus should be made on ensuring fair student treatment and equitable
access. For club programs, third-party tournament organizers are often their only opportunity to
participate in tournaments with financial incentives and require students to enroll and even pay
before competing. Although higher education institutions cannot control what third-party
services students use, college esports represent a gray area around professional and amateur
esports.

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Future research should delve deeper into the concepts of inclusivity and maintaining
competitive integrity within the esports domain. Scholars could further investigate the tension
between fostering inclusion and upholding competitive integrity in esports programs, examining
the complex relationship between these two important aspects. By doing so, they can help
develop more precise, transparent, and objective criteria for recruiting players, which can
enhance the overall fairness and diversity within esports teams.
A crucial question raised by Avery's discussion on inclusion is: what does it mean to have
a racially inclusive team while still remaining competitive? With secondary schools increasingly
adopting esports, scholars might find a wealth of best practices and implementation strategies at
these sites. This discussion builds on the distinctions between varsity esports and esports clubs
highlighted by Taylor and Stout (2020). Clubs often prioritize community building over winning,
while varsity sports, with their greater financial investments, prioritize success. Investigating
these differences further can provide valuable insights into how various esports structures
influence inclusivity and competitive balance.
Moreover, examining the meritocratic values framed around competitive integrity versus
inclusion is essential. Based on the participant narratives from this study, the notion of color
evasiveness as a meritocracy is undoubtedly present, albeit not explicitly stated. For instance,
Avery discussed the tension between his and Sara's philosophical views on their esports club. On
the one hand, Avery prioritized competitive integrity (i.e., the club's roster should be constructed
to ensure the highest win percentage), while Sara believed teams should be formed based on
interest alone. Sara's perspective suggested that any player who wanted to join the club should be
allowed to do so. This tension is representative of meritocracy, where meritocratic perspectives
are race-agnostic or race-evasive, as they do not consider race as a proxy for skill.

112

Finally, researchers should investigate what it means to maintain competitive integrity
while cultivating an inclusive esports program in a domain where equipment can offer a distinct
competitive advantage (Spjut et al., 2019; Murakami & Miyachi, 2022). By understanding these
dynamics, higher education institutions can better support the development and success of all
students involved in esports programs, while fostering inclusivity and diversity in a rapidly
growing industry. The findings from this research can be instrumental in shaping the policies and
practices of esports programs at various educational levels, ultimately promoting a more
equitable and inclusive gaming environment for all participants.
Conclusion
Esports is a rapidly changing space. From the inception of this research in 2019 to the
conclusion of these interviews in 2023, the esports landscape has evolved considerably. The
coronavirus pandemic forced students inside their homes, leaving them only time to engage in
online activities. As a result, students like Joseph and Avery spent their entire first year of
undergraduate study at home. Both students teeming with excitement to interact with their peers,
were forced to rely on avenues (e.g., esports) to cultivate community. With students returning to
on-campus activities, scholars should be wary of the lingering impacts stay-at-home orders had
on students’ engagement with the campus. Online spaces and communities were the primary
ways of connecting to campus during that period of time, and the lingering effects of that period
are worth investigating.
It is exciting to see colleges and universities providing infrastructure and support systems
for their students. Furthermore, it is crucial for higher education institutions to center the
experiences and perspectives of Black students in their policies and practices, and to actively
work towards creating a more equitable and inclusive learning environment for all students.

113

Esports provides students a unique opportunity to escape the harsh realities of the outside world.
At its core, esports is about competing and having fun in a community of others with a shared
passion for the game. Although each participant detailed specific incidents of racialization, so
much of their excitement and focus of each interview was on the experience of playing
competitive video games in college. Each student spoke with a great deal of enthusiasm about
their passion for competitive gaming. Ultimately, their passion for esports superseded the racial
jokes and microaggressions. For students like Jean, Joseph, and Avery, college esports gave
them purpose and identity. Unlike their Blackness, each student opted into esports. As higher
education institutions continue to fulfill missions around inclusion, equity, and curriculum
development, this study implores researchers to consider the myriad ways race, video games, and
sports serve as critical exploration sites.

114

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Abstract (if available)

Abstract The underrepresentation of Black students in collegiate esports is a pressing issue, given the increasing investment in the college esports ecosystem and the high rate of video game engagement among Black teens. This qualitative study explores the experiences of Black undergraduates participating on college esports teams and examines the role race plays in various college esports contexts. Findings reveal that participants share a passion for gaming and competing, valuing the sense of community they derive from playing with others who share their interests. However, they also discuss the impact of their racial identities on their experiences, including microaggressions and racism. Despite these challenges, they remain motivated to pursue careers in the esports industry, attributing their online communities to helping them connect with like-minded individuals and providing safe spaces for communication and organization. The study underscores the importance of understanding the racialized experiences of Black collegiate esports players and highlights the need for greater representation and inclusivity in esports.

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Creator Ortega, Jaymon Tijon (author)

Core Title The racialized experiences of Black esports players: an exploratory study

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Urban Education Policy

Degree Conferral Date 2023-08

Publication Date 08/23/2023

Defense Date 08/21/2023

Publisher Los Angeles, California (original), University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Black undergraduates,college esports,OAI-PMH Harvest,race,student engagement

Format theses (aat)

Language English

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Advisor Harper, Shaun (committee chair), Bellamy, Gordon (committee member), Corwin, Zoe (committee member)

Creator Email jayortegas54@gmail.com,jtortega@usc.edu

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