This is the master directory of student programs within the Department of Esports & Co-Curricular Innovation housed within the Division of Student Affairs at The University of Oklahoma. As of Fall 2022, we have six(7) different programs we facilitate under 4 different areas of focus. These are aimed at creating a path-to-industry mentality while supporting students who choose to get involved. This page will outline leadership for each program and BIOs from students within each. This will also provide direct links to a further deep dive into each area of interest.
R&D began in Fall 2016 with developing gaming and esports culture out of the department of Information Technology by Mike “Moog” Aguilar, the current Director of the department. Through this research, he discovered several amazing students who would become the champions and founders of the program, as explained below.
After years of advocacy, strategic planning, and student driven fundraising, The Division of Student Affairs within The University of Oklahoma formally elevated the topic and effort into a departmental state in Fall of 2020 from its humble grassroots student org origins.
Finally, in Spring of 2022 , they formalized the first full-time Director and started to accelerate development towards more funding, physical resources, etc. All programs listed are either scholarship or payroll enabled and to see further historical documentation click the button below to see more of our historical documentation.
Immediate Perks:
All development members are required to be members of the OU Gaming Club for one simple fact, gaming is for everyone, and everyone is welcome. Keeping this as our core principles helps us combat the often toxic behaviors in extremely competitive efforts or dismission to specific demographics.
The Leadership Program is comprised of students who have risen to the power and responsibility of developing our efforts from top down. Students in leadership are often selected from the rosters of the programs they now coordinate. They create policy, inspire various tasks, function autonomously, while also ensuring collaborations between programs happen when appropriate. They are often included in corporate meetings, prospective brand partnerships, and sponsorship discussions. In addition, they ensure we maintain organization across our 3.1K+ member community and over 180 students in programing. Student leadership with a roster of responsibility are defined in their respective sections below.
The University of Oklahoma was awarded the Collegiate Esports Program of the Year in 2023 which is a global award issued by The Esports Awards. All of our programs are the reason why.
The Leadership team was part of our original strategic planning. This falls under the banner of top level "Esports & Co-Curricular Innovation”. These are the heads of all the programs below and are the first to evolve from our student leadership positions of a registered student origination into payroll into graduate assistants and finally employees of The University of Oklahoma.
Our Community & Labs program is focused around putting on inclusive programming to embrace the diverse interest of gamers at OU. All titles, regardless if it is a first-person shooter like Call of Duty or a social and casual game like Animal Crossing or Minecraft, receive the same respect that can manifest as watch parties for global competitions, social mixers (back to school and end of year programming), and general gatherings focused around a gaming topic.
In addition to the core mission, they also function as the liaisons for philanthropic initiatives, youth outreach, K-12 school collaborations, and university external fan engagements. Some examples of this have been hosting state qualifiers for K-12 leagues, hosting open to the public Smash Brothers nights, and events during the Spring Game and Football season in collaboration with athletics.
The Community & Labs team was part of our original strategic planning. This falls under the banner of “OU Gaming Club” as an extension of The University of Oklahoma department of Esports and Co-Curricular Innovation alongside “OU Esports” and “SoonerEsports.org”. The OU Gaming Club is the origination of all of our efforts dating back to 2016 and ultimately birthed the very OU ECCI Department that now sponsors, supports, and has now elevated it with a full complex.
In 2024 we restructured our influencer development, media & news, and production programs under "Creative Content". These programs are a collective of different media focused intentions. Covering the full spectrum of journalistic practicum, expressive media, entertainment, editorial news coverage, as well as interactive media platforms. If you're wondering why? The simple answer is you cannot be a fan of teams if you can't watch them, learn about them, their leagues, or their personas. Media drives the narrative and documents it for all in real-time.
The Creative Content programs live under the "Sooner Esports" branding as our media outlet housed on sooneresports.org. Much like the intention of media outlets in the mainstream this collective leverages this brand as well as the "OU Esports" branding to legitimize its reporting, entertainment, and formalization within the OU ECCI collective.
Our Intercollegiate Esports program currently develops over 15 different esports titles who compete against other universities regionally, nationally, and even globally. This program represents the most commonality to athletic-based programs, including external recruitment, team based strategy, sportsmanlike conduct emphases, and mental and physical health. These are extremely important to us because we have the influence to reset the traditional gamer stereotypes. We break these expectations by requiring our students to maintain high academic success, build camaraderie, and promote positive culture that embraces uniqueness instead of reacting with toxicity.
The Intercollegiate Esports program was part of our original strategic planning.. This falls under the banner of “OU Esports” as an extension of The University of Oklahoma department of Esports and Co-Curricular Innovation alongside “OU Gaming Club” and “SoonerEsports.org”. The OU Esports brand are the licensed nickname we use for our official competitive rosters, the ECCI social platforms, and the brand voice of the ECCI collective effort.
OU Esports:
OU Gaming Club: