BREAKING: OU Esports Announces Solidus Scholarships Starting in 2021

The University of Oklahoma will be offering scholarships for students “as soon as Spring 2021” according to a press release from the university. 

The press release, originally drafted by Sooner Esports’s own Michela Thompson, posted today announced groundbreaking news for the Oklahoma esports community. The OU department of Esports & Co-curricular Innovation is able to directly give back to the students who have driven the organization’s growth while funding future members through academic scholarships. Scholarship recipients are to include student leadership, competitive players, streaming entertainment, shoutcasting, community organizers, writers, and more! The scholarships are named for a student who passed in 2011 and are officially called The Forest Dayne “Solidus” Sharpe Scholarships.

The decision here at OU is important to its students but makes it stand out amongst other collegiate esports programs.

Firstly, funding is the culmination of years of work driven by students for students. It is the promise finally coming to fruition that began at the founding of the club. This is crucial, as it rewards those who put their blood, sweat, and tears into making OU Esports what it is today while proving that the organization has the drive necessary to persevere.

So then, what does OU Esports need if it already has drive? The tools — i.e., the funding — to really showcase what fully-fledged and fully-realized esports at OU will look like.

Secondly, OU stands out not just because it has esports scholarships. Rather, OU Esports stands out because of what specifically they are funding. A further breakdown is below, but in essence, the esports department plans to not only give scholarships to its competitive players, but it aims to give funding to all of its other non-competitive pillars: Community, Leadership, Media & News, Shoutcasting, and Streaming.

Esports is an entire industry, not just its competitive members, and the department reflects this in its pillars and its funding.

Forest Dayne “Solidus” Sharp, the namesake of the incoming scholarship, was an alum at the University of Oklahoma. Solidus graduated in 2007 but continued into his masters. He passed away in 2011 at the age of 28 and was posthumously awarded his Master’s in 2012.

To honor Solidus achievements and memories, we sought to memorialize him in more than just name. We framed an OU Esports official jersey and delivered it to Gretchen “Momma Solidus” Evans, in front of Evans Hall. The event was recorded.

The OU Department of Esports & Co-Curricular Innovation plans to continue expansion of scholarships past the 21-22 school year but here is what is confirmed scholarship roles for 2021-2022. Amounts, quantities, and criteria will be outlined in May/June 2021.

For the competitive pillar, the organization announced the first titles to receive funding will be Rocket League, Valorant, Overwatch, and League of Legends. Also of note is that the competitive coaches will be provided a stipend to start recruitment efforts needed across those titles for Fall 2021 and onward.

There are two types of scholarships: Primary & Secondary.

Primaries reflect scholarships for the six main pillars.

• Solidus Leadership – This award finds and enables high achieving students capable of keeping OU’s esports and gaming community and operations developments in tune with culture needs and business evolution. It is a job posting that keeps the leadership ranks of the club efforts filled as well as the departmental needs of the university moving forward.
• Solidus Ambassador – Awarded to students who showcase community focused leadership ability and willingness to host events that are both big and small that create inclusive programming for the diverse interests of gamers collectively. Tournament and community operators are the foundation of communities abroad. Without good event coordinators there are no events, opportunities for engagement, or business opportunities for sponsorship.
• Solidus Media & News – Awarded to students who have shown a desire to report, interview, and cover industry-wide and local events alike. These candidates are journalists who may have skills in creative media production, event coverage, professional writing and/or public relations.
• Solidus Persona – Awarded to students who possess the ability to announce live broadcasts leveraging vocal inclination, emotional draw and real-time storytelling to elevate gameplay and produce marketable productions. Students with the ability to handle the backend of production are also considered.
• Solidus Influencer – Awarded to students who have deep interests in leveraging live streaming as a means to grow personal and affiliated brands and provide entertainment through influencing the community to relate to our brand and culture as well as be an extension of our diverse collective.
• Solidus Challenger – Awarded to students who possess the talents of high tier gameplay similar to how we scout conventional athletes to develop teams for national representation and success.

Secondaries award exemplary students in gaming & esports from disadvantaged and marginalized backgrounds.

• Solidus First Generation Gamer – This additional award is designed to bolster opportunities for first generation students in addition to the primary awards of interest. This is aimed at growing adoption in the topic for first generation college students that have talents and desires in gaming and esports and a direct answer to providing aid to ensure equalization of prospective opportunities.
• Solidus Woman in Gaming & Esports – This additional award is designed to bolster opportunities for first women in gaming and esports students in addition to the primary awards of interest. This is aimed at growing adoption against gender based inequality that have talents and desires in gaming and esports. It serves as a direct answer to providing emphasis on balancing and correcting the unequal representation of women in our space. This award was created from inspiration and direct feedback of women in our programs since creation.

OU announced, effective for the Spring 2021 semester, that OU Esports leadership and coaches of development titles will be receiving scholarships. The following are the award recipients, the first ever to receive esports scholarships at the University of Oklahoma.

Find more information from the University of Oklahoma here .

On behalf of fellow leadership, I want to thank so many people for getting us here. Thank you to Solidus, whose execution on campus was meaningful and before his time but reminds us we cannot take any of this for granted. Thank you to my other leaders who inspire me every day with their drive, talent, and passion. Thank you to the OU gaming community for always supporting us and continuing to make this school a fun place to be. Thank you to OU Student Affairs for seeing us as a force for community & fun. And thanks to the sponsor for funding the esports dream here at OU.

I’m honored to be among the first of hopefully many, many recipients of the Solidus scholarships. To future OU students, we are working tirelessly on the shoulders of giants to build a program here that you will love and enjoy.
This is momentous, and I think we are going to prove that investing more than just money & players in an esports program will prove to be a massive success for students — and OU.

Live On, University
DefectSnow.