ABOUT OUR SCHOLARSHIP NAMESAKE
Forest Dayne “Solidus” Sharp was a huge influence in the gaming community at OU, in Norman and across the state of Oklahoma. He is largely recognized as the primary founding energy behind one of Oklahoma’s premier gaming events called Super Bit Wars which has existed since 2012. Forest personified the same energy that founded the current developments of The University of Oklahoma’s gaming and esports programs focusing on grassroots community growth for inclusion as priority. Forest graduated from The University of Oklahoma in 2007 with a Bachelors of Arts in Anthropology and was finishing his thesis for his Master’s degree in the History of Science which was posthumously awarded in 2012. Forest passed in 2011 at the age of 28.
CONTEXT & TRIBUTE
In March 2018, we partnered with HXC Gaming Events, a current partner of ours since 2017. We learned about a fighting gaming community (FGC) tournament that was birthed on OU’s campus way before we even started development. During the event this tribute video played to which Momma Solidus was also in attendance. This was the first time since it’s start that Super Bit Wars had returned to it’s birth place at OU. After hearing this story presented like this, it was clear to us Solidus was the future name of our first scholarship offerings. In February 2021, we made it a reality. Please take a moment to learn about this Sooner who was way ahead of the curve and the energy he established, not only at OU, but for the entire state. In the same spirit of our development, it was community that taught us about our own legacy and further solidified who we needed to be and stay at our core.
STATEMENT OF TRANSPARENCY
Before we dive into the numbers and all the positive energy we want to make sure we are being transparent. While these program averages are amazing, students sometimes do miss the mark and often have to step away from our program due to lack of focus on their academic goals and primary purpose for being at OU. We take their academic endeavors seriously and are always our #1 priority over performance and participation. However, we also know that separating students away from things like this can be demoralizing and further push them down the path of failure. As we keep active tabs on all of our students in programs we actively work with them to ensure their balance and needs are met. From mental health concerns and academic performance to social time and fellowship we continuously aim to promote a culture of camaraderie and scholarly achievement in tandem with our success in development. These numbers reflect all students in programs regardless of being academically eligible or on probation as they reprioritize their focus.
GLOBAL REQUIREMENTS OF ALL AWARDS
- Current or prospective FULL-TIME student of OU
- Good standing with the university
- 2.5+ GPA
- Full-Time Status
- Must be a member of OU Gaming Club
GPA REPORT CARD (OVERALL) (As of 4.1.2022)
AWARDING OVERALL (2021-2022 OVERALL)
ABOUT ESPORTS & CO-CURRICULAR PROGRAMS
All scholarship awards are tied back to strategic development pillars and are labeled as such. Since our 2016 start we valued all six(6) of these developments equally understanding the interconnectivity of them when looking at the industry. Through that we connect back to opportunities of interest in students, strategic alignments with the university, and academic curriculum and research opportunities. To learn more about all of our programs click the OU Esports & Co-Curricular Innovation Logo.
The Solidus Leadership Awards (7 Total - Leadership Pillar)
AWARDS
- Up to $2000/yr each
LEADERSHIP GPA AVERAGE
Students in this program represent the tip of the sword in our development. The students that comprise our leadership team showcase personal initiative and high energy as they head each one of these individual programs and are put in direct contact with peer university programs, industry businesses and professionals, and present to other administrative bodies in and outside of the University of Oklahoma.
Our goals are to create professionals through mentorship and understanding that life long learning mentality is critical to innovation right now in the collegiate esports industry. This means students are encouraged to try everything and are taught to embrace failure equally with success to develop truly unique programming. There is not a single professional in esports that only does a single job. Our goal with these students is to directly impact the industry and can sustain stress, heavy logistics, and still be productive as the current state of esports administrators all exemplify.
Leadership candidates are selected from within the pipelines of active members in each of the programs we develop in the hopes of also mentoring high achieving students to fill the vacancies of their predecessors.
Solidus Leadership Awardees
TO SEE THE FULL ROSTER CLICK HERE
- Jonathan “RadPanda” Hudson
- Meteorology, ’23
- Intercollegiate Esports Director
- Matthew “Silverplussonic” Miller
- Meterology, ’22
- Streaming Entertainment Director
- Austin “RexGoDragon” Nguyen
- Creative Media Production, ’23
- Production Director
- Zachary “Thunderbird” Satz
- Art, Technology, & Culture, ’22
- Marketing Director
- Kaleb “Slaw” Slawson
- Information Science & Technology, ’22
- Interim President
- Derek “DefectSnow” Snow
- Computer Science, ’23
- Media & News Director
- Joey “Ghost094” Yeager
- Finance, ’23
- Community Director
- Hashim “BrownDieselWagon” Hassany
- Management Info. Systems, ’22
- Outreach Coordinator
FALL 2021 ONLY RECIPIENT(S)
- Derek “DefectSnow” Snow
- Computer Science, ’23
- Media & News Director (Fall 2021)
The Solidus Ambassador Awards (3 Total - Community Pillar)
AWARDS
- Up to $1000/yr each
AMBASSADOR GPA AVERAGE (Whole Team)
AMBASSADOR GPA AVERAGE (Scholarship Only)
The community program is our way of giving back and engaging OU’s population as well as the region. We aim to find a method to cater to all gamers regardless of their diverse interests. From MOBAs (Massively Online Battle Arena) and FPS (First Person Shooter), to fighting games and cards, every game is just as unique as its player-base. We also look at opportunities to develop programming regionally by fostering events with the public or with students K-12.
For those seeking industry alignment for this pillar the best way to describe them is tournament and event organizers on a much smaller scale.
SOLIDUS AMBASSADOR AWARDEES
TO SEE THE FULL ROSTER CLICK HERE
- Jay “RaliDali” Leger
- Meteorology, ’24
- Jacob “Oculus” Ross
- Computer Science, ’24
- Montana “BitCrush” Sullivan
- Film & Media Studies, ’22
The Ambassador Role
One of the hardest tasks for any “gaming community” is to define its focus. Gamers are diverse! Not only are there many different genres of games, but there are differences in the hardware players use. Console and PC players often don’t mingle, same goes for Xbox and PS4 players.
This is where the Ambassador roles come in. It is considered a middle-tier leadership role for students who show high levels of interest in a specific title, platform, or event planning. We take the collective resources gained from networking, marketing, fundraising, and reputation as the OU Esports Club and give it to our Ambassadors so they may fixate programming for the communities on campus and in the area.
With this role, we can easily scale specific programming for communities up and down based on student interest and active community. Some example of programming that we do are weeklies for Smash, bi-weeklies for League of Legends, Overwatch, and Rocket League, and tournaments with prize pools, incentives, and more.
The Solidus Storyteller Awards (7 Total - Media & News Pillar)
AWARDS
- Up to $1000/yr each
- 2 Additional $500/yr each for leads
STORYTELLER GPA AVERAGE (Whole Team)
STORYTELLER GPA AVERAGE (Scholarship Only)
– A portion of the Storyteller Awards are funded by the Brown Family of North Texas in honor of their daughter Bailey “UltimateCodex” Brown, a 2019 alumna, who is a co-founder of this entire program and the original Director of Media & News.
The Media & News program are the storytellers of our development and housed on Sooneresports.org. The students that comprise our Media & News team showcase who we are in articles, reviews, opinion pieces, debates, and event coverage. We flex our media-centric focus to gain access to events with press passes and first-hand experiences. We partner with developers and manufacturers to review hardware and software to give opinions. We talk about trends in the industry and showcase the values we have as students at OU in the diverse gaming industries.
This program has been functioning since April 2018 and has had a constant release of content ever since. It highlights the core journalistic practicum opportunities that are essential needs in the esports sector to bringing a well-rounded entertainment package. This team is the constant standard for all of our media efforts and as workflows mature the production and streaming teams will become heavily coordinated to bring our own media production house and outlet fully online.
SOLIDUS STORYTELLER AWARDEES
TO SEE THE FULL ROSTER CLICK HERE
- Quaide “Quaide” Parker
- Creative Media Production, ’24
- Media Lead
- Cooper “Kappy” Marshall
- Journalism, ’23
- News Lead
- Rafayel “Layafer” Ilagan
- Creative Media Production, ’24
- Graphic Designer
- Sydney “Athledana” Sleeper
- Visual Communications, ’23
- Graphic Designer
- Logan “Slushy” Taylor
- Creative Media Production, ’24
- Media Creator
- Elise “Elisu” Siler
- Art, Tech, & Culture, ’23
- Media Creater
- Natalie “Rae” Machado
- Meteorology, ’25
- Writer
FALL 2021 ONLY RECIPIENT(S)
- Michela “HowdyMick” Thompson
- Public Relations, ’22
- News Lead (Fall 2021)
The Solidus Persona Awards (3 Total - Production Pillar)
AWARDS
- Up to $1000/yr each
PERSONA GPA AVERAGE (Whole Team)
PERSONA GPA AVERAGE (Scholarship Only)
Shoutcasting, or sportscasting, is the esports answer to commentary during competition and events. Have you tried watching a football game without commentary? It’s just not quite as engaging, is it? Nope! In the spirit of our drive to be our own esports entertainment powerhouse, we are developing announcers for real-time play by play announcing with heavy analytic breakdown, color casting, and after action review emphasis. Why? Because the industry is hiring them, it helps our cause, and just like sports entertainment, we have to entertain.
Our casters will be streaming the majority of content through our Twitch channel as a part of our Twitch Student benefits and focus. They will cover 100% of our own allowed matches across our current 16 teams. They will travel to tournaments where we can provide casters and bring entire setups if needed. Over time this team will have a production team to assist with sound mixing, lighting, setup, and production value. This program was piloted in the Spring 2019 semester with hopes of showcasing energies we teach within our own college of journalism as a testament and opportunity to evolve preexisting curriculum at OU.
SOLIDUS PERSONA AWARDEES
TO SEE THE FULL ROSTER CLICK HERE
- Josh “cureby” Lee
- Computer Science, ’24
- Caleb “God” Moss
- Economics, ’24
- Brandon ‘ThatWooBrandon” Villarreal
- Communication (Masters), ’22
The Solidus Influencer Awards (2 Total - Streaming Entertainment Pillar)
AWARDS
- Up to $1000/yr each
INFLUENCER GPA AVERAGE (Whole Team)
INFLUENCER GPA AVERAGE (Scholarship Only)
Streaming Entertainment is the esports answer to growing fanbases, building a community, and showcasing entertainers that reflect on gaming and its subcultures. Think of our program as all the ancillary programming you see on live sports entertainment, such as talk shows, interviews, and high-tier gameplay. This program works as the other half of our Shoutcasting Program to provide daily and weekly content. Shoutcasting represents official coverage of our sanctioned intercollegiate matches, scrims, and competitions while streaming entertainment is casual live streams produced by various members of the organization. From Super Mario Brothers speed runs to video game recipe recreations, our streamers are free to use their creativity to produce unique and interesting content. We always have new ideas in the works, such as a Sooner Esports podcasts, and panels for informative content.
SOLIDUS INFLUENCER AWARDEES
TO SEE THE FULL ROSTER CLICK HERE
- Jackson “Ajax” Boyd
- Construction Science, ’24
- Edgar “Dr. Downfall” Rivera
- Biology, ’23
FALL 2021 ONLY RECIPIENT(S)
- Jody “BosnWifey” Farmer
- Creative Media Production, ’24
The Solidus Challenger Awards (19 Total - Intercollegiate Esports Pillar)
AWARDS
- Up to $2250/yr each
CHALLENGER GPA AVERAGE (All Rosters)
CHALLENGER GPA AVERAGE (Scholarship Only)
Our Intercollegiate Competition Program is focused on developing teams and individuals for direct competition in various events, leagues, and tournaments. While the lack of governance from preexisting entities is currently limited, every school at this moment is developing their own standards for eligibility referencing their own best practices, governance they are familiar to, and the rulesets of the competitions they are entering in to. We are trying our best to standardize all requirements across the board with room for exceptions when they logically come up.
In late Fall 2018, the Esports Association at the University of Oklahoma officially obtained Competitive Club status and is officially licensed to use the venerable OU Interlocking Logo for its apparel and branding. In Fall 2021, we welcome four(4) titles into scholarship distinction across the eleven(11) total titles in development across sixteen(16) combined teams in total. League of Legends, Overwatch, Rocket League and Valorant are the first titles to elevate with Overwatch being the first to externally recruit to the university for the Fall 2021 semester.
Valorant
TO SEE THE FULL ROSTER CLICK HERE
- Andrew “ShiivR” Bell
- Mgmt. Info. Systems, ’24
- Captain
- Brandon “Mahteus” Ebrahimi
- Electrical Engineering, ’25
- Alec “Faso” Faso
- Law, ’24
- Pierson “Goopchill” Majma
- Business, ’25
- Ryan “Dououou” Scudder
- Creative Media Production, ’24
- Ethan “Toe” To
- Electrical Engineering, ’25
Fall 2021 ONLY recipient(s)
- Max “Mel” Gottwald
- International Business, ’25
Overwatch
TO SEE THE FULL ROSTER CLICK HERE
- Zachary “Divinity” Mazzie
- Undecided, ’25
- Matthew “Quinn” O’Quinn
- Theatre: Scenic Design, ’25
- Jefferson “JeffyJA” Arrington
- Biology, ’25
- Elijah “Revan” Lafferty
- Undecided, ’25
Fall 2021 ONLY recipient(s)
- Conner “KnockKnock” Robb
- Chemical Engineering, ’23
- Captain
- Nicholas “Deranged” Houchin
- Biomedical Engineering, ’23
- Nikhil “Merge” Patel
- Computer Science, ’25
- Jacob “saltykilla” Teichman
- Meteorology, ’23
League of Legends
TO SEE THE FULL ROSTER CLICK HERE
- Brandon “Penguin Architect” White
- Architecture, ’22
- Captain
- Joshua “monstersummoner” Lor
- Computer Engineering, ’24
- Jimmy “Daimiko” Nguyen
- Computer Science, ’23
- Gabe “Chacheeokc” Chavez
- Computer Science, ’25
Fall 2021 ONLY recipient(s)
- Russell “Schiecenzoria” Hanks
- Biomedical Engineering, ’22
- Mitchell “MittoFu” Van
- Computer Science, ’24
Rocket League
TO SEE THE FULL ROSTER CLICK HERE
- Corban “Bano” Tillison
- Chemical Bioscience, 24
- Captain
- Kevin “Kev” Hiedari
- Chemical Bioscence, ’24
ALL INTERCOLLEGIATE GPAS (CLUB & VARSITY COMBINED)
While we currently only award League of Legends, Overwatch, Rocket League, and Valorant we currently develop several teams based on student interest and collegiate leagues and tournaments. Below are the combined GPAs of each of our developments to show our scholastic resolve as an important factor to any team development regardless of scholarship awards or not. The key take away here is the spread of degree diversity overall. This can be seen by checking out “OUR TEAMS” from the menu or heading over to ou.edu/esports and seeing the rest of the programs degree spread.
The Solidus Champion Awards (4 Total - All Pillars Eligible)
AWARDS
- $500/ea ONE TIME
- Stack w/ other awards ONLY
CHAMPION GPA AVERAGE
Students selected for this award represent a combination of national and global underserved, underrepresented, and untapped communities. It also adds in specific gaming and esports representation opportunities of impact for selection. This award can only be stacked on top of any of the other awards above. This is because of direct feedback from the student communities it serves asking to be identified as capable and high achieving in these topic first with all other identifiers being secondary.
Solidus Leadership Awardees
- Jody “BosnWifey” Farmer
- Creative Media Production, ’24
- Influencer Primary Award
- Caleb “God” Moss
- Economics, ’23
- Persona Primary Award
- Michela “HowdyMick” Thompson
- Public Relations, ’22
- Storyteller (News Lead) Primary Award
- Jimmy “Daimiko” Nguyen
- Computer Science, ’23
- Challenger (League of Legends) Primary Award
OTHER SIGNIFICANT FULL PROGRAM ANALYTICS (163 Members - Spring 2022)
SELECTION COMMITTEE
2021 was the first year the University of Oklahoma has ever awarded scholarship in the context of gaming and esports. It is a huge milestone after the September 2020 creation of the department of Esports & Co-Curricular Innovation inside the Division of Student Affairs. Below we will list each of our 7 different awards, their purpose, GPA averages across our programs, and our student awardees.
The intention of these scholarships is to focus on multiple paths to industry through diversification of various programs that we see as components to both esports and gaming infrastructure, revenue generation, and necessity. Our developments began in November 2016 as a humble collegiate grassroots student organization. Now it represents the largest singular gaming community on campus with over 2700 members, six(6) programs all of which have scholarship awards, and so much more.
The initial selection committee is comprised of leadership who has functioned as top level oversight to assist with integration, development, and strategic planning for elevation from the beginning. In future years, each award will have it’s own specific committees that will aid in the selection process that will be compromised of local external leaders, alumni, and staff or faculty. We used this opportunity to learn our workflows and the opportunities for improvement as a year one process.
2021-2022 SELECTION COMMITTEE
- Michael “Moog” Aguilar, M.B.A.
- Director, OU Esports & Co-Curricular Innovation
- Founder & Lead Advisor, OU Gaming Club
- Adjunct Instructor, Gaylord College of Journalism & Mass Communication
- Brynn “BduB” Daves, M.H.R.
- Assistant Vice President for OU Student Affairs
- Associate Dean of Students
- Millard “CognitoMyst” Latimer, M.B.A
- Manager, Sr. Technology Strategist, OU Information Technology
- Founder and Staff Advisor, OU Gaming Club
ABOUT FUNDING
100% of the funding currently for all of the Solidus Scholarships comes from contributions from alumni and supporters of our program. In respecting their wishes and community taking care of this program, 100% of those funds were put directly into these scholarships exclusively. This keeps the direct pipeline of contributions to the Solidus Fund purely aimed at impacting student opportunity and achievement. In the spirit of our namesake “for the community, by the community”. Funding for operations, staffing, and other budgets will come from other sources. Any donor who wishes to support a specific program and let it be known publicly are listed below and in each session.
SPECIAL THANKS
– To our anonymous donors who have contributed over $100K towards the Solidus Fund in 2021 that we first announced in Spring 2021.
– To the Brown Family of North Texas in honor of their daughter Bailey “UltimateCodex” Brown, a 2019 alumna, who is a co-founder of this entire program and the original Director of Media & News. They partially funded Media & News / Storyteller Solidus Awards.
