Students Search for Real-Life Companions in an Electronic World

To many Columbia students, the recent growth of the video game industry and the culture surrounding it is not readily apparent. Yet for some, college campuses have always demonstrated the sway that video games hold over young people. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California, Los Angeles are bastions of gaming culture, perhaps proving, with their large engineering and computer departments, that technologically advanced male college students are the target demographic for the industry.

Having played games competitively in high school, Jonathan Mo, CC ’09, came to Columbia University expecting to find a community of gamers with whom he could share his passion. Unfortunately, that was not immediately the case.

“I came here, and I had expected there to be more of a vibrant community of gamers,” Mo said. “I know at other colleges, it’s a huge thing.” But this was not so at Columbia. Instead, he found a quiet group of gamers who were unable to come together as a cohesive community. “People do play—it’s just not in a loud way,” Mo explained. Unsatisfied with the state of gaming on campus, Mo decided to do something about it.
The Columbia Electronic Entertainment Club is the result of his efforts. “My first year here, I didn’t do much,” Mo reminisced. “Last year, it bugged me more, and with Halo 3 coming out, it sort of gave a reason to want to do this.” With the goal of bringing together gamers and promoting the culture that was already being perpetuated at many other college campuses, Mo and his friends scoured the school for players to join the ranks of the CEEC: “I contacted everyone I knew who played games, any games, not just Halo. We built a little chain and formed a loose organization.”

By rallying gamers around the cultural phenomenon that is Halo, he was able to secure interest in his organization and draw people to its cause. Soon, the release of Halo 3 was upon the world, and Mo was poised to take advantage of the excitement around the game. He and the CEEC planned a Halo 3 tournament that would take place at the game’s release, hoping to catapult the club to success in the process.

But the Activities Board at Columbia had different plans. “We submitted for approval last semester, and were denied,” Mo said. Without the ABC’s approval and support, the CEEC found it difficult to secure space and funding for the event. Soon, they were kicked out of the space that they had planned, and what was to be a defining moment for the organization ended up being nothing more than a small gathering of gamers.
Mo also admitted that, unfortunately, gamers are not the best administrators. “We have people, but they’re gamers. They’re not particularly interested in administration. They’ll play, though. If it exists, they’ll play.”

These setbacks have not stopped Mo from pushing forward with his plans for the CEEC. He will stop at nothing short of bringing together a more vibrant community of gamers who want to share their hobby with others. “We are resubmitting again,” Mo said of the setback to the CEEC’s approval.

Not only is the CEEC pushing for approval, it is also taking steps to expand its functions and goals beyond what was originally conceived. Using his experience and connections as a competitive Halo player, Mo is working with gamers at other schools to create a competitive gaming league. According to him, “What I’ve wanted to do is create a team for Columbia that plays games competitively. I’ve been trying to set up an intercollegiate gaming league with friends from other colleges. I have people from Duke, Princeton, and Yale, for example.”

By recruiting people from other universities, Mo seeks to build a framework for a national collegiate gaming community, complete with a Web site that would track statistics and even include profiles of participants. Though the process of starting this league is slow going, Mo is resilient in his passion for the project.

He has been rewarded for his efforts by coming into contact with more gamers than he knew existed on campus, forming the groundwork for a community that he hopes will someday become more active. “Regarding the growth of the community as it applies to Columbia—at first I didn’t see it,” Mo said. “Once I started doing this, I was surprised—I’m still surprised now. I thought that I’d met everyone, but I’m still meeting new people.” And though this group is smaller than the groups that have formed at many other colleges, Mo believes that there is much the CEEC can accomplish with the backing of Columbia gamers.

Hopefully, this work will lead to the sort of highly active communities seen elsewhere. Mo certainly believes that the general gaming community is growing, and he intends to bring that growth to Columbia. As he sees it, gaming continues to grow faster than any other entertainment industry in our nation—and there’s no reason why our campus shouldn’t take part in that evolution.