Indiana Tech has decided to move its esports program under the school’s Department of Athletics for the 2021-22 academic year.
The move grows IT’s total number of official sports to 27 programs in all.
According to the local CBS affiliate, the move was made as the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference will officially recognize esports as a championship sport for the 2021-22 year.
The WHAC is just one of three conference in the NAIA that sponsors esports.
Indiana Tech’s esports program was founded in 2016, and the school was a founding member of the National Association of Collegiate Esports. IT was also the first university in the state to offer scholarships for students back in 2017.
The school also built a state-of-the-art gaming arena on the second floor of Andorfer Commons.
The school said the arena is equipped with 20 high-end gaming PCs, DXRacer gaming chairs and Razer gaming peripherals.
Esports is the only coed sport at Indiana Tech and the first on campus since competitive cheerleading, which was dropped in 2018.
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