Whereas, research and studies into video games have shown that playing can help people with mental illnesses, slow the aging process, etc. and [1][2],

Whereas, video games have many cognitive benefits for children such as improving problem solving abilities, learning computational skills, and developing social skills and [3][4],

Whereas, the increasing popularity of video games has exponentially expanded its market potential and fan base and, Whereas, the rise in competitive video gaming known as eSports is a well documented and internationally recognized sport and [5][6],

Whereas, eSports have already become massive spectacles with millions of fans and enthusiast as seen in “the 2013 League of Legends Season 3 World Championship’s 32 million viewers surpassed both the BCS National Championship and Game 7 of the NBA Finals by 7 million and more than doubled the viewership of the World Series” and [7],

Whereas, UCI also participates in this vast field after establishing a Computer Game Science (CGS) major under the Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences in 2010 [8][9] and,

Whereas, many UCI students participate in video games both in-game and socially, examples including “The Association of Gamers at UC Irvine” and “The League of Legends at UCI” and [10][11],

Whereas, the hard work and dedication of UCI and its students has not gone unnoticed in the video game industry, as these clubs and the university are supported by such companies as Blizzard Entertainment and Riot Games and [12][13][14],

Whereas, UCI has a very large, skilled pool of gamers that play many different games encompassing multiple genres and,

Whereas, UCI already is a leader in the field of video game design and implementation and [15][16],

Whereas, a survey conducted by ASUCI found that 72% of the 1,237 respondents identify as a gamer and [17],

Whereas, the same survey also reported that 89% of students would support the creation of an eSports program and,

Let it be resolved that ASUCI supports the creation of an official UCI eSports program to further develop and support the unique talents of its student body and,

Let it further be resolved that ASUCI encourages the Student Center Board to endorse this proposal and,

Let it finally be resolved that a copy of this legislation be sent to the following: Howard Gillman, University of California, Irvine Chancellor; Thomas A. Parham, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs; Gregory Washington, Dean of Engineering; Hal Stern, Dean of ICS; and UCI Student Center Board of Advisors.

[1]http://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/02/video-game.aspx

[2]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/07/video-games-good-for-us_n_4164723.html

[3]https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201502/cognitive-benefits-playing-video-games

[4]http://sheu.org.uk/sites/sheu.org.uk/files/imagepicker/1/eh203mg.pdf

[5]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESports

[6]http://articles.latimes.com/2013/aug/07/business/la-fi-online-gamers-20130808

[7]http://www.sporttechie.com/2014/11/19/esports-are-pro-gamers-the-athletes-of-the-future/

[8]https://www.ics.uci.edu/ugrad/degrees/degree_cgs.php

[9]http://articles.latimes.com/2009/nov/30/local/la-me-uci-video-games30-2009nov30

[10]https://www.facebook.com/TAGatUCI/?fref=ts

[11]https://www.facebook.com/groups/LeagueOfLegendsUCI/

[12]http://tespa.org/uci/2013/09/02/uc-irvines-league-of-legends-club-catches-the-eye-of-riot-games/

[13]http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/community/community-programs/uc-irvine-collegiate-esports-fanatics

[14]http://news.uci.edu/feature/ready-to-play/

[15]http://www.animationcareerreview.com/articles/top-20-game-design-and-development-schools-west-2014

[16]http://www.informatics.uci.edu/uci-ranked-top-school-for-game-design-and-development-according-to-college-magazine-and-acr/

[17]https://eee.uci.edu/toolbox/survey/results_by_question.php?assigned_id=34385