By Katherine Gibson (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: November 20, 2013
U-House is usually quiet in the middle of the night, but on an otherwise normal weeknight it lit up with the sounds of geekery and gaming well into the wee hours.
Members of UFV’s Computer and Information Systems Student Association (CISSA) took over U-House on November 15 to hold their sixth annual 24-hour charity gaming event.
Hosting extensive tournaments with various consoles, from the now-retro Nintendo 64 to newer systems like the Wii, the event raised roughly $2600 for Child’s Play, a charity organized by Penny Arcade to donate entertainment to hospitalized children.
For Graham St. Eloi, CISSA vice-president and founder of the event, fundraising for Child’s Play is about more than just raising money; it’s about showing that gaming students care about making a positive difference.
“It really shows that gamers care about children – that’s what Child’s Play is all about,” St. Eloi, explains. “[Child’s Play] provides entertainment to those children who aren’t having very much fun in the hospital, and this [event] shows that even though you’re a student you can still support those people and you can still donate.”
However, not all participants of this event are active gamers. CISSA president Lizzi Klassen explains that for her it is less about the gaming, and more about her personal connection with what the charity stands for that keeps her coming back.
“Ironically, I’m not a gamer. I help run this and I can appreciate gaming – but I don’t game,” she explains. “It’s boring enough being in a hospital for long periods of time as an adult – as a kid it’s interminable … I can appreciate the boredom and the need to do something.
“My cousin had leukemia, and he was in Ronald McDonald house,” she continues, “so it’s stuff like that keeping my support.”
Beyond raising money for children, St. Eloi believes that this event is important for pushing back against the stereotypes that surround gaming individuals.
“Penny Arcade … made [the charity] with the purpose to show that gamers do actually care about the world – we’re not just introvert gamers who hate everybody,” he says. “It’s a very big stereotype – you say that you’re a gamer and people just shun you like you’re non-existent.”
St. Eloi also feels that events like these help build lasting student connections, both within the campus gaming community itself and UFV’s student community as a whole.
“It’s a community event that brings everybody and all the gamers on campus together. In my first year I had maybe 20 people stay here, but after this event they all became friends and all started hanging out together at U-House,” St. Eloi says. “It gives [gamers] a very good chance to connect with people. It also keeps into mind the whole university’s goal to not have [UFV] be just commuter campus, but a solid campus of people who actually want to be here.”
