Esports organization Version1 and non-profit Cxmmunity have announced the four recipients of $5,000 in academic scholarships on Thursday.
The students receiving the scholarships are:
- Kyndall Ragins, a freshman attending Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina studying political science
- Dagmawi Workineh Yemesgen, a freshman attending Howard University in Washington D.C. studying computer science
- Trinity Cromwell, a sophomore attending Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina studying Interdisciplinary studies
- The fourth student attends Bowie State University in Maryland but preferred not to be named for privacy
Cxmmunity is an Atlanta-based non-profit whose mission is to improve representation of young people of color in gaming and esports. Version1 is a multi-property esports organization based out of Minnesota.
Version1 and Cxmmunity partner for scholarship fund
The partnership between Version1 and Cxmmunity was originally announced on Aug. 17, 2021 with the intent of giving esports industry experience to Historically Black College and University students via the scholarships as well as mentorship and internship opportunities.
“I aspire to grow my platform on both Twitch and YouTube to become a content creator that can entertain and inspire others just like the creators that I look up to every day,” said Ragins.
“Burdening my widowed mother and grandmother back in Ethiopia with my tuition bills has always troubled me, especially amid the recent civil cries raging on in my home nation,” said Yemesgen. “This scholarship allows me to throw some of that weight off my family’s back, and excel in my studies as a software engineer, changing this world through code.”
The four students were chosen by Cxmmunity’s scholarship selection committee. The committee reviewed applications based on “the strength of their application, their academic focus and achievements and their demonstrated passion and commitment to gaming as an esports competitor or their drive to apply their education and skill set to various disciplines in the gaming industry,” according to the original press release. Version1 and Cxmmunity notified scholarship recipients the week of Dec. 13, 2021.
Version1 committed $25,000 in total to the initiative. The remaining $5,000 will be awarded as prize money for a Call of Duty: Vanguard tournament taking place from Jan. 8-9, 2022. The tournament will feature the Minnesota Røkkr Call of Duty League professional players and its Warzone content creators teaming up with student-athletes and teams competing in Cxmmunity’s HBCU Esports League. Tournament details will be announced shortly.
