A new study found that between 2005 and 2020, the percentage of single family rentals increased by over 10% in North Minneapolis, Southeast Como and parts of St. Paul, with Southeast Como’s rentals changing due, in part, to an aging homeowner population and localized investor landlords.

The Urban Institute researchers published a report titled “Who Owns the Twin Cities?” in which they investigated who owns homes across the metro area and how property ownership has changed over recent decades. They found there has been a growing number of investor landlords, or landlords who own more than three properties, and an increase in single-family rentals. As a result, poor and BIPOC residents have been displaced.

Some investor landlords in Southeast Como are Go Gopher, Miles Group and Elmwood Properties.

“One thing we definitely know is that investors like to concentrate their focus,” said Yonah Freemark, senior research associate on the project. All three companies condense their rentals to the neighborhoods surrounding the University of Minnesota, including Southeast Como.

The increase in investor landlords

The report found that investor landlords are concentrated in North Minneapolis, Brooklyn Center, Central St. Paul and Como.

“Of these rental homes, an increasing number are owned by major corporations, typically incorporated outside of the Twin Cities,” the report said.

Tony Damiano, a University of Minnesota post-doctoral research fellow who helped with the project, said the foreclosure crisis in the late 2000s impacted North Minneapolis heavily. He said that in their research, the project team mainly focused on North Minneapolis and St. Paul.

“The foreclosure crisis disproportionately impacted communities of color through predatory lending practices, which then resulted in huge amounts of foreclosures that took place on the north side,” Damiano said.

Banks and governments ended up with many foreclosed houses that they did not know what to do with.

“This often resulted in bulk sales of multiple homes, oftentimes below market value to large institutional investors,” Damiano said.

These investors then either sold them or rented them out. Southeast Como sees this same pattern of investors buying homes to rent, but in a different way.

In Southeast Como, investor landlords tend to buy houses from the aging homeowner population, said DeWayne Townsend, co-chair of the Southeast Como Improvement Association Land Use and Development Committee.

“What’s concerning is that when you have a senior citizen who’s been living in a house on a fixed income for 60 years and now has to go to a nursing home, the family is left with this house. They just want to get rid of it,” Townsend said. “They don’t want to have to update it or bring it up to code or any of that stuff. They just want it out of their hands.”

Townsend watched this happen to the property next to him. After his elderly neighbor sold his home to a corporation, the house changed. Townsend said before, it was a single-family house that had potential to be a starter home, but after construction, it had tons of bedrooms which catered to UMN student renters.

Another difference between investor landlords in Southeast Como and North Minneapolis is where they live. In the student-heavy neighborhood, the majority of landlords live within 25 miles of their rental properties, meaning they’re within the Twin Cities area, according to Townsend.

In contrast, the three largest investors in the Twin Cities are nationally owned corporations based elsewhere in the country, according to the report. The fourth largest is based in Bloomington, but works nationally.

With the rise in investor landlords, there is potential for exploitation of tenants. “Who Owns the Twin Cities?” included research on investor-owned single-family rentals in Southern California that found many tenants experience poor management, increased rent and higher rates of eviction.

Miles Group, a local investor landlord, has had problems maintaining their properties, with multiple rentals having city code violations.

“To some degree [investor landlords provide] more opportunities for people to live in neighborhoods that historically required people to own,” Freeman said. “At the same time, they may have some negative attributes like reducing the number of homes available for purchase.”

The Union on Plum apartment complex has canceled all resident leases for the 2021-22 school year.  In an email message sent to residents on July 15, the Union on Plum management team explained that “some necessary repairs” are needed on the walls within the building. The management team originally intended to complete these repairs with […]

As a child, the first author and her family escaped from Cuba. They fled to the United States in the middle of the night using a “balsa,” a makeshift raft, and navigated through perilous waters towards safety.

Although this experience was stressful, she was one of the lucky people who remained in the U.S. under the “Wet Foot-Dry Foot” immigration policy, enacted by former President Bill Clinton in 1995. This longstanding policy made it possible for approximately 649,700 Cuban nationals to flee the island’s dangerous and oppressive regime and seek asylum within the U.S. between 1995 and 2015.

Given that residing in a dictator and military-led country makes it challenging to leave via legal means, the Wet Foot-Dry Foot policy was critical to the wellbeing of Cuban people.

In 2017, this immigration policy was repealed, leaving Cuban people without their most viable source of refuge. One of the few avenues left for Cuban nationals was to seek asylum worldwide as refugees. However, Cubans are often considered refugees leaving their home country based solely on economic needs, which could explain the low number of approved asylum applications for Cuban people. For instance, approximately 61% of Cuban applicants in 2020 were denied asylum by the U.S. 

However, the idea that Cuban nationals are only seeking better economic opportunities is erroneous, especially when considering the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the population and the current government conflict.

The Cuban population has been greatly affected by the pandemic, with a level 3 (high danger) designation by the CDC and an increasing death toll within the last month. This increase is primarily due to a lack of medication and effective medical treatment available on the island.

For example, following confirmed COVID-19 diagnoses, entire families are being displaced to government-run facilities with appalling conditions. Simultaneously, the Cuban population is undergoing one of the most severe food and water shortages experienced in decades. These pressing issues have led to unprecedented protests on the streets, demanding change, freedom and help.

In response, the government has intermittently restricted access to the internet, leaving Cuban people without a vital channel to expose local conditions. Additionally, the regimen has responded by using the country’s military and national police to further intimidate and oppress the people of Cuba.

The military and supporters of the regimen have been ordered to use violent means against these unarmed civilians, which they have executed. Thus far, the government has confirmed one dead civilian due to the national police involvement. Yet, through social media, the Cuban people have reported additional deaths as well as accounts of brutality, arrests and over 100 missing people. 

It is essential for the United Nations (UN) and allies worldwide, including the U.S., to intervene in this emerging crisis to prevent more unfortunate deaths of Cuban people.

To do so, the UN and allied countries should first condemn the atrocious actions executed by the Cuban government. Second, they should intervene by providing direct humanitarian aid, particularly medicine, military support and protection, to help Cubans.

Third, as a swift response to these current events, the countries affiliated with the UN should increase the number of Cuban people granted asylum and refuge via humanitarian relief. These efforts must include addressing the statutory bars on asylum seekers, including the ban on people who crossed through other countries to reach the U.S.

A lack of timely intervention by the UN and allied countries would be an egregious oversight of a current global health issue and human rights violation.

— Lucybel Mendez, Nicolette C. Molina and Kirsten R. Bootes, University of Utah Students

Submit a letter to the editor.

The post Letter: The Cuban People Are Crying Out — Will the World Listen? appeared first on The Daily Utah Chronicle.

Interactions characterize city life. The more interactions someone has with different people, places and services, the richer their experience of living in the city. In Salt Lake City, the ability to access many of those interactions hinges on if someone owns a car. For those who don’t, their mobility depends on a public transportation system that has yet to recover from the effects of the pandemic.

UTA ridership fell 47% in 2020 compared to 2019. In response, trains and buses operated at a reduced frequency. Reduced ridership and operation frequency correspond with more cars on the road, which causes increased traffic and air pollution. While that affects everyone, Utahns experiencing homelessness rely on public transportation as a chance to shelter from extreme weather — something that’s become commonplace this summer.

With ridership low and temperatures high, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County and Utah should introduce a pilot program to provide free UTA service on all days over 95 degrees. This practice would boost ridership to pre-pandemic levels, allow Utahns to escape the dangers of extreme weather, reduce air pollution and create a more robust public transit system that benefits everyone.

Increasing Ridership

When UTA implemented UVX, a rapid bus line for Utah Valley University, they saw ridership increase for the first time in 4 years. UVU students finally had free access to frequent buses and trains. For years, people have overwhelmingly suggested that UTA increase the frequency of their operations to improve the service. However, justifying more trains becomes far easier when more people want to ride them.

Nationwide, experiments throughout the past few years have shown between 20% and 60% ridership increase when cities offered free fares to riders. If Salt Lake City ran a similar, weather-dependent pilot program, UTA would gain valuable data to help provide high-quality public transportation to everyone interested.

Doing so would be far cheaper and more economically viable than it might seem. Of the nearly $600 million UTA expects to bring in for 2021, only $32 million, or around 5%, is expected to be generated by fares. By including the cost of free service in the budget, the entire state would benefit — especially when every dollar spent on transportation in America generates roughly four dollars in economic returns.

Increasing Equity

Access to most things that we associate with upward mobility actually requires mobility. The type of mobility required to navigate a city is what Jeff Rose, an assistant professor in the Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department at the University of Utah, calls “spatial mobility.” A less obvious privilege of wealth is the ability to do “what we want to do when we want to do it, spatially.”

That spatial freedom allows us to easily get to and from work, quality grocery stores, schools and other services that provide people with tools to improve their situation. In times of extreme weather, spatial mobility severely limits Utahns who don’t own cars.

A normally manageable bike ride or walk becomes far less safe when temperatures soar above 100 degrees. Without public transportation, those carless Utahns are at a distinct disadvantage. The more robust our UTA system becomes, the greater their mobility and even quality of life will become.

While public transit provides many Utahns with the ability to go to and from their home, it provides a different service for unhoused Utahns. Rose says that “one of the reasons that people who are experiencing homelessness use TRAX and the buses is to either cool off in the summer or to warm up in the winter.”

Increasing Change

By providing shelter from extreme weather conditions, UTA inadvertently fills a unique, important role in our public sphere. Rather than shy away from that role by charging fees outside of the free fare zone, UTA should aim to serve as an integral part of successfully helping with homelessness in Salt Lake City.

Free fares on days over 95 degrees or under 30 degrees would allow UTA to address thermoregulation needs for homeless individuals in a targeted way. This increased intentionality in how we view public transportation would allow it to fill more roles within our community.

If we want to reduce traffic congestion on I-15, we should think about what we do to incentivize people to commute by train. If we want to stimulate business in downtown Salt Lake City, we should consider providing a free, direct line from Sugarhouse or the University of Utah to bring more customers to those stores. We could take it a step further and see if businesses in that area could give out free UTA passes to customers. These are all possibilities that UTA and our state should be thinking about.

Whether it be by providing shelter on hot days, reducing greenhouse gas emissions or simply connecting us to one another, public transportation affects change in our lives. The nature of that change will be determined by what UTA sets out to do. Currently, we have a system hampered by the pandemic that’s nowhere near as effective at solving social problems as it could be. Perhaps public transportation, even with free fares, isn’t capable of altering a city as profoundly as I suggest. But we won’t know until we try.

w.shadley@dailyutahchronicle.com

@shadleywill

The post Shadley: Public Transportation Should be Free During Extreme Weather appeared first on The Daily Utah Chronicle.

Whether he’s recording, producing, directing or organizing, Obi Original can’t be put into one box.

Over the past three years, local artist and producer Obiora Obikwelu, aka Obi Original, has been paving his own way. Taking inspiration from a number of genres, Obikwelu has come into his own with a unique dancy, wavey, emotion-filled sound. Growing up inspired by the sounds of African Highlife music, it has been a dream of Obikwelu to help create a home for the Afro-fusion genre within the U.S. as well as in his home city of Minneapolis.

“I grew up in a space where a lot of contemporary music was your hip-hop, rap, indie music,” Obikwelu said. “And all those I like, but I was in a space where I wanted to really challenge myself to bring a new type of sound to the local arena.”

His upcoming EP, “Waves,” is set to drop July 23. Totaling five tracks, Obikwelu dives into themes of love and all of its complications, silver linings and idiosyncrasies. Taking inspiration from his time as a theater kid in school, Obikwelu created “Waves” with an emotional narrative in mind.

“I made the EP to listen like a musical, or a play,” Obikwelu said. “I really wanted to make something that was not too long, but every song was purposeful, every song had this emotion. I just wanted to show waves of life. Even with people that you love, you still have ups and downs because if it was just a straight line it’ll be stagnant and stale.”

In addition to his solo music, Obikwelu is a co-founder and creative director of artist collective Ozone Creations. Comprised of six artists, all of whom are first generation Americans of African descent, the group seeks to serve as a Midwestern hub for Afro-fusion.

The newest member to join Ozone, local artist Mack OC, has known Obikwelu since childhood. Mack champions Obikwelu’s unique artistic vision and his drive when it comes to ensuring that each artist in Ozone is at their best.

“Obi has really distinct ideas and he thinks so outside the box with the stuff he does, you can see it in his craft,” Mack said. “The kind of stuff that he does is so pre-planned and so premeditated. When we are coming to him with ideas, it’s so easy for him to just be like, ‘Okay this is how we can make this come to life.’”

Local artist Shy-I has also known Obikwelu since youth. He echoes the same sentiments as Mack OC and admires Obikwelu’s dedication when it comes to his work.

“I believe in Obi and his artistic ability to bring positive attention to the state of Minnesota, and to the continent of Africa,” Shy-I said. “He is a large reason for where I am as an artist today, and I know I’m not the only one who would say that.”

As live music continues to return to the Twin Cities, Obikwelu has been able to perform consistent shows in Minneapolis for the past two months. Obi Original is set to take the 7th St Entry stage on July 24, the day after his EP release.

Obikwelu hopes to continue to create and expand the reach of Ozone Creations. He hopes that the group can be a model for artists in the Twin Cities to demonstrate the power in collaboration.

“I really hope that, you know, at least with Ozone Creations that we’re able to kind of show an example to like artists in the city,” Obikwelu said. “You know you can have that talent, you can have that drive, but you can still be the captain of the ship, at least when it comes to how everything is run. Sometimes it’s like finding the right group of people that can give the same 100% that you give.”

Neither perceived risk nor actual risk of COVID-19 infection predict rates of mask wearing and social distancing, according to a study published by researchers from the University’s Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences department in June. Instead, the study found that political partisanship, not an individual’s level of risk in regards to the disease, was the greatest factor in predicting preventative behaviors during the onset of the pandemic.

The researchers were interested in the role of risk perception in preventative behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Mae Fullerton ’20, the lead author of the study. The study aimed to understand the predictors of certain preventative behaviors during the pandemic, as well as the behaviors themselves, and provide possible guidance for future pandemic policies.

The study involved sending surveys to 1114 people to gauge a wide variety of potential predictors of preventative behavior, specifically mask wearing and social distancing. 

“We asked a wide range of questions to understand the participants’ risk perception, actual risk of COVID-19 infection and actual behavior,” Fullerton said. Participants’ ideological and political leanings were also assessed, she added. 

After collecting survey results, the researchers analyzed the data to determine the extent to which risk perception and actual risk of infection would predict preventative behaviour. 

“We hypothesized that things like how vulnerable people are, how vulnerable they think they are and how well people understand the transmission of disease (would) have predicted behavior during the pandemic,” said Steven Sloman, professor of cognitive, linguistic and psychological sciences and author on the study.

What they found was both surprising and expected. 

Variables that are known to increase an individual’s risk profile — such as being elderly, living with someone who is immunocompromised and not having health insurance — did not play a large role in whether people wore masks or socially distanced, Fullerton said.

“Instead, partisanship was the most reliable predictor,” she said. 

With political partisanship being increasingly noticeable in recent years, “cultural wars have come to dominate,” Sloman said. This has translated over to peoples’ health behaviors, in which “wearing masks and social distancing (have) become such a political issue,” he added. 

The lack of support for the researchers’ hypothesis could be partly due to the time frame in which the participants were sampled, wrote Robin Kowalski, a professor of psychology at Clemson University who was not involved in the study, in an email to The Herald. Kowalski has previously conducted research on the motivating factors that help predict protective health behaviors related to COVID-19.

“They sampled during the early months of the pandemic when mask-wearing was actually discouraged among the general population in order for masks to be available for essential workers,”  Kowalski wrote. It would be interesting to see the predictors of behavior now that restrictions are loosening up again, she added. 

Their findings build on what health psychologists have known for a long time: “Culture and community play a very large role in our behavior habits,” Fullerton said. “This offers insight into how powerful politics can be in affecting behavior.” 

The results are important for how risk communication is addressed, Sloman said. “Almost all risk communication currently assumes that the biggest thing people care about is their level of risk, but we see that isn’t necessarily true,” he added. 

“For future outbreaks, perhaps communicating through scientists may not be the most effective thing in convincing people to engage in certain preventative behaviors,” Fullerton said. People do not necessarily rely on scientific evidence to make their decisions, she said. “Instead, evidence points to more reliance on trusted community leaders.”

Dana Goldman was appointed dean of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, according to a communitywide email by Provost Charles Zukoski Wednesday. Goldman previously served as interim dean since July 1, 2020. 

Goldman will hold the C. Erwin and Ione L. Piper Dean’s Chair. A distinguished professor of Public Policy, Pharmacy, and Economics, he held the Leonard D. Schaeffer Director’s Chair since 2013. 

“Dana Goldman has led the USC Price School through a tumultuous year with vision, creativity and caring, and I am delighted he has been appointed dean,” President Carol Folt said to USC News. “He will continue to work closely with the entire USC Price community to help bring about meaningful change in sustainability, health, social justice, planning and administration.”

Goldman joined USC in 2009 and has directed the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics for 12 years. According to the email, Goldman will continue his role as co-director and his research in health care reform. 

“The Price School is about translating research into action to address some of the most fundamental social challenges,” Goldman said in an interview with USC News. “Doing so requires us to collaborate with scholars throughout the university and to reach a broad audience.”

He has also held the Norman Topping Chair in medicine and public policy and is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Social Insurance. Goldman’s work includes more than 300 articles and over 19,000 citations. He has also edited scholarly journals such as “Health Affairs” and “Forum for Health Economics and Policy.” 

Goldman has served as an advisor to the Congressional Budget Office and the National Institutes of Health. He received his bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and his doctorate in economics from Stanford University. Before joining USC, he served as the director of the health economics program and Bing Center at the RAND Corporation. 

“Goldman has a comprehensive understanding of the excellence of the research and teaching at USC Price, one of the nation’s premier policy schools,” Zukoski said to USC News. “We are excited to see the school continue under his bold and dynamic leadership.”

The Dean Search Advisory Committee was chaired by Gould School of Law Dean Andrew Guzman.

The post Dana Goldman appointed as Price Dean appeared first on Daily Trojan.

Imagine Music Festival, Atlanta’s longest running EDM festival, will return to the city on September 17-19. This year, Imagine expects about 25,000 attendees and will feature a pool party, food trucks, and vendors. Imagine was founded in 2014 as a smaller two-day event, but year after year has attracted bigger musicians and bigger crowds. Every year, Imagine has successfully pulled off an exciting event with stunning  visuals, a silent disco, and even camping options for a one-of-a-kind experience.

Following a worldwide hiatus from festivals and concerts, Imagine is back for another year at a new venue. The new location is in Chattahoochee Hills, on the Bouckaert Farm. The location’s natural surroundings will make the change one for the better in comparison to the flat racetrack where Imagine has been held previously.

Like in previous years, Imagine has some big names lined up to perform. These include:

Illenium, Kaskade, Gryffin, Madeon, 3LAU, Adventure Club B2B Riot Ten, Black Tiger Sex Machine, Blunts & Blondes, Carnage B2B Borgore, CharlestheFirst, Clozee, Dabin, Dion Timmer, Ghost Rydr (Ghastly B2B Joyryde), Kasbo, Kayzo B2B Subtronics, Liquid Stranger, Peekaboo, Subtronics (“Wooked on Tronics” set), Shpongle Droid (Simon Posford Live, featuring Android Jones), Virtual Riot B2B Barely Alive. The Disco Inferno stage will feature Fisher with the Catch & Release Takeover and including Lee Foss, Malaa, Shiba San, Walker & Royce, John Summit, Noizu, Sidepiece, SNBRN, VNSSA, Dillon Nathaniel, Deeper Purpose, LP Giobbi, Subrinse, and Westend. The Wakaan Takeover will feature Liquid Stranger, Champagne Drip B2B Luzcid, Shlump, G-Rex, Esseks, Sully, Mize, and a Wakaan Family B2B set. Other artists joining the Imagine lineup include Abelation, Alber-K, Blackgummy, Brondo, Corrupt UK, Devault, Dieselboy, Eddie Gold, Joyce Muniz, Kaivon, Laser Assassins, Leah Culver, Lick, Mersiv, Moore Kismet, No Mana, Of the Trees, and Reaper.

The daytime party will continue this year, along with the option to camp. Imagine has always been a very friendly environment and is a great place to start for baby-ravers. Tickets are on sale at www.imaginefestival.com. Ticket sales are in Phase 4 so supply is limited. 

Shaun Maswanganyi racked up many accolades during his breakout freshman season at UH and will represent his home country of South Africa in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 4×100-meter relay at the Tokyo Olympics. | Courtesy of UH athletics

After an extra year of waiting, the Tokyo Olympics have finally arrived and Houston track and field fans will see a few familiar faces running on the world’s biggest stage in Tokyo.

Here’s a look at each UH Olympian competing this year:

Shaun Maswanganyi (South Africa)

The 20-year old freshman quickly made his name known to both UH and national track fans with his breakout season in his first year sporting the red and white.

Maswanganyi dominated the American Athletic Conference outdoor season, blowing by all the competition and setting records on his way to being named the AAC Freshman of the Year. On top of that, Maswanganyi ran some of the NCAA’s fastest times on the year in the 100- and 200-meters and ended up finishing second and third at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the two races, respectively.

Maswanganyi will compete in the 100- and 200-meter dashes and 4×100-meter relay for his home country of South Africa in Toyko.

Mario Burke (Barbados)

Burke was a UH track star from 2016-19, helping the Cougars to the 2017 NCAA outdoor title in the 4×100- meter relay while also winning multiple Barbados national championships in the 100-meter dash.

Burke was one of the many pioneers that helped lay the foundation for the UH men’s track and field team that has now won five consecutive AAC titles.

Burke will represent Barbados in the 100- and 200-meter dashes in Toyko.

Brianne Bethel (Bahamas)

The 23-year old sprinter did everything for the UH women’s track and field team, dominating her way to AAC’s outdoor titles in the 200-meter, 400-meter and 4×100-meter relay.

Throughout the season Bethel not only put her name into the UH record books for some of her times but also ran some of the NCAA’s fastest times of the season.

In Toyko, Bethel will run in the 200-meter and 4×400-meter relay for the Bahamas.

Tristan Evelyn (Barbados)

Rounding out the Cougars competing in the Tokyo Olympics is 23-year old sprinter Tristan Evelyn.

Evelyn put together a strong season, winning the AAC outdoor 100-meter championship by posting the second-fastest time in program history.

Evelyn will join her fellow Cougar and Barbadian Burke by representing her country in the 100-meter in Toyko.

sports@thedailycougar.com

—
“Going for gold: UH athletes competing in Tokyo Olympics” was originally posted on The Cougar

Partnership to include League of Legends and Rocket League tournaments, summer camp, and  a speaker series in conjunction with the university’s back-to-school events

YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN (July 15, 2021) – Global esports organization Gen.G and Eastern Michigan University (EMU) announced a new slate of esports programming to gather students, alumni and local community members. Events will include a Summer Showdown Tournament, an esports summer camp, and a Gaming Career Speaker Series.

The Summer Showdown Tournament is an invitational tournament for 5v5 League of Legends on July 24 through 25 and 3v3 Rocket League on July 31 through Aug 1. Local universities, high schools, as well as other collegiate teams outside the region with strong performances will be invited to participate. Spectators will be able to watch the matches on the EMU Esports Twitch channel. Students from the esports program will also curate up to 20 hours of additional weekly Twitch programming on the official EMU Esports Twitch page.

“Eastern Michigan University created several innovative gaming programs — for prospective and current students, and alums — last year even while students were studying remotely,” said Chris Park, Chief Executive Officer at Gen.G. “We are thrilled to continue that great work together this summer in a big way.”

Other upcoming programming includes the revival of the Eagles Gaming Club, EMU’s  on-campus esports club, by students that will bring curated events to the EMU community. Those interested can reach out to the club via Discord.

“The overall interest among students in collegiate esports is reaching new levels every year,” said Eastern Michigan University President, James Smith. “Having Gen.G, a recognized international leader in the esports world, as a partner is a tremendous asset to the University and our students. Engaging students in gaming competitions is a fun and exciting way to create new friendships as well as establish campus pride. Even more significant, from my standpoint, are the opportunities to share with our students the many career prospects in the exploding esports industry – which can include everything from arts and graphics, to business and marketing, to science, cybersecurity and technology.”

EMU and Gen.G have also launched an esports summer camp, where registration is still open and those interested can sign-up here.

Fresh off of their victory in the Temmo cup, EMU will continue to support competitive teams in various leagues during the 2021-2022 school year.

Heading into the end of summer, EMU will also host a Gaming Careers Speaker Series, which will teach students across various majors how they can apply their traditional degree to the gaming industry and seek other professional opportunities in the space.

The university encourages local high school students, alumni and community members to participate in events at EMU Esports to get a better feel for campus life and enjoy the gaming community.

###

About Gen.G:
Established in 2017, Gen.G is the leading esports organization connecting the United States and Asia. Currently ranked no. 6 in the Forbes list of the “World’s Most Valuable Esports Companies,” Gen.G is the only major organization that owns and operates top teams in the world’s leading esports markets — China, South Korea and the United States. Its unique portfolio of teams, winners of seven global championships to date, includes the Seoul Dynasty franchise of the Overwatch League; 2014 and 2017 League of Legends world champion team in South Korea; the world’s top all-female Fortnite team, based in Los Angeles; and the NBA 2K League’s historic expansion franchise in Shanghai.

United under #TigerNation, Gen.G’s core mission is to help fans and athletes use the power of gaming and esports to get ahead in and beyond the competition. The company has quickly become a commercial and thought leader, building a global, inclusive and cross-cultural future for sports entertainment. Its widely acclaimed initiatives include: #TeamBumble, the leading team platform for the empowerment of women in gaming; and Gen.G Elite Esports Academy, the world’s first fully-integrated academic esports program. Gen.G’s teams, content creators and corporate staff work out of their offices in Los Angeles.

About Eastern Michigan University
Founded in 1849, Eastern is the second oldest public university in Michigan. It currently serves more than 16,000 students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, specialist, doctoral and certificate degrees in the arts, sciences and professions. In all, more than 300 majors, minors and concentrations are delivered through the University’s Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Engineering and Technology; Health and Human Services; and, its graduate school. EMU is regularly recognized by national publications for its excellence, diversity, and commitment to applied education. For more information about Eastern Michigan University, visit the University’s website.

Media Contact:
Gen.G: GenG@DKCnews.com