RESPAWN announces Collegiate Student of Excellence Award

The RESPAWN Student of Excellence Award is presented to a student involved with esports who exemplifies excellence inside, and out, of the classroom. Within the classroom, the student enhances the overall experience through their engagement and mentorship of peers. Additionally, their "superb" academic performance is reflected in their semester and cumulative GPA.

"We are very excited to be working with our partners within the collegiate and high school space to begin recognizing excellent students associated with gaming/esports programs. As scholastic esports and gaming continues to grow it is definitely a key focus area for the RESPAWN brand. This award is one of our first steps and opportunities in which we can start giving back to these communities - we aim for this award program to naturally develop into internship opportunities, scholarships, and much more."

- Alex Gonzalez, Marketing Manager at RESPAWN Products (@AlexGLogics)

We are excited to announce Sean Kelly from Shenandoah University as the first recipient of the RESPAWN Student of Excellence Award. Kelly ’22, is a double major in esports management and business administration. He is the student lead in broadcast production for the Shenandoah esports program, and he works on the content creation and live event production as well.

The word that comes to mind is extremely grateful. This is something I want to do for the rest of my life, and to already be recognized for the work I’ve done feels great. It has been an amazing experience to have such a lead role in this program, and I look forward to everything else that this program and I can accomplish in the future in esports.”

- Sean Kelly ’22

As recognition for the award, Kelly received a commemorative trophy, exclusive RESPAWN apparel, and an upgraded RESPAWN setup which includes a new gaming chair and desk.

"We felt that Sean is the perfect example of a student of excellence with the work he has put into the esports program in the classroom and in the production booth. He goes above and beyond what is expected of students and is one of the reasons the esports program here at SU is one of the top programs in the country. His work has also led to him receiving numerous job opportunities and industry connections. Sean exemplifies what it means when we say that Shenandoah Esports goes beyond gaming.”

- Joey Gawrysiak, Ph.D. | Shenandoah Director of Esports