Students summon gaming skills in League of Legends club
The League of Legends student organization participated in the spring 2015 ExtravaGAMEza tournament April 25. The student organization will participate in MAINstage as a registered student organization for the first time in the fall.
Students summon powerful champions to battle in teams of five for fortune and glory. This is the popular video game "League of Legends."
The Central Michigan University League of Legends is a new student-run organization based on the multi-player online battle arena game. The club started in February and is determined to become a registered student organization before MAINstage next fall.
"We should at least have a place where people that come (to CMU) can play together," said Russell Iglehart, founding president and a junior from Harrison Township. "I was like no one else is going to start it, I might as well do it."
The group held its first event Saturday, a League tournament that took place in Pearce Hall with other three other tournaments during the spring 2015 ExtravaGAMEza. The event was held in partnership with the Mount Pleasant Trainers and Game Development and Design Club.
Member Marcus Shepherd, a junior from Farmington Hills, has been playing "League of Legends" for two years and said he joined the organization because of his friendship with Iglehart. Shepherd said he enjoys playing the game because it fits his personality.
"Any guy who plays League is naturally competitive," Shepherd said.
The organization is in the process of submitting forms for becoming a registered student organization on campus. Iglehart said they hope to become fully recognized by administration before MAINstage next fall.
Registration requires a drafted constitution, at least three executive-board members and a willing faculty or staff member as an adviser. The adviser for the CMU "League of Legends" is computer science assistant professor Tony Morelli.
"What I really like about them (CMU League of Legends) is they went to Riot Games and got all of the stuff from Riot (Games), which is the points to give away in the tournament and they got some shirts," Morelli said. "Thats really cool to have a company the size of Riot Games give us stuff."
There are about 40 active members for the organization. Meetings take place in Pearce Hall 400 at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays, and are a place where members can play the game with like-minded individuals.
"At first I was a little surprised with how eager people were to play in person because it is an online game so I expected it would be a little more reserved," Iglehart said. "First meeting no one was down for an introduction, they were just like 'Let's get in the game.'"
