This past summer Franciscan Hall saw some renovations, including the addition of the “Hawkade” e-gaming center. The Hawkade is a not so large room that contains one Xbox One, one Playstation 4, an Xbox 360, and one original Xbox. For just being built, the room seems like a very fun place to hang out and play some games. But perhaps this is just the first step for Hilbert to try and begin an esports scene.

Kyle Rauschelbach, a senior student in the Cybersecurity program at Hilbert,works in the IT department at Hilbert and helped to build the new Hawkade.  Rauschelbach is also a part of the CyberHawks, a club at Hilbert that competes in network defense competitions. The Scribe sat down with Rauschelbach to talk about the new space.

The Scribe: . Do you play video games?

Kyle Rauschelbach: Yes, I’ve played video games since about middle school, if not before that.

TS: Are you interested in esports?

KR: Yeah of course. Esports are something I have watched for a while now. I was very into a game called Smite and I enjoyed watching the pros play that.

TS: Do you believe that the addition of a gaming lounge may point to a future of esports at Hilbert?

KR: Yes, I’ve always thought about that. They have that Hearthstone tournament that is a collegiate tournament. I totally want to get into a collegiate tournament. They have tournaments that are specifically for colleges in a lot of games and I think that would be a cool way to grow Hilbert. If we had an esports team that did well in any game I’m sure it would attract people to come to Hilbert.

The new Hawkade center is a very chill space to hangout and perhaps one day it will be a spot where people can compete for Hilbert in national competitions.