LOS ANGELES, CA (August 9, 2021) –
Today, USC Games, ranked the #1 North American games program by Princeton Review eleven years running, announced that Microsoft is the latest financial backer for the Gerald A. Lawson Endowment Fund for Black and Indigenous Students, with the goal of increasing those groups’ representation in games and tech industries.
“We’re proud to work with USC Games to empower underrepresented communities to succeed in games,” said Matt Booty, Head of Xbox Game Studios at Microsoft. “We’re excited to see what the future generation of game creators will make.”
The Fund’s namesake, Gerald A. “Jerry” Lawson, was responsible for the use of interchangeable ROM cartridges in game consoles while working on a system called the “Fairchild Channel-F.” That 1970s innovation sparked today’s multi-billion-dollar games industry. One of the few Black engineers in the gaming industry during its inception, Mr. Lawson was also a member of the legendary “Homebrew Computer Club” whose members also included Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. In 2018, Microsoft honored Mr. Lawson at that years’ Game Developer’s Conference.
More recently, in February 2021, Xbox celebrated Black voices during Black History Month and has been standing with the Xbox player community in support of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., Black Lives Matter Support Fund, and Equal Justice Initiative (EJI).
“We are determined that USC Games will be a place where diversity is valued and everyone is invited to create and play,” said Jim Huntley, USC Interactive Media & Games’ Professor and Head of Marketing, who led the Lawson Fund’s creation. “As costs continue to increase at all higher education institutions, one of the most significant challenges for students in underrepresented groups is simply ‘how to afford it.’ That’s why Microsoft’s long-standing commitment to diversity, equity & inclusion and Xbox Studios’ support of the Lawson Endowment Fund is so significant to improving their representation in the gaming and tech industries.”
The fund provides student support for Black and Indigenous students who wish to pursue undergraduate or graduate degrees in game design or computer science from USC's prestigious program. With financial support from additional game and technology companies and donors, USC Games’ vision is to expand the initiative and support other aspects of diversity and equity, including salary support for additional Black and Indigenous faculty as well as labs and projects that address issues that affect these communities. Student recipients of the funds will be known as Lawson Scholars.
Returns from the Endowment will support qualifying graduate and undergraduate games program students in both the School of Cinematic Arts and the Viterbi School of Engineering, beginning in the Fall 2022 semester. Donations to the Fund will be ongoing.
For more information on supporting the Lawson Fund, visit http://games.usc.edu/lawsonfund or contact Sabrina Espinoza at swarren@cinema.usc.edu.
About USC Games
USC Games is a flagship collaboration offered jointly by the USC School of Cinematic Arts’ Interactive Media & Games Division (IMGD) and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering Computer Science Department. This unified brand brings our programs under one umbrella, allowing students and faculty across the University of Southern California to collaborate together in creating innovative games.
The program at the USC School Cinematic Arts focuses on both the design and production of interactive media and games. Students emerge as creative media leaders, fluent in many forms of visual expression and storytelling, with a sophistication in designing and developing innovative interactive experiences that expand the state of interactive art and play across domains, such as entertainment, education, health care and social action.
The Computer Science Games program at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering provides students with grounding in the fundamentals of computer science and a cross-disciplinary background in game development. Students emerge with an engineering-oriented game-programming skillset, with an understanding of key technologies and the ability to lead complex technical teams in the development of games.
In addition to an Advanced Games class, USC Games presents the annual USC Games Expo, an event showcasing games created at the university that is open to the public, and also produces an industry event at the annual Game Developers Conference. USC Games also collaborates with game design programs at other colleges and universities. For more information go to games.usc.edu; or connect at uscgames@usc.edu
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://news.microsoft.com. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-public-relations-contacts.
# # #