On April 10, 2025, the E-Sports Arena held their semester Gamer Girl Mixer. The event kicked off with CSUSB’s E-Sports Coordinator Vanessa H and E-Sports Arena staff member Ashley C giving a brief introduction. The Mixer started at 12:00 pm offering snacks such as Cheetos, Hot Fries, and Doritos. As well as drinks such as cold water, Gatorade, and Mountain Dew Baja Blast. The E-Sports Arena located on the first floor of the San Manuel Student Union South (SMSU) will be assisting in breaking the stigma that playing video games is just an activity centered around men. The mixer invites women to meet other women who also share the same interest in playing video games as a hobby.
The primary activity hosted was a speed dating style conversational get-together where fellow female students would have interpersonal conversations with each other as they switched chairs every five minutes. Each rotation would include a videogame related question that would be the basis of each conversation the ladies would have. One such question would be, “What is a game you consider to be underrated?” As the event continued more female students began to arrive to participate. The room was filled with bustling conversations as they all got to acquaint themselves with one another.
As the activity ended, the hosts reminded the students that the CSUSB E-Sports Arena Discord Server is open for all to join, as well as their Instagram handle. This Spring 2025 Gamer Girl Mixer will be the third event hosted by the E-Sports Arena, this time independent from other resource centers. The first mixer was in collaboration with the Queer and Trans (LGBT+) Center and the second by the Woman’s Resource Center in the fall semester of 2024.
Asking Staff member Ashley C, what is her favorite aspect of the hosting the Gamer Girl Mixer? she said, “Seeing new faces and like how people are so willing to participate. People are actively trying to look for a community as they participate in our activities.”
The CSUSB E-Sports Arena will host more Gamer Girl Mixers in the future, with a variety of other events throughout the progression of the semester. The Center is open during the week for all students from 10:00 am to 7:00pm Monday through Thursday and Fridays at 4:00pm.