SO&L serves Sac State Stinger Esports club cease and desist letter

Club cancels planned activities for next week

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Alex Daniels

The Stinger Esports team faces Rocklin High School in Overwatch during the Bear Cup Collegiate Tournament July 28 at Cal Expo Fairgrounds. The club received a cease and desist letter Oct. 17 for violation of SO&L guidelines for membership, including representing Sac State at tournaments.

Mack Ervin III

Sacramento State’s Stinger Esports club was issued a cease and desist letter by Student Organizations & Leadership (SO&L) Thursday and canceled some of their upcoming events, according to a member of the club.

An announcement was posted on the Stinger Esports Discord server Thursday at 5:41 p.m. by interim club President Harish Kandaswamy, informing members of the club of the cease and desist letter. The announcement said this may be due to “some misunderstandings on (SO&L)’s part.”

Story continues below screenshot.

Screenshot via Discord

According to Beth Lesen, associate vice president for student affairs and dean of students at Sac State, the letter was sent out pending investigation of alleged policy violation.

In response, the club canceled events through the next week, including a club meeting on Friday and the homecoming tailgate event scheduled for Saturday. The message also said that all team activities like practices and tournaments must be stopped until further notice.

Stinger Esports’ social media manager Gabriel Ionica said that he doesn’t know what triggered the letter, but that it left members disappointed with the situation.

“People were definitely not happy,” Ionica said. “They were asking for a reason why. But we were told that we shouldn’t speculate until after the meeting with SO&L.”

Ionica is a former State Hornet staff member.

Stinger Esports Director Donna Walters declined to comment on the matter.

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The club has grown to over 400 members since its creation in 2017 but is currently without a centralized location on campus.

The club competes in video game tournaments against as many as 400 schools and serves to promote gaming culture with the help of students, alumni and community members.

Additional reporting by Shaun Holkko.