Veterans win scholarship

A major video game company has decided to give $50,000 to ACC students.

The ACC Foundation received $50,000 from the Call of Duty Endowment (CODE) for game design students who are also veterans.

"We did it because we found that ACC has a lot of programs that focus on gaming development and gaming design," said spokesman for the Call of Duty Endowment (CODE) Ted Kresse. "We knew that veterans were listed in this program, and it's a school that's helping veterans that are pursuing game design."

CODE is a non-profit, public benefit corporation created by Activision Blizzard, Inc. The organization was set up to help veterans in their future after service. The donation will be distributed annually to a different set of four students through 2014.

ACC was the ideal choice and initially put on the table because ACC has graduates from game design that are in the industry now, Kresse said.

Kresse explained that it was up to the ACC Foundation to pick the actual students who would win the scholarships.

They decided that students needed to have been honorably discharged from United States Armed Forces, Reserves, or National Guard, be in pursuit of a career in game development or game design, have at least a 2.5 grade point average, and have a financial need.

Executive director of the ACC Foundation Stephanie Dempsey explained that the scholarship can be used toward supplies and can go a long way.

"It's a very broad scholarship," Dempsey said. "The computers that they have to have are more than just a PC; it needs to have more technology, and the scholarship will cover that also."

Dempsey said that this has been the foundation's best year for scholarships. They have awarded over a half of a million dollars to students this year.