SUPERPOWER: Risk-taking
Presidential Consultant and Former President, Concord University
Kendra Boggess isn’t afraid to take a risk. The first female president to preside over Concord University, her path to the position was unconventional, built upon her willingness to say yes when others might not have even stuck around long enough to hear the question. She credits her father for instilling this within her, as she saw him and her mother take chances and witnessed them pay off—in their successful specialty food store, for example, where she worked growing up.
With a dozen years as president and decades of teaching at Concord before that, Boggess is now serving as a consultant to the new president after retiring this year.
Among Boggess’ many contributions, helping to bring esports to the university is a particular point of pride. When it came to her attention that a bright and talented student at the school was leaving early each week to travel all over the country to play esports, she took it upon herself to learn more about it. “Students who are involved stay in school,” she says. “Students have to find their people in order to stay engaged in a university for years, and athletes are great examples of that.” Seeing potential in the growing field, Boggess was determined to bring esports to her school to offer another way students could build community on campus.
The effort has paid off spectacularly. When the program launched in 2019, it was the first of its kind in West Virginia. The Concord esports teams have won 23 national championships in the programs short life and have become an important part of the broader community there, offering esports summer camps and esports birthday parties for young gamers. Students can even pursue a bachelor’s degree in esports, which can lead to opportunities in management, cybersecurity, broadcasting, social media, and marketing, along with military operations where hand-eye speed, coordination, and intelligence are required. “These are smart students. We have two that are professional gamers and play at the expert level as well. They want to get a degree,” she gushes. “They’re just remarkable.”
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