# @connervagle on LinkedIn

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.linkedin.com/posts/connervagle_this-week-northern-illinois-university-is-activity-7325557355142615040-NDUz
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/30719904-inconnervagle-linkedin
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/52f9aed4ed.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-05-06T16:29:35.707+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Conner Vagle (@ConnerVagle) — https://gondola.cc/ConnerVagle

## Caption

This week Northern Illinois University is celebrating our graduating students with Commencement ceremonies throughout the weekend. I'd like to extend a heartfelt congratulations to all of our graduating students and a best of luck to everyone as they complete final exams throughout the week. 

As I reflect on the past academic year, I can't help but be proud of what we've accomplished. We're on track to see at least 8 students of the 30 current members of our varsity program receive degrees over the weekend. We've attended the first (and second) LAN conference playoffs in program history with Rocket League travelling to Sandusky, OH in the fall and Overwatch 2 and League of Legends both travelling to Oxford, OH and Miami University in the Spring. We brought aboard Eli Curry who completed his first full-year as Community Ambassador. We revamped our social media, video content and streams (shoutout to Joshua Bormann, Erin Marie Barker, John Taylor, and Ethan Nguyen), including the release of our first ever full-length vlog (https://lnkd.in/gR2PgW3H). There will always be learning experiences and growth in every academic year, but this was one of NIU Esports' most successful yet!

That said, today marks the start of our 2025 Crowdfunding Campaign, Smash the Competition: Support our Student-Competitors! This will run from today until May 26th and our goal is to raise funds to support our expansion into Varsity Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in 2025-26 as well as begin to secure a travel fund for our varsity teams for the future. We'll be sharing details soon™️ about our Stream-a-Thon that will be a part of the event, but expect opportunities to interact with our players and enjoy community-based gameplay. Also, we may have opportunities for activations surrounding the Stream-a-Thon, but we'll be sharing more on that soon. Our current crop of varsity players are a glowing example of the impact participating in our program can have and we're excited to release our Graduate Showcase videos as part of the campaign.

Any support of the project is extremely appreciated and we certainly understand that not everyone is willing or able to contribute financially. If you are in a position to be able to support financially, there is no amount too big or too small and your generosity will greatly support our students on their path to graduation. If you are not in a position to contribute financially and you'd still like to be involved, we're always open to Ambassadors who will share the word about the campaign on social media and through their networks. We'll provide the materials, all you need to do is share the posts. If you're interested in becoming an Ambassador, please send a DM to myself with your Name and Email and we'll send you an invite to participate.

To learn more about the campaign and to contribute if you're able, please visit https://lnkd.in/gxYsa9f5.

## Stats

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- **Likes:** 40
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## Credits

These are the roles credited on Gondola. Credits may be incomplete.
A brand, account owner, or featured person is not necessarily the creator.

| Name | Username | Profile | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Conner Vagle | @ConnerVagle | https://gondola.cc/ConnerVagle | Content Producer |

## Tags

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