GRAND OPENING CELEBRATION OF THE
CENTER for GAMES and INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT!
Tuesday, February 4, 2025 | 4:30 p.m.
Valparaiso University Center for the Arts, Room 1412
THE VALPARAISO UNIVERSITY
CENTER for
GAMES
and INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT
MISSION: The Valparaiso University Center for Games and Interactive Entertainment provides resources for students, educators, retailers, and game designers to explore and create games in all their forms. Committed to uniting people in play, this interdisciplinary center fosters a welcoming environment for students and community members to cultivate creativity and an entrepreneurial mindset.
VISION: The Valparaiso University Center for Games and Interactive Entertainment will be the regional leader in game design (in all forms), game-focused pedagogy, and career and professional development in the game industry. Dedicated to gaming as a positive tool for inclusion and wellbeing, the center serves as a beacon for collaborative play and problem-solving.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
4:30-4:45 p.m. Hors d’Oeuvres
4:45 p.m.
5:15-6 p.m.
Welcome: Gregg “Bagel” Johnson, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences
Remarks: Martin Buinicki, Ph.D., Richard P. Baepler Distinguished Professor in the Humanities
Kit Potter ’25, Rollin’ with RPGs Club
Jonathan Hurtado ’25, Game Design Minor
Recognizing Joseph Goodman, Guest of Honor: Martin Buinicki, Ph.D.
Open Play
GRAND OPENING GUEST OF HONOR
JOSEPH GOODMAN PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER
GOODMAN GAMES
Joseph Goodman is the founder of Goodman Games. For more than 20 years, Goodman Games has been a leading publisher of tabletop role playing games (RPG). Joseph began playing Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) in the early 1980s, and later self-published a gaming zine with his brother the summer before starting college. In college, he studied his coursework occasionally while spending copious amounts of time becoming a world champion video game player and working part-time writing and editing for a local wargame miniatures manufacturer. After interning for game publishers in Scotland and Sweden, he started Goodman Games during the D&D third edition “d20 boom.” Hundreds of publications later, flagship publication Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC) RPG has sold more than 100,000 copies and Goodman Games is a staple on the RPG scene, with a bustling Indiana warehouse, shelf presence in retailers worldwide, and regular crowdfunding campaigns. Joseph lives in Marin County, California, with his wife and two boys, where he games with school children and parents of school children. In his rare spare time, he plays pinball, reads a lot, hangs out with his wife, and goes hiking.
THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS
• Ball Venture Fund
• Katie Goodrich, MPA, Independent Colleges of Indiana
• Valparaiso University Game Center
• Working Groups: (Summer 2022-2023):
- Jelena Byers ’04, M.A., D.A.
- Jillian Downs ’22
- Reva Johnson ’09, M.S., Ph.D.
- Laura Krepp, M.A.
- Sanjay Kumar, M.S., Ph.D.
- Tristan Leonhard ’09, ’11 M.S.
- Andrew Richter ’90, M.S., Ph.D.
- David Rolling, M.S., Ph.D.
- Nick Rosasco, M.S., D.Sc.
- Richard Sévère, M.S., Ph.D.
- Joe Weaver ’23
- Liz Wuerffel ’00, MFA
• Valparaiso University English Department
• Students of ENGL 200: Video Games, Playing with Narrative
• Students of ENGL 280: Writing RPGs
• Student Game Center Staff
• Members of the Valparaiso Community
• Dustin Ritchea, M.S., Roll Seekers, LLC
• Ghost Light Dice
• Peter Petrusha, Imagining Games, LLC
• Stefan Barkow, G.C., Foxbo Games
• By The Board Games
• Reliquary Games
• Galactic Greg’s Comics
• Goodman Games
• Gaming Honors, LLC
• Valparaiso University Rollin’ with RPGs Club
• Eric Johnson ’87, Ph.D., Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
• Kevin Goebbert '03, Ph.D., Associate Provost and Professor of Meteorology
• Gregg “Bagel” Johnson, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences
• Richard Sévère, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of English
• Niclas Erhardt, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Business
• Patricia J. Mileham, M.A., Dean of the Christopher Center Library
• Doug Tougaw, Ph.D., P.E., MBA ’05, Dean of the College of Engineering
• Jennifer Prough ’91, Ph.D., Dean of Christ College – The Honors College
• Jonathan Kozak ’21, Administrative Assistant for the College of Arts and Sciences
• Jonathan Hurtado ’25, Intern for the College of Arts and Sciences
• Jason Kutch, M.S., P.E., Executive Director of Facilities
• Darren Scroggins, General Contractor for Facilities Management
• Kappa Delta Sorority
• Christopher Smith, Assistant Athletic Director for Campus Recreation and Well-Being
• Henry Woofter, M.S. ’ 25, Graduate Assistant for Esports
• Ryan Cole, Mark and Kathleen Helge Director of Student Philanthropy
• Ashley Velasquez ’ 25, President of the Senior Class Gift Committee
• Madi Boor ’ 25
• Giana Foley ’ 25
• Lukasz Janik ’ 25
• Kudakwashe Chikonyora ’ 25
• Olivia Holtz ’ 25
• Aleshia Perkins, Project Coordinator for Facilities Management
• Dave Sierkowski, Chief Information Officer
• Erik Kispert ’ 17 MBA, Associate Director of Classroom Technology
• Gaulo Amezcua-Luna, Manager of Classroom Technology
VALPO.EDU/CENTER-FOR-GAMES