Hundreds of thousands of people tuned in to Conway over the last week as Hendrix College became the home of Kai Cenat’s highly anticipated “Streamer University.” (PHOTO: KATV)
CONWAY, Ark. (KATV) —Hundreds of thousands of people tuned in to Conway over the last week as Hendrix College became the home of Kai Cenat’s highly anticipated “Streamer University.”
The five-day content creator boot camp brought more than 100 streamers to the Hendrix campus, introducing millions of viewers around the world to the private liberal arts college.
Hendrix College President Dr. Karen Petersen said the opportunity came after Kai Cenat’s team reached out to the school and visited campus several times.
“I don’t know exactly how they heard about Hendrix College, but they came and visited more than once and fell in love with the place,” Petersen said.
Petersen said agreeing to host the event fit with the college’s culture.
“A lot of institutions would’ve said no. Hendrix is not a place of no. Hendrix is a place of yes. Let’s make that work for our students,” she said.
Streamer University is a boot camp designed for live content creators and is led by Cenat, one of the world’s most recognizable streamers. He has more than 17 million followers on Instagram and over 21 million followers on Twitch.
During the event, Streamer University used five buildings on campus. Petersen said Cenat’s team really rented the entire campus for the production.
Beyond the global attention, Hendrix leaders say the event created unique opportunities for students.
Graduate student Braxton Waller worked the event and said it gave him experience he never expected to find in Conway.
“This place is great about helping the individual grow, and having this opportunity, there’s no way I could’ve worked an event that large and interacted with those people,” Waller said.
Vice Provost for Student Formation Todd Tinsley said students also benefited by watching creators collaborate and learn from one another.
“They have brought in energy to our little corner of Conway that has been exciting. They have been devoted to collaboration and learning from one another, and that’s what I get to see every day as a faculty member here,” Tinsley said.
Petersen said while Hendrix cannot disclose how much Kai Cenat paid to rent the campus, the college believes the worldwide exposure and experiences students gained will have a lasting impact.
According to Kai Cenat’s live stream, next year’s Streamer University is expected to be held somewhere in Europe.
More from President Dr. Petersen on Streamer University experience:
