Kean’s Nerd Culture on the Upswing to ‘Cool’

By Olivia Cornwell | Published December 16, 2022

Kean University students are showing an increased interest in nerd culture on campus after the pandemic, with student groups related to gaming and anime growing in attendance. 

As life at Kean recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in student interests are visible in club formations and interests. Various clubs on campus formed during and after the pandemic, with many students taking an appeal compared to previous school years. These clubs follow a general theme – nerd culture.

In the modern day, nerd culture comprises fans of obscure media, such as anime (Japanese animation), comic books, video games, and tabletop games. For Kean University, the two largest nerd-culture clubs are Kean Esports and Kean Anime Society.

Kean Esports began in early 2020 when the semester lockdown began. The student group, as of this semester, has 100 members. Beginning in the Fall of 2021, the club also established its own athletic team for Esports. Kean completed the arena used for competing in March 2022 and won an award for “Best Esports Project” by Commercial Integrator magazine. 

“When I started at Kean, it was very hard to find people who played games like the ones I play,” Amy Yang, vice president, and original executive board member of Kean Esports said. “Most of the population at Kean plays console games and sports games. After starting the club, it was a lot easier to find friends who had similar interests as I did.”

Kean Anime Society had fallen apart due to low attendance during the middle of the pandemic, while anime grew in popularity. Anime, which was once seen negatively by society, became more widely accepted as a normal interest. 

Ampere Analysis found 36 % of people across the world enjoyed watching anime in 2021, a 50% increase from 2018. Students came together in the Fall of 2021 to reestablish the club, with the club now hosting large events. Most recently, their Halloween Cosplay Masquerade. 

For years, people gave nerd a negative connotation. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a nerd as “an unstylish or socially awkward person”. 

The term itself appeared commonly in high school settings, with victims of bullying often being labeled as “nerds”. However, many students have reclaimed the word, and use it to describe what makes them unique. 

“I feel like there’s a lot of different flavors of nerd,” Allison Abney, senior transfer, industrial design/art history major, and winner of Kean Anime Society’s Halloween Cosplay Masquerade said. “Honestly, in my head, it falls into if you’re a business major who doesn’t play football, you’re a nerd for something. Like, there’s math, there’s academic nerds, there’s art nerds, there’s theater nerds. It’s a whole plethora. There’s [Dungeons and Dragons] nerds. There’s video game nerds, and a lot of them intermingle.”

Clubs continue to establish and grow with engagement, with new clubs forming next semester fitting into nerd culture. For example, the United Nations Association expects to form next semester. 

“[United Nations Association] is a club where people come together to compete as well as engage in nerd activities,” Dominic Jones, freshman, in secondary education English/special education, and Jordan Newland, freshman, biology major, said. “Such as taking over countries and engaging them in all sorts of strategies.”

At Kean University, nerd has become a norm. More and more students are happy to label themselves as nerds and engage with students similar to them on campus. With this, social life and engagement have the opportunity to grow more and more in the coming semesters.

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