Gaming

[Cynthia Garett]

Hello,

I would like to know what does "gaming the system" mean here. Is it "playing with the system or gambling with the system"? Thank you.

"By the late ’80s, when I enrolled at Howard, the term “black Republican” was nearly oxymoronic. The handful of students who identified as such were thought to be cynically gaming the system, pursuing the easiest route to public visibility and sacrificing collective advancement on the altar of individual gain."

 

[tzfujimino]

Hello, Cynthia Garett.:-D
I've found this: http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/game_3
I hope it helps.

 

[MikeNewYork]

In that use, "gaming" means "manipulating".

 

[emsr2d2]

The usual term (in BrE) is "playing the system". It's when you use an existing system, such as the welfare benefits system, to your own advantage.