Collegiate Times

Correction: This story has been modified from its original version. — This article has been modified from its original version. Kevin Gillispie is the author of the column. The Collegiate Times regrets this error.

The more they sweat, the more their collars feel as though they're constricting.

The sun presses like an iron against their faces and draws water from their skin. Their heads grow heavy and settle against their uniforms' rigid collars and they cannot breathe. It is not the cloth that shrinks, but their stamina.

The earth pulls on them and their feet ache. They parade for hours; they stand for more. If there is discomfort in the elements, it will find them -- or they will be taken to where it lies.

All this they do for a white cord and a maroon cardigan -- simple symbols of a massive heritage.

The hoi polloi may covet the college life for admirable reasons -- elevated condition, a claim on exclusive knowledge in an exotic field of study -- but these aspirations, once claimed, are as fickle as cascading water. Social and financial status can change overnight. The glut of subprime loans has demonstrated this. New and better research will amend or overturn the work someone has done and render them a celebrated novelty in good times; a fraud in bad.The great, unintended consequences of college life are not the degrees of erudition passed down from generation to generation. Let's face it: The truly initiated can get a world-class education with a library card. No, the great consequences are the living relationships.

And the magnitude of these relationships depends on how they're earned.

Many seek to "Go Greek." There is a sense of exclusivity in the rush initiation. Others gravitate to athletic organizations. The heightened competition differentiates them. But the trials associated with these endeavors do not change a person on a fundamental level.

There is no great weight of other's loss of life and limb bearing down upon what they do. They are not overwhelmed with the names and deeds of individuals far, far better than they could ever hope to be. For the typical individual, humility is a character trait; for those in the Highty Tighties -- and the Corps of Cadets generally -- humility is a sacred burden beyond that experienced by any ACC champion or cross-dressing pledge.

It is the juxtaposition of the idealism of the living with the sacrifices of the dead that makes this corps-driven gauntlet of whole-person development the place on campus where the greatest living relationships are forged.

Over the weekend, the Highty Tighty Alumni held their annual meeting. There were friends and food, levity and laughter, but, most notably, there was remembrance. The majority of the meeting was spent in remembering why the organization was so important to them: because of the people who have sacrificed and who continue to sacrifice so much to make it what it is today and to remember those who are no longer with them.

An alumnus who had been given a devastating diagnosis was shown unwavering support by the entirety of the organization -- both financially and emotionally. A venerable alumnus, who when asked what he wanted for (his last) Christmas said all that he wanted was his Highty Tighty sweater, was held up as an exemplar of the Highty Tighty spirit. And, of course, the man who is among those individuals referred to above as far, far better than any could hope, better than any could ever dream, to be: Matthew Joseph La Porte. (For those unfamiliar with this man, go to the Virginia Tech homepage and click on the link marked "We Remember.")

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