Collegiate Times

Fighting Gravity, a dance team that originated from Virginia Tech’s Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, will be returning to campus after gaining notoriety from its third-place finish on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” in the summer and fall of 2010.

The dance group has decided to return to campus to perform for “Relay’s Best Dance Crew,” a fundraiser for Tech’s chapter of Relay for Life, one of the largest university chapters in the nation. 

Fighting Gravity’s return to Tech for a charitable event proves that even after receiving worldwide acclaim, it has remained true to its roots of Tech values and morals.

According to Fighting Gravity’s official website, the gravity-defying dance team convened for a fraternal philanthropic event sponsored by Pi Kappa Alpha to raise money for a local organization, “Service for Sight,” a community service group that assists local residents with vision impairments. Fighting Gravity’s advocacy of community service at Tech, even after attaining its fame from “America’s Got Talent,” proves that, although the group is no longer at Tech, service is still a critical element for its members.

Many students take our service heritage as a land-grant college for granted. 

As Hokies, it is our obligation to participate in service opportunities as a way to give back to the community that provides so many opportunities for Tech students. Many students become so overwhelmed with academics and their social life, and they forget that community service is a crucial part of Tech’s founding ideology.

Tech has many opportunities to get involved with community service projects around campus and Blacksburg. Many people are under the assumption that community service can be boring, but actually, any community service project can be fun, especially with the wide variety of options to become active on and around campus. For community service projects around campus, such as The Big Event and Relay for Life, you can form teams with your friends.

If you put a competitive aspect into the event, you and your friends can do some remarkable work around the community while making great memories. There are a variety of student service organizations around campus, so you can find a niche that suits your personality and make a positive impact in the community. With the variety of options to become involved in, there’s no excuse for Tech students to be inactive.

Community service doesn’t have to be a major time commitment; in fact, many service events only require a day or two during the year. In addition, participating in service projects can provide experiences for your resume, and it can give you the opportunity to network with notable alumni, which can be very beneficial when it comes to job searching. Overall, participating in service projects around campus can enrich your experience as a Tech student without burdening or detracting from academics.

Fighting Gravity’s return to Tech will inspire many to join the efforts for Tech’s Relay for Life, and it will also provide students with an opportunity to see a great dance crew for a reasonable ticket price. The impact that Fighting Gravity’s performance at Tech can make on the participation in Relay for Life has the potential to be extraordinary, and it provides an example for involvement around campus and the community that everyone should aspire to match.

Becoming active in community service will not only benefit the community, but can make an immense impact on your experience as a student or alumnus of Tech.

A version of this article appeared in the Feb 1 issue of the Collegiate Times.