14 / 48
12
Inside Hokie Sports
“Ut Prosim.”
This short phrase, perhaps
known by few outside of the Virginia Tech
community, is ingrained in the collegiate
experience for those who call Blacksburg
“home.” The meaning is short and
simple—“That I May Serve”—but tends to
have a powerful impact on Virginia Tech
students, staff, and the campus community.
During the 2016-17 academic year, Virginia
Tech student-athletes completed more than
3,400 hours of community outreach—an
increase of more than 1,000 hours from the
previous academic year. This year, the student-
athletes are well on their way to exceeding that
number, having completed more than 1,100
hours during the 2017 fall semester alone.
The service that Virginia Tech student-
athletes participate in takes a variety of
shapes. Some teams create and facilitate these
opportunities as a team to come together and
achieve a common goal. The volleyball team
this year, and specifically the seniors, adopted
this approached.
At the beginning of the season, the six
members of the senior class decided to
organize an outreach project as a way to leave a
mark on this community during their final year
at Virginia Tech. They chose to partner with
the Carilion Children’s Hospital in Roanoke,
Virginia to complete this project.
Throughout the season, the team sponsored
toy collections at many of their matches, where
they asked fans and supporters to donate new
and gently used toys to be given for the patients
at Carilion Children’s. In early December, the
seniors traveled to Roanoke to help with the
annual Carilion Children’s Hospital Holiday
Party, which allowed them tomeet and interact
with some of the patients and families who
eventually would be receiving the donations
collected by the team during the season. Later
that month, the ladies took another trip to
Roanoke to drop off the toys as a culmination
of their semester-long project focused on
giving back.
“Having community outreach be such a
huge part of my athletics career has allowed
me to see the impact we can have on the
individuals that we get the opportunity to
interact with,” redshirt senior and team liaison
Stacey Christy said. “It allows us to make more
personal relationships that we can continue
even after our time at Virginia Tech is over.
Our position as student-athletes gives us a
great platform and allows us to promote and
support amazing causes and messages that
we’re passionate about.”
The volleyball team wasn’t the only group
of student-athletes to rally around a cause this
semester. The Virginia Tech Student-Athlete
Advisory Committee, better known as “SAAC,”
created a project of its own. This group,
consisting of about two student-athletes from
LIVING UP TO
university’s motto,
2017 a
banner year of service
for TECH student-athletes
by
Natalie Forbes
Senior Director, Student-Athlete Development
each team tasked with representing their
teammates and acting as the “voice” of Virginia
Tech student-athletes, decided early in the fall
semester to participate in a service project as
a group. They settled on an “Adopt-A-Family”
project in which they would raise money to
purchase Christmas gifts for two local families
in need.
The group contacted the local Salvation
Army, and through the “Angel Tree” project,
they were provided with information on
the two families, along with the children’s
“wants” and “needs.” Armed with this
information, SAAC set out to fundraise, and
through donations from various student-
athletes, athletics staff, and Tech supporters,
they raised more than $1,600 to purchase
gifts for the families.
Some individual student-athlete groups
create their own community outreach events,
but the most common outreach participation
comes from student-athletes volunteering
to help out at events and activities organized
through the Office of Student-Athlete
Development and various local organizations.
In August of 2017, more than 100 student-
athletes from 10 different teams participated
in the annual “Hokie Helpers” project on
campus, a project in which current student-
athletes assisted new Hokies with moving into
on-campus residence halls.
In addition, a number of student-athletes
from various teams gave their time this holiday
season to volunteer with the local Montgomery
County Christmas Store. This organization
aids low-income families in the New River
Valley by providing toys and clothes at a low
cost, so that parents can purchase Christmas
gifts for their children. Virginia Tech student-
athletes served as volunteers at various toy
collection events for the organization in
addition to assisting with the “shopping days”
when the store was open to local families in
early December.
Whether it is aiding local families in need,
supporting fellow Hokies, or spending time
with children facing life-threatening illnesses,
it is clear that the spirit of “
Ut Prosim
” runs
deep in the culture and tradition of Virginia
Tech athletics.
Members of the Tech volleyball team played with
children at the Carilion Children’s Hospital Holiday Party
in early December, while other student-athletes (above
right) helped students move in back in August - all as a
way of helping within the community around them.