Campus, News

Charity event gives needy children a rockin’ salute

Boston University senior Devin Kelly walked on the College of Communication auditorium stage, wearing gym shorts, a tie and a suit jacket. The other two members of his group, the Three Jacobs, wore similar attire and carried toy guitars and hairbrushes to use as microphones.

‘For those about to rock, we salute you,’ Kelly, a College of Arts and Sciences senior, told the audience.

The Three Jacobs won Thursday’s lip-syncing competition, ‘Lip Service.’ In its third consecutive year running, four student groups battled by lip-syncing songs like Destiny’s Child’s ‘Independent Women,’ the Spice Girls’ ‘Stop,’ and N’Sync’s ‘Bye Bye Bye’ to an audience of about 35.

After performing ‘Any Way You Want it, That’s the Way You Need It’ and ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey, The Three Jacobs, which also includes School of Management senior Steve Crane and CAS senior Andrew Ruisi, took home the $100 cash prize. Kelly and the other two members of The Three Jacobs jumped into the audience after the win.

The women from the Student Alumni Council served as the opening act for the evening, dressing as the Spice Girls in sparkly dresses, the occasional wig and platform shoes. The group would later be named the runner-up.

For the second act, two Student Alumni Council men stole the spotlight by staging a battle between ‘tween’ celebrity Miley Cyrus and her Disney Channel alter ego Hannah Montana for the song ‘7 Things I Hate About You.’

The BU Rotoract Club hosted the competition and will donate all proceeds to the Gift of Life International, a non-profit organization that helps children from third-world countries that suffer from congenital heart disease. The club needs to raise $5,000 before it can sponsor a child, but BU Rotoract Vice President Ketti Chauhan said the club is ‘almost there.’

‘The money basically cycles every three years,’ Chauhan, an SMG senior, said. ‘We raised enough money to sponsor a boy in 2007, so we are getting close to raising enough again. This is our biggest fundraiser.’

Two years ago, the club raised enough money to help Melvin, a 9-year-old Salvadorian boy, receive heart surgery. Rotaract members still keep in touch with him, and are currently raising $400 to help pay for his schooling.

BU graduate student Nehal Patel said she attended the event to cheer on her friends and donate to the cause.

‘I used to be president of this club, but now I’m just here to watch,’ she said. ‘Coming from last year, when we were in the CGS auditorium, this is a lot better. I liked the different groups and the new location.’

BU Rotaract President Caitlin Synovec said she was happy with how the night turned out.

‘It went really well and all of the acts were fabulous,’ Synovec, a Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences senior, said. ‘We definitely had a lot of support this time, and it absolutely gets better every year.’

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