The Iowa State University gymnastics programme will participate in a special holiday event, the Fisk MLK Competition, on 15 January. The team will compete against five other collegiate teams from Brown, Fisk, Rutgers, William & Mary and Talladega in this historic competition. The event will take place at Vanderbilt University's Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tennessee. 

This is a historic competition with significant sentimental value, and this year is an official part of Nashville's Martin Luther King Jr. Day week. The choice of Fisk University was made because it is the home to the first HBCU (Historically Black College or University) gymnastics team in the USA and will therefore host a combined event that will bring together the only African gymnastics coaches in the country. 

As reported on Iowa State's official website, "I am thrilled that Iowa State Gymnastics will be represented at this competition," said Coach Ashley Miles Greig. "Personally, it's special to be a part of something historic that promotes black excellence and inclusivity in gymnastics," the coach added.

The coaches from each university, all former gymnasts, will take part in the event. They are Talladega's Aja Sims-Fletcher, Brown's Brittany Harris, W&M's Kelsey Hinton, Rutgers' Umme Salim-Beasley and Fisk's Corrinne Tarver. Sims-Fletcher, like Coach Greig, was a standout gymnast at the University of Alabama. Harris went on to compete at Oregon State, Hinton at NC State and Salim-Beasley at West Virginia. Fisk's Tarver, the host of the event, competed at Georgia and was the Bulldogs' first African-American gymnast to win nine All-American titles. 

They are the ones who are best able to convey the essence of a competition like the Fisk MLK, which has always been a benchmark in college sports. As former gymnasts, they represent gymnastics and carry on the legacy of instilling values in young athletes. Gymnastics is one of 10 women's sports offered at Iowa State and one of the most popular.