They are synonymous with Rutgers Athletics. They are national championship-caliber performers in their own right. The Rutgers University Spirit Program is the contagiously energetic face of Game Day "On the Banks." But what we see during breaks in the action at SHI Stadium and Jersey Mike's Arena barely scratches the surface of these tried-and-true student-athletes competing and entertaining on the dance team. They are some of Rutgers Athletics' biggest supporters, and they deserve support akin to the 700 Scarlet Knights suiting up at the venues in which they perform.

The program's head coach, Christine Zoffinger, is leading by example for that cause. Zoffinger has been at the helm of the perennial championship contenders since 1997, when shortly thereafter, the Scarlet Knights won a national title in her first full season as head coach in 1998. When she is not guiding the team from the standpoint of her own experience as a member of the dance team at RU, she is also advocating for the program and giving back anyway she can.
 
Part of that plan is putting money where her mouth is. The Zoffinger Family Endowment fully supports a scholarship for a member of the Rutgers Dance Team each year.
 
"The Spirit Program is a visible face of the University," Zoffinger says. "We're in great demand to do so many things in the community and on campus. There is a tremendous amount of training and discipline that goes into it. They put in so much, so if there's anything I can give to make them feel appreciated, that is what I'll do."
 
Zoffinger, who allocated the funds from a family foundation, gives back to support her students, and to inspire others to recognize the level of dedication committed to by the Rutgers Spirit Program. Most fans see the smiling faces and the pom-poms, hear the cheers. The team puts in just as much time honing their craft, if not more, as their student-athlete peers at Rutgers – a devotion to self-expression and the beautiful combination of athletics, art, a creativity. Zoffinger and her squad put together routines, then tirelessly train to compete at a nationally elite echelon.
 
The Rutgers Dance Team recently won the 2018 World Championship representing Team USA, claimed a 2019 silver medal at Worlds, and have been ranked in the Top 5 of the nation in 21 of Zoffinger's 26-years at the helm.
 
"Dance is an outlet," Zoffinger says. "It's somewhere you can go to express yourself. These young people blend what I believe to be the best of the college experience, and they do it with such enthusiasm."
 
Zoffinger graduated with a political science degree from Rutgers' Livingston College in 1995 and stayed with the dance team as an assistant coach following commencement. As a student, she was on the first Rutgers Dance Team to earn an invitation to compete at the UCA and UDA National College Cheerleading and Dance Team Championship in 1993. In 1994, she took over as team captain and led the squad to a seventh-place national finish. Coaching came naturally under her mentor, Mike Stickle, who preceded Zoffinger in the head coaching role and set the team up for decades of success.
 
Today, Zoffinger sets her team up for success by recruiting the recipient of her family's scholarship, which is bestowed to a dancer who best embodies the spirit of community service, leadership, and a love of Rutgers. Most of her team are studio-trained dancers, putting in real work in practice and the classroom.
 
A former Rutgers Athletics marketing intern for current staffer Kathleen Conlin and current football chief of staff Kevin MacConnell, and a 1999 Rutgers MBA graduate, Zoffinger is hoping her philanthropy is marketable through a larger scope. The Spirit Program has a tradition of altruism, consistently winning the R Fund's annual Giving Day competitions for the number of alumni who give back to their programs of choice. The program raised nearly $17,000 for R Fund through 540 donations over the last two Giving Days, ranking No. 1 in all of Athletics during both campaigns and No. 1 of any program at Rutgers-New Brunswick in 2020.
 
Now, Zoffinger is cheering on Rutgers Nation to support her group with as much spirit and grace as you see on the sidelines on game days.
 
"Resources go a long way in showing appreciation, but it's not always about the money," the Zoffinger Scholarship's namesake said. "It's about valuing what people put into something. Not many people understand what goes into our program under the surface."