The College Fix

Miley Cyrus mayhem continues to spread, and this time an innocent pendulum art piece at Grand Valley State University has paid the price.

No sooner had the pop star introduced an aghast America to sexual twerking – bumping, grinding, and doing things with a foam finger that really nobody should –  she released a music video of herself licking, riding and writhing on a large wrecking ball hung by a chain, thus the namesake of her latest single: “Wrecking Ball.”

Cyrus’ wrecking ball looks nearly identical to one that’s hung at Grand Valley State University since 1974. Of course, over the years, college kids at the Michigan-based public university have had their fun with it, but once they saw Cyrus’ video, things got far more interesting and traffic on the ball picked up – as students started making fun of Cyrus by creating their own videos and spoofs riding the ball.

“A recent increase in popularity of riding the pendulum art piece located outside of the Padnos Hall of Science prompted Facilities Services to remove the piece due to concerns over the safety of students,” the university announced Tuesday. “After the removal yesterday, workers discovered that the cable was indeed fraying.”

The ball’s removal has prompted student outcry, with hashtags such as #SaveTheBall trending. News outlets across America, from mainstream ones to entertainment news to Buzzfeed, have picked up the story. One student even tweeted: “Professor is having us watch the news reports in class.” Another joked: “This is why we can’t have nice things.”

A “twerk-in” protest among students has even been discussed, as the GVSU wrecking ball had its own twitter feed prior to the Cyrus brouhaha.

Watch one of the spoofs:

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IMAGE: Twitter screenshot