Chapter Reports 2006–2007 (Continued)on “‘Afro-Greeks’ in Search of Home:The Motif of the Underworld Journey inthe Poetry of Aimé Césaire and DerekWalcott.”Beta Pi at the University of ArkansasThis year has certainly been an excitingtime for the Beta Pi chapter at the Universityof Arkansas. Lectures have beengiven, parties thrown, and much goodwilland friendship have been coveted <strong>by</strong> all!It has also been a period of notable growthfor the chapter. Dr. Alexandra Pappasjoined the ranks of our Classics faculty inAugust and has been received very warmly<strong>by</strong> the students. She is energetic, informed,and personable, and brings with her manyinsights and connections that have beenbeneficial to our chapter and Classicsprogram.In September, we had our annualBack-to-School get together, and as alwayswith these events, there was a smorgasbordof delightful foodstuffs to choosefrom. Furthermore, nearly a hecatombwas slaughtered for this occasion. “Andthe smoke of the fat rose from the grill to theheavens producing a pleasing aroma for bothgods and men.”In October, we hosted Prof. GregoryDaugherty from Randolph-Macon <strong>College</strong>,who gave a lecture called “Down and Outin Ancient Rome.” After teaching us aboutclass disparities in Rome, Prof. Daughertyalso presented a smaller talk called “TheGreatest Story Ever Drawn: Cleopatra inAmerican Comics,” which was a visual blitzof Cleopatra’s depictions ranging from thesublime to the ridiculous.In November, our chapter presidentand national treasurer, Jasmine Merced-Ownbey, headed over to Memphis toattend CAMWS-SS to help increase theexposure of <strong>Eta</strong> <strong>Sigma</strong> <strong>Phi</strong> to other membersand organizations of the Classics field.The tireless efforts of our faculty triopleased the gods, and our chapter reapedthe rewards. In December, we initiated 20new members at our annual Saturnalia — arecord for our chapter! The event was aphenomenal success marked with muchfood and drink and gift-giving. In keepingwith tradition, students brought theirlexica to translate gift tags and, providedthey guessed the contents from the Greekand Latin riddles, opened up their presentsgiven <strong>by</strong> the faculty.Our chapter president went with theother national officers in January to sunnySan Diego to represent <strong>Eta</strong> <strong>Sigma</strong> <strong>Phi</strong>at the APA/AIA. Amidst the bustle ofthe convention, we generated interest in<strong>Eta</strong> <strong>Sigma</strong> <strong>Phi</strong>, and we may well see newchapters popping up on the West Coast asa result.Also in January, we hosted Prof. JonLendon from the University of Virginia.His lecture entitled “Explaining Changein Classical Antiquity: The Case for LandWarfare” was a fascinating exploration ofweaponry, command, and troop formationswhich explained how the Romansundermined their tried and true militarystrategies <strong>by</strong> their desire for ancient Greektradition. The following day, Prof. Lendonheld an informal talk titled “Social RelationsBetween Roman Soldiers: The Evidence fromthe Gravestones” – a brainstorming sessionsurrounding the inter-legionary relationshipsdemonstrated <strong>by</strong> funerary inscriptions.In February, our very own ProfessorDaniel Levine gave a public talk entitled“Tuna in Ancient Greece.” It was a tour defish of how the Greeks perceived tuna,those who ate it, the best ways to cookit, where the best tuna came from, itsmigration patterns and much, much more.The lecture was humorous and informative,with a surprising amount of primarysource citation on tuna. Who would havethought there was so much information onthe topic?Of course, a fish is sometimes followed<strong>by</strong> a cat. Though not always <strong>by</strong> one ina hat, but that was the case in March.Two members of our chapter (JasmineMerced-Ownbey and Lee Alex Simpson)were invited to a local middle school toread Cattus Petasatus to a group of bright6th and 7th graders in honor of Dr. Seuss’birthday. We explained the joys of classicsstudy and the benefits of classical languagestudy. We then read a section of Cattuswhich included my favorite line – “Effrenatageminata, ‘Maius,’ ‘Minus,’ nominata!”After that, most of the students were eagerto try their own hand at reading. We knewthis event was a total success when, aftera Q&A session, one girl with unbridledenthusiasm exclaimed: “I’m so gonnatake Latin”! We left the students that dayscreaming for more, which they got thefollowing week, when Jasmine returnedto team-teach some Latin basics to theseextraordinary kids. Starting with identifyingEnglish cognates from their Latinorigins, we moved along to basic grammar,and we finished up at the end of the 3rdhour with them writing their very ownLatin compositions.Also in March, we held our midsemesterparty, at which we inducted 3new members. A tame affair in comparisonto our usual revelries, we’re saving ourstrength for the upcoming bash in May.And to finish up this semester witha bang, in two weeks we will be hostingProfessor Patricia Rosenmeyer fromthe University of Wisconsin. She will begiving a lecture entitled “Helen of Troy:Victim or Vamp” where she’ll be discussingthe different ways in which Helen hasbeen depicted through the ages. A secondlecture will be about the statue of Sapphothat was stolen <strong>by</strong> Verres.As you can tell, we’ve had a pretty busyyear at the University of Arkansas. Forthose who might have missed something,here’s a 15-second recap of our year:new faculty, hecatomb, CAMWS, classdisparities, Cleo in comics, 20 initiates,APA/AIA, warfare, gravestones, tour defish, Cattus Petasatus, “I’m so gonna takeLatin,” 3 initiates, “Victim or Vamp?,” andSappho’s stolen statue.Whew! Is it summer yet?Beta <strong>Sigma</strong> at Marquette UniversityFor the 2006–2007 school year, the MarquetteUniversity chapter of <strong>Eta</strong> <strong>Sigma</strong> <strong>Phi</strong>has been dedicated to spreading the wordof Classical scholarship on Marquette’scampus. We have done so <strong>by</strong> puttingtogether theater outings and emailing toany interested parties a weekly “Etymologia,”in which our grammateus highlightsthe etymological roots of a chosen word.In our small but very able department, wehave the capability to trace a word to itsderivation from Latin, Greek, German,French, Old English, or even Sanskrit!Additionally, our chapter sponsored twomajor events this year. The first is theannual Classical Valentine’s Day card sale,26
Right, some of the attendees of the annualBeta Pi Saturnalia party opening gifts.Below, Jasmine Merced-Ownbey (l.) and LeeA. Simpson (r.) of Beta Pi chapter with HoltMiddle School honor students.Below right (left to right) Lee A. Simpson,Jasmine Merced-Ownbey, and Holt MSteacher Jeanne King holding copies of CattusPetasatus.during which we sell hand-made, originalValentines with quotes in Greek andLatin from various sources. As always, wenot only make out quite well monetarily,but we have the satisfaction of knowingthat we have spread a knowledge of theClassics into every home in which ourcards found themselves! The second majorevent in which we took part was Marquette’sfirst annual Foreign LanguagesFilm Festival, which was a successfulattempt at developing a cohesion betweenthe disparate language honor societiesof the Foreign Language Department atMarquette: Spanish, French, German,Japanese, Italian, and of course Classics.<strong>Eta</strong> <strong>Sigma</strong> <strong>Phi</strong> featured the 1951 film “QuoVadis,” which is about the persecution ofChristians in the Golden Age of Nero.This event was highly successful,and is yet again another shiningexample of how Marquette’s <strong>Eta</strong> <strong>Sigma</strong><strong>Phi</strong> is getting our name out there. We haveyet to have our initiation ceremony thisyear, during which we will introduce morededicated students into <strong>Eta</strong> <strong>Sigma</strong> <strong>Phi</strong>. Wewill also be holding our annual majors andminors party to create a sense of camaraderieamong the students and professors.Our strong academics and students makethe Marquette chapter of <strong>Eta</strong> <strong>Sigma</strong> <strong>Phi</strong>quite distinguished; in fact, we are sendingtwo senior students to PhD programs inClassics on full fellowships for the Fall of2007. It can often be difficult for a smalldepartment to gain notice on such a largecampus, but we manage quite well here atMarquette!Beta Psi at Rhodes <strong>College</strong>It has a busy year, one marked <strong>by</strong> collaborationfor Beta Psi chapter.We partnered with CA’ESAR (theClassical and Ellenic Society at Rhodes)to host a Saturnalia festival in December.It was truly a multi-cultural event. Ourtheme was a reconciliation dinner betweenJews and Greeks, so we enjoyed latkes andlearned some Greek dancing. But we doknow that Saturnalia is a Roman holiday,so we also played knucklebones and sangcarols in Latin.Beta Psi will be partnering again withCA’ESAR for a Panathenaia festival laterin April.27
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