Chapter Res Gestae 2007–<strong>2008</strong> (Continued)Above, Adam Blistein, Executive Director ofthe American Philological Association, beinginitiated into Zeta Beta at Temple Universityat Parilia, April 21, <strong>2008</strong>. Pictured, fromleft to right, Laura Sampronaro (co-sponsorof Zeta Beta chapter), Gabby Country(Zeta Beta grammateus), Libby Torresson(Zeta Beta prytanis), Blistein, MarthaDavis (co-sponsor of Zeta Beta), and EricKondriatieff (Temple faculty member andhonorary member of Zeta Beta).Right, Adam Blistein (center) with Rori Smith(left), Megale Grammateus <strong>2008</strong>-2009, andLibby Torresson (right), Megale Grammateus2007-<strong>2008</strong>.been involved. We held bake sales at Halloweenand Valentine’s Day, and a raffle atthe Winter solstice Party. Former Classicsmajors and even Temple staff memberscontributed money, also. We sent someused books that we ourselves had enjoyedas we learned to read, and purchased otherbooks from Scholastic Book Sales thatbenefited Temple University’s Children’sHospital. The mother of one of our chaptermembers, a librarian, assisted us in purchasinga set of twenty-five readers at a levelappropriate to the English language levelof the Mongolian students. We sent threelarge mail bags of books, which thrilled thestudents in Mongolia. They sent us severalpictures of themselves holding books wesent. Look for photos in the Nuntius!We worked very hard also to raise fundsfor attending convention in Amherst,and are proud to report that with resultsof our own projects, and our requests tothe Dean’s office and the Temple StudentGovernment, we obtained enough moneyso that our registrations and lodging werecovered completely! That’s all our reportfor now: We have to go start the fund forconvention in Memphis.Zeta Epsilon at Rutgers UniversityThe Zeta Epsilon Chapter at Rutgers Universitythis year inducted an outstandingnumber of undergraduates (twenty-four),as well as one graduate student. Our initiationwas a great success, with ChapterOfficer Amanda Mita devoting a weekendto making our fabulous coronae from oneof our officers, and another Officer JadKaado, helping to officiate resplendent36
in the dress of a centurion. Initiation ceremoniesmay provoke nervous excitementamong initiates, but thankfully Jad keptorder among the eager throng with a firmhand. We celebrated afterwards with goodfood and excellent conversation — theDeipnosophistae had come to New Jersey!The Chapter is looking forward to furtherevents this year that will honor and celebratethe mission of Eta Sigma Phi.sical wisdom at very reasonable rates. Itwas a great opportunity to further establishourselves in the LMU community. Lastly,we elected a new and promising executiveboard and expect a very eventful and funyear.Zeta Iota at the University of GeorgiaThe 2007-<strong>2008</strong> academic year has kept usall rather busy at Zeta Iota. A number ofour members graduated last year and manymore will be leaving at the end of thisyear, but we did induct two new members,and many classics students have indicatedstrong interested in next year’s initiation.We hope to generate more attentionthrough our new advertising campaign, featuringthe immortal (if somewhat altered)phrase of Julius Caesar: venit, vidit, iunxit.As always, one of our primary concernsis to support the Classics department atthe University of Georgia. To this endwe sent a troop of volunteers to help runthe Theatre of Pompey Symposium lastOctober 13th. The symposium was thefirst such event to focus on a single monumentand brought respected scholars fromAmerican institutions as well as King’s<strong>College</strong>, London. We also assisted withAthenaze, the department’s annual openhouse, recruitment and reunion event, andhosted a panel for high school studentsinterested in studying the Classics.In March we co-sponsored the annualinformation meeting for prospectiveLatin teachers in conjunction with theNational Latin Teachers’ RecruitmentWeek (NLTRW). The meeting wasconducted by Dr. Richard LaFleur and Dr.Keith Dix. <strong>College</strong> professors, high schoolLatin teachers, high school students, andprospective teachers met in a round-tablediscussion concerning careers in secondaryeducation. We also volunteered to actas “guinea pigs” and took the brand newGeorgia Certification Exam (G.A.C.E.) forLatin teachers and so provided the evaluatorswith their first data regarding thedifficulty and clarity of the exam.We had a bake sale fundraiser in Februaryand a book sale at Athenaze to helpfund our outreach efforts. Last Decemberwe held a gift-drive and provided Christmasfor a number of under-privileged childrenin the Athens area. We continue toZeta Eta at Loyola Marymount UniversityIn 2007-<strong>2008</strong>, the Zeta Eta Chapter of EtaSigma Phi registered as an official studentorganization at Loyola Marymount University.Members of the chapter decided tomake it their goal (beyond the stated goalsof the national association) to providea comfortable and helpful environmentfor the relatively select number of LMUstudents who have braved the studies ofancient languages, history, and culture.As a new official student organization oncampus, we decided to create more opportunitiesto fundraise and to advertise oursociety. We had two successful bake sales,several successful movie nights, and heldthe twenty-first annual Dionysus Festival.We also participated in Samarkand, a largecampus marketplace event organized by<strong>No</strong>bel Laureate Wole Soyinka, this pastMarch.Our biggest event of the year is alwaysthe Dionysus Festival in the springsemester. The Dionysus Festival is a collaborativeeffort among all the Classicsmajors and minors, along with Eta SigmaPhi, to reenact a traditional Greek festivaldedicated to Dionysus. During the event,there are usually skits, dances, and gamesperformed in honor of the patron god ofthe Greek stage. This year, we were evenable to offer a sacrifice (as the ancientsoften had done) in the form of a piñatashaped like the Trojan Horse. The goals ofD-Fest are to foster enthusiasm and bringawareness to the ancient Greek and Latincultures, languages, and literatures, whileat the same time to have fun. D-Fest alsoraises money for our Eta Sigma Phi chapter,in order to sustain our organization onthe LMU campus.This year, we were also fortunateenough to get a table at the Samarkandevent, where we dressed up and sold clashaveinformal dinner meetings at variousrestaurants downtown and held a picnicto celebrate the Founding of Rome last fallat which we read Livy. On February 23rdwe sent a delegation to the Classics Colloquiumat Emory University, where ourown Dr. Hermanowicz and Dr. Rynearsonpresented papers.We participated in the Walk for AutismApril 12th in Atlanta and hosted a movienight fundraiser featuring episodes from “IClaudius.” Our last event was an endof-yeardinner where we elected our newofficers and bade farewell to those of usgraduating. In closing, as the end of theacademic year approaches we look forwardto a bright future and another wonderfulyear in the other Athens. Go dawgs!Zeta Lambda at the University ofLouisvilleIn the fall of 2007, we initiated twenty newmember into our Zeta Lambda chapterof Eta Sigma Phi: Alicia McCollum, KelsiHardy, Katie Floyd, Tara Luster, Nate Gilbert,Paula Rada, Rachel Wunderlin, KyleOsborne, Meghann Swiergosz, Joe Brashear,Kyle Samons, Elise Brittain, ChrisJones, Robert Harrison, Dustin Wagner,Stephen Kristian, John Amann, LaurieDuesing, Lena Brown, and Sean Dempsey.Our chapter conducted a number offund raising activities, using the moneyraised to provide official Eta Sigma Phimedallions, ribbons, and certificates tothe outstanding Latin students in ourlocal high schools as an outreach activity.Also under our auspices, at our annualspring symposium, our own University ofLouisville outstanding Greek student, StephenKristian, and our outstanding Latinstudent, Laurie Duesing, were recognizedand given prizes to honor their achievements.Our chapter also received a grantallowing some sixty of our members andothers interested in the Classics to attenda campus production of “A Funny ThingHappened on the Way to the Forum,”for which our President, Kara McCoil,was stage manager. Finally, one of ournew members, Joe Brashear, attended thenational convention this year.Zeta Nu at the University of MarylandChapter Zeta Nu of the University of37
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