This year our chapter fostered Classics education for the students of Augustana College. During our Homecoming Cardboard Regatta our group made it into the finals for the mixed group bracket and fought valiantly but unfortunately lost to a superior boat. This showed the drive and determination that the Classics community has and helped to spread awareness about our organization. Throughout the year we hosted all-campus, classically themed movies which gave us an opportunity to reach out to those students who would usually not attend the meetings but still have an interest in Classics. We also have a group called Ekklesia which meets on a weekly basis to read the New Testament. We are also in the process of compiling a cookbook with Mediterranean recipes from current students, alumni and professors. That is scheduled to be sold during next year’s Homecoming events.
Our chapter was also active off-campus. In the end of September, we sent a group of students to attend the Illinois Classical Conference’s annual meeting at the Northside College Preparatory High School, Chicago where Dr. Kramer presented his paper “The Dangers – and the Necessity – of Getting Women Naked: Reading Book 5 of Plato’s Republic in Its Herodotean Context”.
In the spring, we hosted a lecture by Danielle Steen Fatkin of Knox College titled “The Invention of a Bathing Tradition: Purity, Politics, and the Archaeology of the Miqveh” We also held our annual Colloquium where we inducted seven new members (Kevin Barbian, Sarah Cepeda, Diana Cleveland, Bethany Hayenga, Ethan Koch, Steven Mondloch, and Nathan Payne). Dr. Kramer gave his ICC presentation at the Colloquium for those of us who were unfortunately unable to attend the conference.
This year our Classics department said goodbye to three seniors: majors Kelly Haidinyak and Shelby Stuparits and minor Jeffrey Meeker. We wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors.