The 86th Annual Convention
celebrating the Centennial of the Society
(1914-2014)
Convention Highlights
The convention will begin at 9:00 a.m. Friday, April 11, with a trip to the University of Chicago to leave our shorn forelocks on the grave of the founders and to visit the Oriental Institute. Friday evening there will be a special centennial certamen, very much like College Bowl, and a modest reception. Teams will be assigned upon arrival. The prizes for the winning team are being supplied by our friends at the National Latin Exam. On Saturday we will hear from student researchers and Eta Sigma Phi alumni, conduct the business of the society, and visit Evanston and Northwestern University. The traditional Saturday evening banquet will be followed by a lecture by another ΗΣΦ alumnus, Professor David Wray of the University of Chicago. A second business session will take place on Sunday morning. The convention will conclude by noon on Sunday with the installation of the new national officers and the selection of a host chapter for the 2016 convention.
Hotel Information
The Hilton Garden Inn is located at 1818 Maple Ave in Evanston, IL, near the campus of Northwestern University. Reservations should be made by Friday, March 14. Accommodations will be provided at the Hilton Garden Inn (Chicago North Shore/Evanston) (phone: 1-847-475-6400). Reservations must be made before March 14 to ensure rooms, which will run $139 a night. Be sure to mention Eta Sigma Phi when booking your reservations. The group code is ETA and the hotel code is ORDEVGI.
Need a roommate?
Anyone who would like to share a room with someone from another chapter should contact the Executive Secretary by e-mail (sick@rhodes.edu). He will collect names and send them to other delegates looking for roommates. Please indicate whether you are male or female, and include your address and phone number in the message.
Traveling Directions
By Air:
The nearest airport to the hotel is Chicago-O’Hare International, about a 40 minute drive away, and Chicago Midway International is about an hour away. Directions from both to the hotel can be found at the hotel’s Maps and Directions page. Basic information about cost of transportation from the airport can be found there as well.
Options for shuttles, taxis, rental cars, and other forms of transportation from Chicago-O’Hare can be found at https://www.flychicago.com/OHare/EN/GettingToFrom/Pages/default.aspx.
Options for transportation from Chicago Midway can be found at https://www.flychicago.com/midway/en/gettingtofrom/pages/default.aspx
By Automobile:
For driving directions, see the hotel’s Maps and Directions page as well.
Registration Fee
The pre-registration fee is $125.00 by Paypal or $115.00 by check via U. S. mail. The price includes the abstemious reception on Friday evening and breakfast on Saturday and Sunday as well as many miscellaneous costs, including the trip to the Oriental Institute on Friday. Delegates will be on their own for lunch on Saturday and Sunday. The registration fee after March 21, 2014 will increase to $135.00 and must be made via Paypal.
Dress
Dress will be casual, with the exception of the banquet on Saturday night, when somewhat “dressier” clothes will be appropriate. This year a prize will be awarded to the best two costumes of those who appear in the pompa maiorum just before the banquet. The maiores are to be figures famous in the history of Eta Sigma Phi, such as Maureen Dallas Watkins, Theodore Bedrick, Plato, Cornelia, or Quis-τις, the emblematic owl.
Chapter Reports
During the business sessions, one delegate from each chapter will report on the activities of the chapter since the last convention. Reports should be no more than five minutes long. A $50.00 award will be given at convention for the best service project sponsored by a local chapter promoting classical languages and cultures. Chapters interested in competing for these prizes should bring written summaries of these activities and include detailed information about their projects in their chapter reports. Chapter reports will later be published in Nuntius and may be submitted via the website at https://www.etasigmaphi.org/members/membership-forms .
Chapters Contests to be Decided at the Convention
Is your chapter interested in hosting the convention?
The 87th centennial convention is scheduled for April 10-12, 2015 in Atlantic City, NJ at the invitation of ΘΤ chapter at Richard Stockton College
Proposals for hosting the 2016 national convention will be considered at this year’s convention. If your chapter is interested in making a proposal, some things to consider are (1) the support of your adviser; (2) the availability of lodging, either on campus or nearby at a motel or hotel; (3) travel to the convention by air, train, bus, and automobile; and (4) financial support of the chapter, the appropriate department(s), the institution, or state and local organizations. For more information, see Convention Bids.
Are you interested in running for a national office?
Nominations for national officers (president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer) will be accepted at the business meeting on Saturday, with the election and installation at the business meeting on Sunday. Any undergraduate student who has been duly initiated into his or her local chapter, with the report of the initiation and the initiation fee received by the national office, is eligible to run. The national president must be a senior during the year of the office. Candidates must be present for the election process and for the induction ceremony on Sunday. Delegates who have to leave the convention before Sunday noon are not eligible to run for office.