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90th Annual Convention

The 90th annual convention will be held from March 23-25, 2018 at the invitation of the Delta Theta chapter at Dickinson College.  Dickinson is located in Carlisle, PA.

The convention will begin on Friday evening and conclude by noon on Sunday.  Registration will open at 5:00 at Allison Hall on the Dickinson campus with a reception to follow around 6:00.  Certamen will begin sharply at 7:00 in the same building.  See the map of Dickinson College for the location of Allison Hall.  It’s number thirty-four on the map.

What Chapters are Coming to the Annual Convention?

Convention Schedule

Convention Highlights

We will hold the traditional certamen on Friday evening. (Teams will be assigned upon arrival). The prizes for the winning team are being supplied by our friends at the National Latin Exam. 

Delegates are invited to sign up to compete in a Latin Declamation Contest. Registration for this competition will take place on Friday evening. Contestants will be given a Latin prose passage to read before a panel of judges on Saturday afternoon. Judges will base their decision on pronunciation, interpretation of text, smoothness of delivery, demeanor and textural accuracy. The winner will receive a prize of $100 and will be invited to read the passage to the entire assembly at the Saturday evening banquet.  The runner-up will be awarded $50.

On Saturday morning, after the first business meeting, there will be a session of student papers, selected by the Eta Sigma Phi Program Committee. In the afternoon, there will be academic presentations by a variety of speakers.

On Saturday evening, we will gather for a cena classica, Classical attire is strongly encouraged! There will be a prize for the vir et femina vestiti splendidissime.

A second business session will take place on Sunday morning. The convention will conclude on noon on Sunday, March 25, with the election and installation of new national officers and the selection of the host for the 2020 convention.

Hotel Reservations

Eta Sigma Phi, with the help of the local committee, has reserved a block of rooms at Comfort Suites Carlisle for the conference.  The hotel is located at 10 South Hanover Street, Carlisle, PA 17013–within four blocks of Dickinson College.  The group rate is $106 per night.  Reservations must be made by phone: (717) 960-1000 by March 2, 2018 to secure the convention rate.  Mention Eta Sigma Phi to reserve rooms at the conference rate.

Registration

The pre-registration fee is $70 by PayPal or $65 by check via U.S. mail. The price includes the reception on Friday evening, all meals on Saturday, continental breakfast on Sunday, and the activities on Saturday afternoon.  Registration is free for one faculty sponsor, provided that the registration is completed on-line by March 9th or received in reified form by March 12.  After March 9 registration must be made on-line, and the cost will increase to $80.

On-Line Registration Form

Hard Copy of Registration Form

Need a roommate?

Anyone who would like to share a room with someone from another chapter should contact Executive Secretary by email (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.

Travel 

Carlisle, PA is easily accessible from I-81 (north-south) and the overly-priced Pennsylvania Turnpike (east-west).   (Billy Joel was incorrect:  “Home cannot be the PA Turnpike.”)  The closest airport to Carlisle is the Harrisburg International Airport, and Amtrak also serves the capital city on an east-west route from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh.  The Delta Theta chapter has kindly agreed to provide shuttle service from both the airport and the train station.  Attendees will need to indicate their travel information on the registration form, if they wish to use the shuttle service.

Dress

Dress will be casual, with the exception of the banquet on Saturday night, when business casual clothes or traditional Roman or Greek dress are appropriate.  The latter  is highly encouraged, and a prize will be awarded to the vir et femina vestiti optime.

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 $100.00 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 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

  • Outreach Prize (above)
  • Best Chapter T-Shirt or Regalia
  • Vir et Femina Vestiti Splendidissime
  • Latin Declamation Prize

Is your chapter interested in hosting the convention?

The 91st Annual Convention will be hosted by the Delta Chi chapter of the St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN.

Proposals for hosting the 2020 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.  The society is particularly interested in holding a convention more than 250 miles west of the Mississippi River or in the southern states.  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.