Res Gestae 

we enjoyed a lovely dinner reception hosted by him and his wife, Nancy.  Many thanks go to them for this wonderful evening, which brought together students and faculty along with their families and friends.  

Along with our sister organization, The Classics Club @ UWM, we will be hosting two lectures in April and May of this year. Dr. Carlos Galvao-Sobrinho will speak on death and funeral rites of the lower classes in the Roman Empire; Dr. Elisabetta Cova will speak on Roman houses in Pompei. 

With financial support from our University’s Student Association and with the earnings from numerous bake sales, we are glad to report that four of our members are able to be here to participate in this convention.

Gamma Iota (Wabash College): Two T-shirts created: one finished, one currently in the works; planned induction of ten new members (tentative number); planned sacrifice re-enactment/cookout to gather support from the student body. 

Gamma Omicron (Monmouth College): In October we held our annual Bernice L. Fox lecture on Classical Opera by Professor Bettz at Monmouth College. We also helped the Monmouth College Department of Classics host the Illinois Classical Conference on campus. We worked the registration table, helped with the book displays, etc.  

On November 15 we initiated thirteen new members.  

On March 2 we recognized National Latin Teacher Week by sponsoring a reading from the Odyssey by Professor Stan Lombardo of the University of Kansas.  We also sold copies of Professor Lombardo’s translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey as a fundraiser. 

On March 6 we initiated Vicki Wine as an honorary member and had a pizza party to celebrate Marty Pickens’ acceptance into graduate school in Classics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

We also had a raffle to raise money for the trip to Oklahoma for the National Convention. 

Gamma Omega (Baylor University): The 2002-2003 academic year for Baylor’s Gamma Omega chapter was both exciting and rewarding. Four of our members  started the summer off with the annual Baylor in Italy Program, twenty-one days of intensive study in Italy.  

When classes began in the fall, we were happy to welcome back Dr. Alden Smith and Dr. Jeff Fish, who were both returning from sabbaticals. It was nice to see these familiar faces in our new surroundings, Morrison Hall. The Classics Department’s move to a new building yielded not only more offices for our growing department, but also a larger lounge for our growing chapter. In fact, it is so large that plans are in the works to sub-lease one of our couches to the Russian club.  

We also continued our usual bi-weekly meetings and began preparations for our annual OctHOMERfest fundraiser, which includes selling baked goods and cheese sandwiches as the Iliad and Odyssey are proclaimed to those standing ’round. Our slow but determined pace allowed us to hold the event in late October when students are hungriest. Despite nearly running out of quarters and one petulant individual who demanded his change be in the form of gold Sacajawea coins, the fundraiser was successful. 

Following OctHOMERfest, we held our annual homecoming party at which we welcomed back all the former Eta Sigma Phi members who are unemployed because  they majored in classics. Subsequent

to the loss of numerous forks and knives and one punch bowl, the decision was made to use only disposable utensils and to serve drinks in cans.  

During the course of the school year, the Gamma Omega chapter inducted twenty-two new members. Our stunning growth brought not only many new faces to our chapter, but also a boatload of national fees, which we quickly blew on convention and cigarettes. We soon realized the need for another fundraiser. 

Most recently, we printed new T-shirts for our neophytes, and sold somewhere in the neighborhood of forty shirts. Our now-fashionably clad members are wearing fresh, new Eta Sigma Phi shirts instead of old, played out Eta Sigma Phi shirts. The difference is ginormous. 

We also had numerous students take the National Greek Exam. Sadly, one student who is rather bad at Greek sustained severe injuries following his boastful exclamation of "give me a purple ribbon or give me death." I am happy to say that I’m feeling much better though.  

On the subject of greatness, however, our biggest news of the year came in late March: Becky Tompkins, a member of our chapter who submitted a paper to Eta Sigma Phi’s annual contest, was chosen to read her work here in Norman.  

We are also grateful to have Dr. Brent Froberg as an advisor of the Gamma Omega chapter, whose exemplary service to this organization cannot be overstated. 

Delta Theta (Dickinson College): This