Activities - NJCL Convention - 2001 - Daily Highlights - Friday, July 20

A hearty plate of Derivatives for breakfast? accompanied by a helping of Classical Art and a side of Mythology... Well, that's what many conventioneers were served on Friday morning as the fourth academic testing session was held bright and early at 8 a.m.. Those with late-waking brains slept in or caught one of several seminar sessions, including one hosted by the Admissions Staff at Tulane University.

General Assembly III, the first of two assemblies today, began immediately after the testing session and included a report by the National Latin Exam committee. Jane Hall, representing the committee, announced that 114,097 students took the 2001 examination, which is an increase of over 5000 from the previous year. All 50 states were represented as were many foreign countries including Japan and Zimbabwe. Doris Kays, the NLE Scholarship Chairperson, announced the 21 recipients of NLE scholarships for 2001. Other business during this assembly included recognition of long time convention attendees. Five attendees reached a milestone of having attended 20 conventions:

• Ed Long of Tennessee
• Marilyn Batra of Virginia
• Prudence Moreland of Louisiana
• Patricia Retorik-Sprinkle of Texas
• Nancy Allen of Florida

Mr. Dennis Bartlow of Indiana was also recognized for attending his 40th NJCL Convention!

Officer candidates got to meet with their constituency and respond to their questions after lunch at the Candidates Open Forum and the "Meet the Candidates" social directly following. The rest of the afternoon included the first rounds of Open Certamen , the semi-finals of Competitive Certamen, and the final testing session featuring the demanding Academic Decathlon examination. Ludi events included the continuing chess rounds and soccer, with the a geographically diverse team comprised of delegates from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Texas and Arizona emerging victorious.

Special dining arrangements were on tap for this evening. Student delegates were treated to a Cajun Cookout on the University Center Quad, complete with crayfish (um, I mean 'crawdad') races! Sponsors and chaperones dined in a more staid fashion at a banquet in the University Center, where they were treated to a live performance by a Dixieland Quartet, of which one of the members was a convention delegate.

In this jam-packed day of events, yet another General Assembly was held during the evening. The major order of business for that assembly was the casting of ballots for 2001-2002 NJCL Officers. While ballots were counted, the audience was treated to a performance by the NJCL Chorus and an invitation to the 2002 NJCL Convention at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. After the votes were counted, the slate of officers was announced:

• President: Will Weaver
• 1st Vice President: Devin Reid
• 2nd Vice President: Amanda Marcellino
• Secretary: Emily Somerville
• Parliamentarian: Michelle Robinson
• Historian: Brian O'Leary
• Editor: not yet filled

A short break followed the assembly as the 1st Annual Geri Dutra Ice Cream Social provided some quick refreshments for delegates before today's last event, the 2001 edition of That's Entertainment. Always a highlight of the convention experience, this year was no different as the SCL Guys(?) kicked things off with a memorable rendition of Lady Marmalade. Amidst performances by the Racketeers and a vignette featuring the NJCL Officers, legitimate talent also took the stage with an operatic performance by Derrian Tolden of Texas making the biggest impression on the judges. Second and third prizes were claimed, respectively, by Austin Chu of Tennessee for his violin solo and Lizz Luong of Texas for her artful ribbon routine.

Convention Ear, Friday, July 20, 2001 (requires Adobe Acrobat)