Activities - NJCL Convention - 2001 - Daily Highlights - Saturday, July 21

Rise and Shine! A 7:30 a.m. awards assembly was on tap on this the last full day of convention. Bleary eyed delegates and sponsors straggled into McAllister Auditorium to both collect their own accolades and congratulate others who placed in the more than 200 contests and competitions held this week.

Open and Competitive Certamen Finals

Even though an awards assembly was held this morning, not all competitions were actually complete. Saturday morning saw the finals of the Open and Competitive Certamina. In the competitive division, the state of Ohio distinguished itself by capturing first place in the Upper Level division, and second place in both the Novice and Lower Level divisions. Delegates from Ohio were also part of at least one of the three teams in the each level of finals in Open Certamen.

While Ludi Chess participants were still finishing up their matches, other delegates had a bit of a breather before Day in Old Rome and Romecoming festivities. Those that made it to the Tilton Library had a chance to view the hundreds of graphic art projects submitted this year.

Afternoon festivities included the second edition of Romecoming, in which male and female contestants from the various delegations vied in wacky competitions to determine the King and Queen. Directly following was the Day in Old Rome festivities, which began with a raucous spirit competition, the last of the convention, with the entire audience garbed in Roman costume. Members of Legio III Gallica were also on hand to lend a very authentic air to this years assembly. Plans for the customary Roman procession were unfortunately dampened by thunderstorms, so in lieu of the traditional march through campus, delegations were dismissed in stages from the auditorium to make the short walk to Bruff Commons for a modified, but not diminished, banquet.

Delegates trickled out of the banquet for a few brief moments of down time, a card game or two, an opportunity to get started packing their week's worth of dirty laundry, and a chance to change into some more modern garb for the final assembly of the convention. General Assembly V, which began a bit late due to the weather delays for Day in Old Rome, included another round of awards in which the Ludi and Certamen winners were recognized, as well as those who excelled individually in each of the main contest areas. For the fourth straight year, David Camden of Virginia, distinguished himself as the overall individual achiever by capturing the Lillie B. Hamilton Award for amassing the most sweepstakes points of any delegate in three or more contest areas. Sam Crayton also made a repeat performance as winner of the Academic Decathlon examination, which includes a prize of $500 donated by an anonymous benefactor. The announcement of the NJCL scholarship recipients rounded out this evening's recognition of JCL excellence.

That left only the installation of the new officers and speeches and reports from the exiting NJCL and NSCL officers. Before the goodbyes though, the NJCL Parliamentarian announced Rich Finneran of Missouri as the new Editor. Since no one had run for that office, Rich was picked from among a number of applications submitted after the regular elections earlier in the week. Applications were reviewed and a final cut of three candidates was interviewed by the incoming officers to arrive at the appointment.

Withthe passing of the torch to next years host, Kentucky, and the last rendition of the NJCL song at the 48th NJCL Convention, the new president Will Weaver adjourned the assembly. Official business now completed, delegates kicked back (and kicked off their shoes) one last time at the NJCL Farewell Dance, themed the Shoeless Soiree. Some opted for a more casual and calm end to their convention experience at a Coffee House in the Willow dormitory complex. With only breakfast on tap for the next morning, many spent part (or the rest!) of the night packing for that trip back home.

Convention Ear, Saturday, July 21, 2001 (requires Adobe Acrobat)