PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE: Winter 2007

I was very pleased by the large turnout for the Fall meeting at UVA and wish to thank our outstanding speakers Niall Slater of Emory University, Marty Abbott of ACTFL and Elizabeth Baughn of the University of Richmond. We noted some significant milestones at that meeting. Arthur Stocker handed over the reins of the Latin translation contest to John Miller. We all owe Arthur our individual and collective gratitude for his years of service and dedication to the Classical Association of Virginia. In another landmark moment, we took the first steps toward the commemoration of out 100th birthday, by establishing a Centennial Committee to be co-chaired by Wayne Tucker and Cathy Daugherty. They will recommend a full membership to the president for appointment later.

We celebrated another milestone at the CAV luncheon at the FLAVA meeting when Kevin Perry spoke about the twentieth anniversary of the Governor's Latin Academy. I wish to thank Janice Siegel for stepping in at the last minute to chair the session when I came down with the flu! I still hope that we can compile a list of all GLA alumni who have gone on to classical studies. Of our speakers we had one alumna, Elizabeth Baughn, and a former director, Marty Abbott! We need to celebrate this unique success. Very few states have such a program.

The Latin Immersion Weekend was extremely successful and well attended. This was a CAV sponsored event underwritten by the Virginia Department of Education through our good fiend Helen Small. I would especially like to thank Cathy Daugherty for being my co-director. I could not have done it alone. I am also indebted to the faculty Rebecca Benefiel of Washington and Lee University, Liane Houghtalin of the University of Mary Washington, Andrew Becked of Virginia Tech and Dan McCaffrey of Randolph-Macon College. I do not know if there will be another one, but if there is, the CAV will need to recruit a new set of directors. If you interested, let the current president know.

Coming up this Spring we will have another busy season of contests and awards. You can learn more about them in the newsletter and through the website. We will convene for our Spring meeting at the College of William and Mary on May 3, 2008. Our speakers will include Fred Franko of Hollins University, Rebecca Benefiel of Washington & Lee University, and Jeffrey Becker of The College of William and Mary. I look forward to seeing you there!

We have several challenges facing the association. We need to increase participation in all our contests. We need more nominees for our awards. We need to find a new printer for our newsletter. We need to nurture and train new teachers by encouraging them to take more Latin in high schools, to continue their interests at a Virginia college or university and convince them to at least try some courses in a teacher prep program. We need to maintain the strong presence of we have built in FLAVA and all other general foreign language enterprises. The work goes on.

Greg Daugherty
November 17, 2007

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