Holy Cross to Host 39th Annual Classics Day for High School Students

The College of the Holy Cross will hold the 39th Classics Day on Thursday, April 14. The day features a series of events relating to the study of Roman culture, and is designed to familiarize students with the Holy Cross classics departments, its faculty, and current students.

This year nearly 600 students from 20 high schools all over New England have registered for the event.  Participating high schools include: Arlington Catholic High School, Boston College High School, Classical High School (Providence, R.I.), Doherty Memorial High School (Worcester), Holyoke High School, Hopkinton High School, Littleton High School, Newman High School (Boston), North Middlesex Regional High School (Townsend), Northbridge High School, Portsmouth Abbey (Portsmouth, R.I.), St. Bernard’s (Fitchburg), St. Sebastian’s School (Needham), and Wachusett Regional High School (Holden). 

The schedule of events is as follows:

  • Registration 9 – 9:30 a.m., Hogan 3rd Floor Lobby
  • Welcoming Address 9:30 – 9:45 a.m., Hogan Ballroom
  • Upper and Lower Divisions Certamen 10 – 11 a.m., rooms to be assigned This year there will be approximately 36 Lower Division Certamen teams and 27 Upper Division teams.  Certamen is Latin for “competition.” Student teams will compete College Bowl style, answering questions concerning Roman history, mythology, culture and the Latin language.
  • Costume Contest 10 – 11 a.m., Hogan Ballroom Students dress as any person, god, goddess, or object from Ancient Roman or Greek society and are judged on creativity, presentation, and knowledge of character.  There will be over 90 participants in the contest.
  • Chariot Race 11 – 11:30 a.m., Hart Center Student teams build their own chariots.  This year there will be approximately 25 teams, and each team consists of a rider and student “horses.”
  • Lunch 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Kimball Dining Hall
  • Final Round Certamen 12:30 – 1:30 p.m., Hogan Ballroom
  • Awards  Presentation 1:30 – 1:45 p.m., Hogan Ballroom