W&L Students Recognized for Annual Translation Exam Results This year, 14 W&L students won honors in the Classical Association of the Middle West and South Latin translation exam.

By Erica Turman
October 12, 2021

The Classical Association of the Middle West and South (CAMWS) offers a Latin translation exam annually. This year, 14 W&L students won honors in the exam.

Lucy Eagleson ’24 was awarded for writing one of the five most outstanding papers in the competition for intermediate college/university students, for which she received a $100 cash prize. Seven W&L students placed in the top 10 outstanding contestants, including Mark Fasciocco ’23, Mary Camilla Kennedy ’23, Lawson Brantley ’24, Patrick Rooney ’23, Johnny Kaelber ’24, Archie Perry ’24 and Thomas Mulvey ’23. They received a book prize relevant to classical antiquity.

Mika Gothard ’24, Elizabeth Hertzberg ’23, Drew Thompson ’25, Sydney Tune ’23, Abigail Hanson ’22 and Jessica Snyder ’23 were awarded honorable mentions in the exam results.

“The exam was a translation of passage which we, as a class, had never seen before, meaning we had no way to prepare beforehand,” said Eagleson. “Thankfully, Professor Caleb Dance had prepared classmates and me well for situations such as this exam.”

Dance, associate professor of classics at W&L, serves on the CAMWS Translation Committee, but he had no hand in assessing the W&L students with their exams. Rebecca Benefiel, professor of classics at W&L, also helped prepare students for the exam.

“Our work in class and on the homework had equipped us all with the skills necessary to translate with no preparation and to handle vocabulary words we were unfamiliar with,” said Eagleson. “I was very pleasantly surprised to see that I had placed as high as I did. I am really proud of our class and Professor Benefiel’s class for representing W&L so well!”

Though W&L students compete in the contest annually, this year is the first time the university has had students place since 2018. CAMWS has offered a Latin Translation Exam since 1986. According to the CAMWS, in 2015, intermediate and advanced levels of competition were introduced and college students became eligible to participate.

“We are very proud of all our students,” said Benefiel. “This is a challenging exam, and we are thrilled they have won this national recognition.”