Ovatio: Shelley P. Haley
Nunc est ovandum[1], nunc sermone libero laudanda nostra regina Latinae[2], quae multos generosius erudire quaerens, Africam Aegyptamque antiquam splendidissime illustravit, non humilis mulier. Adepta gradum Artium Baccalaureae apud universitatem ubi suos cultores scientia coronat[3], gradum Philosophiae Doctoris obtinuit apud universitatem colentem Artes, Scientiam, Veritatem.[4] Apud universitatem omnibus suadentem ut se novissent, [5] haec femina fuit dux factorum dictorumque[6] in studiis classicis et Africanis: ornavit pulvinar doctissimarum dearum deorumque lascivissimorum;[7] coluit cor animamque linguae Latinae; explicavit sententias scriptas ab feminis coloris quaerentibus aequitatem et iustitiamque; illuminavit vitas diversarum feminarum Africanae stirpis in natione nostra; effecit ut nos omnes Cleopatram ipsam melius aestimaverimus. Maximi aestimata ab sodalibus quorum causa tota nostra est,[8] inaestimabilis momenti magistris in fossis linguae Latinae discendae, locuplevit societatem nostram ut praeses, mundum classicum ut praeceptrix. Plaudamus igitur Shelley P Haley.
Judith P Hallett, University of Maryland, College Park
An ovatio is required, along with freely voiced praise for our Latin queen, who, seeking to impart knowledge more nobly to many, has cast a brilliant light on Africa and Egypt in ancient times, as a woman demanding of our respect. After receiving her BA from Syracuse University in her native New York, she earned her PhD at the University of Michigan. At Hamilton College she has occupied leadership roles in both the departments of Classics and Africana Studies: focusing her teaching, as she does her scholarship and professional outreach, on classical mythology and the fundamentals of the Latin language; on Black Feminist Thought and Black Women’s Experience in the United States. Through her course and research on Unraveling Cleopatra, she has transformed our understanding of the Egyptian queen. Recipient of a Merita Award from the American Classical League, highly valued by colleagues laboring in the trenches while creating and assessing the Advanced Placement Latin Examination, she has enriched our organization by serving as its president, and our classical community by sharing her wisdom. Let us therefore applaud Shelley P. Haley.
[1] Horace, Odes 1.37 Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero/pulsanda tellus…[regina] quae generosius perire quaerens…non humilis mulier.
[2] @reginalatinae Shelley Haley’s Twitter name
[3] Suos cultores scientia coronat, motto of Syracuse University
[4] Artes, Scientia, Veritas, motto of the University of Michigan
[5] Ovid, Metamorphoses 3. 348 si se non noverit (Tiresias on Narcissus); The motto of Hamilton College is “Know Thyself”
[6] Vergil, Aeneid 1.363 dux femina facti
[7] Horace, Odes 1.37, 2-4 nunc Saliaribus/ornare pulvinar deorum/tempus erat.
[8] Vestra causa tota nostra est, motto of the American Classical League.