Eta Sigma Phi, a national honor society for students who have studied Greek and Latin, initiated 10 new members on April 7 in Skutt 209.

The ceremony included a secret initiation ritual where those who were about to be initiated, with those already initiated able to enter the room. The event lasted an hour. Afterward, elections for the society were held.

Hannah Pulverenti was elected President, Grace Spiewak was elected vice president, Rebecca Zawistowski was elected treasurer and Katherine Consola was elected secretary.

Eta Sigma Phi inducts new members every April. The induction ceremony is one of a few major events that Eta Sigma Phi organizes. Recently, Pulverenti oversaw setting up the Homerathon, a marathon reading in English of Homer’s “Odyssey” in one day.

“Dr. Helms gave me the idea and I planned and coordinated the event on campus,” said Pulverenti, an Arts and Sciences student. “I was in charge of finding the location, coordinating people to help make signs, finding people to sign up for times to read, and for setting up, attending the whole event, and cleaning up when it was all over.”

The Homerathon is one of many things Eta Sigma Phi oversees. Every January, Eta Sigma Phi hosts the mock certamen here at Creighton.

“The certamen is essentially a Latin- and ancient history-themed quiz bowl,” said Ashley Weed, an Arts and Sciences student. “We host mock certamen for the local high school students to help prepare them for the state and national competitions.”

In the past, Eta Sigma Phi has also had movie nights with pizza. The films showed Roman or Greek culture such as “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” or “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”

“It’s up to the officers of Eta Sigma Phi to come up with activities that feature the ancient world,” said Martha Habash, chair of the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Studies and moderator of Eta Sigma Phi. “Movie nights or pumpkin carving and tombstone inscriptions in Latin have been done in the past.”

According to Eta Sigma Phi’s website, Eta Sigma Phi was founded in 1914 at the University of Chicago. Later, a chapter opened at Northwestern University before it became a national organization in 1924.