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Dear Colleagues,

I begin with a big thank you to the membership. In my last message on annual giving I mentioned that the Board of Directors wanted to make annual meeting travel awards more robust for our colleagues who are most vulnerable, and I asked you to consider this when contributing to the Society.

The response was most gratifying! Members designated close to $5,000 for student travel awards this year, more than three times last year’s $1,500. In response, the Finance Committee has approved the granting of 20 awards at $250 each for the San Francisco meeting, a substantial increase from the 10 awards at $150 each for the New Orleans meeting. I am very grateful to you all for this response.

There is more good news. I am happy to report that the Finance Committee has approved the elimination of registration fees for all candidates who are SCS members in the Placement Service for 2015-2016. That will be one less expense that candidates have to bear as they seek positions.

To be sure, these are both modest steps. But they represent the continuation of the Society’s commitment to find practical ways of helping our members, particularly those in training and in contingent positions, and I am confident that we shall be able to do even more in the coming years. I emphasise this because it is important not to lose sight of the fact that at the same time that we are aiming to reach a larger audience of people interested in the Classics we have not forgotten those who are the heart and soul of our Society.

Thank you again all of you who contributed to the Annual Giving campaign and to those of you who gave to the Gateway campaign which put us in a solid position to do these things and will be the foundation for the more that is to come.

With best wishes for a great summer,

John Marincola