In September 2015 a stellar Classics student at the University of Virginia, Margaret Helen Lowe, died tragically and unexpectedly at the beginning of her fourth year of study as a Greek Major. Margaret was a brilliant student, dedicated to helping others through her activities with Camp Kesem, the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Team, and Bike and Build. At the Final Exercises in 2016 she was awarded her BA degree posthumously, a signal and unusual honor rarely granted by the University. In memory of Margaret’s love for the Classics her parents, Drs. Sandy and Whitson Lowe, endowed an annual Undergraduate Lecture in 2017.

2017: Erika Damer (University of Richmond): “The Limits of Vision: Duplicitous Bodies and Bad Faith in the Amores”

2018: Sarah Bond (University of Iowa): “Beyond the Wall: Outcasts, Civic Walls, and Architectural Metaphors from Antiquity to Game of Thrones”

2019: Andrew Becker (Virginia Tech): “Beyond Scansion: Reading the Rhythms of Latin Verse”

2021: Amy R. Cohen (Randolph College): “The Secrets Behind a Greek Mask”

2022: Rebecca Benefiel (Washington & Lee): “Ancient Writing and Reading: Culture and Communication among the Graffiti of Pompeii”

2023: Karen ni Mheallaigh (John’s Hopkins University): “The lunatic fringe? The ancient Greeks and life on the Moon”

2023: Bart Natoli (Randolf-Macon College): “Gender-based Censorship: Silencing Female Voices from Ancient Rome” 

2024: Suzanne Lye (University of North Carolina): "Bringing Down the House: Women’s Anger and Magical Retaliation in the Ancient Greek World"