Posted: Nov. 3, 2009

If you noticed an uptick this Halloween in the number of trick-or-treaters dressed in togas, Jack Trunzo is the reason why.

The Brookfield Academy senior instigated a nationwide fundraiser that had more than 50,000 students in 46 states dressing as stereotypical Caesars, going door to door Saturday to ask for donations to the United Nations Children's Fund.

Trunzo is the second vice president of the National Junior Classical League, and is in charge of service and spirit for the international student organization. Established in 1936, the club has grown into one of the world's largest academic student organizations while promoting the study of Latin and Greek.

While at NJCL's national convention in August, some students from North Dakota told Trunzo about their annual toga trick-or-treat fundraiser.

"They've done it every year," he said, "but I thought it was a really great thing that we could take nationally."

The fundraiser was the league's first national service project.

For those who have never visited ancient Rome or seen the movie "Animal House," a toga costume is essentially a bed sheet tied over one shoulder.

"Not a great costume," Trunzo confessed, "but we had fun."

But besides that, Trunzo and his linen-clad army raised some money for UNICEF. More than 100 of the NJCL chapters have yet to report their fundraising results, but as of Nov. 2, seven chapters had reported collecting a total of about $1,000.

Either way, Trunzo called the event a success.

"It was a great way to get our organization out there and known," he said.

That's important because modern culture owes such a huge debt to classical antiquity, Trunzo said.

That's part of the reason every Brookfield Academy student is required to take at least one year of Latin.

"It's a right of passage, pretty much," Trunzo said.

The language is also taught at other area high schools, including Brookfield East and Central.

 

- Isral DeBruin