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If you don't know what this is: "The Sportula" is a pair of grad students who offer micro-grants, little chunks of $$, to any classics student who needs it. If you want the field to include more people from less privileged backgrounds, this is a great cause to donate to. t.co/SJNsrdYsje
You can give just a few dollars, or just a few dollars a month. You can do it anonymously. I've had colleagues say the lack of means testing is a problem. But I've benefited from so many things that had nothing to do with means or worth (even beyond white privilege...).
I personally would certainly not be a classicist if, during my teens, my dad had not suddenly started earning more money from his writing, and switched me to a private school, where I learned Latin & Greek. I didn't have to work for it. I didn't even want it
I did my classics BA at Oxford UK in an era when was there no tuition: I was even given a stipend to live on. I had non-college & working class friends. But I was entirely clueless about the degree of my privilege. I took it for granted.
I no longer take it for granted. Vast numbers of students have to work many hours all through college, and/or amass huge debts, and/or drop out bc of financial stress. A tiny number of them are interested in the ancient world. You could help a few of those kids a little bit.
This won't solve the vast structural problems. But it might do something, especially if many people give a little. It's a small thing you can do that might change the ways that Latin/ Greek/ the ancient world is read & interpreted in the future.
