Athena History

Timeline

What's in a name?

Ship's Mottos

Ship's Logo

How did we start?

Here is a brief timeline of our existence:

December 1994: several members of the Washington, D.C.-based USS IDIC decided it was time to start a Northern Virginia group.

January 1995: Flight team formed: Lisa Paradis (was Berkenbilt), E. Jay Berkenbilt, Erik Stovall, Scott Hanak, Fred Garcia, and Marty Hester, Jr.

February 1995: name chosen.

February 23, 1995: Granted shuttle status in our international affiliate with Lisa as Commanding Officer and Scott as Executive Officer

March 4, 1995: First meeting at Lisa's house. Ship motto chosen.

July 1995: logo decided.

February 1996: Decided on Nebula Class for our starship.

April 1996: Voted to add The Federation as an affiliate

May 18, 1996: Granted full-chapter status in international affiliate.

August, 1996: Alliances with local Babylon 5 and STARFLEET Marines (SMI) clubs formed.

1998: Named Region 1 STARFLEET Ship of the Year

1999: Named STARFLEET Ship of the Year

2008: Chapter voted to leave STARFLEET and remain an independent science fiction organization that has fun helping charities.

Mythology has always been a prime place for ship names. However, there were not many ships out there that were named after strong females. So, we gathered a list of female names from mythology and outside mythology and and had an informal "vote". Some names under consideration were Minerva, Athena, Grace Hopper (first female computer scientist), and others. Several people were associated with Project Athena at MIT, so they had a natural affinity towards the name. Others just liked the name Athena.

Mottos?

The official ship motto is "The Voice of Wisdom". It seemed appropriate since Athena is known as the goddess of wisdom.

Unofficial mottos include "It's all Greek to me", "Speak softly and carry a pain stick" and "Things are thingies" (attend one of our meetings and find out where that one came from!!).

Logo

The logo is a compilation of ideas from various crew members including Scott Hanak, Jay Berkenbilt, Lisa and Lisa's mother. Lisa and Jay compiled the design that you see today. Jay coded the logo in PostScript®.

Contact USS Athena Webmaster