Am I Racist?

# Am I Racist?

## Abstract

Am I Racist? is a 2024 American documentary comedy film starring conservative political commentator Matt Walsh that criticizes the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) movement. It is directed by Justin Folk for The Daily Wire.

The film follows Walsh as he goes undercover as a "bumbling DEI trainee" attending anti-racism workshops and interviewing experts and others.

The production cost $3 million. The film was released on September 13, 2024.

## Plot

The film has been described as a mockumentary in the style of Borat.

Matt Walsh finds himself in a coffee shop reminiscing about the prevalence of racism in society. He decides to embark on a journey to find out whether or not he is racist. After being ousted from a support group focused on " white guilt ", Walsh decides to take on a persona similar to that of the gender studies professor he interviewed in What is a Woman. He goes on to receive a DEI certification, and assumes the identity of a "DEI expert".

Subsequently, he begins his quest to "do the work" that started off his journey. Among other things, Walsh convinces passersby to sign a petition to rename the Washington Monument the " George Floyd Monument", raise the structure by 30%, and repaint it black. He also goes to a biker bar, hoping to expose the racism of white "hillbillies", and interviews black Americans who tell him that the solution to racism is to "love one another".

The show culminates in Walsh, now an experienced anti-racist activist, hosting an anti-racist workshop called the "Do the Work Workshop" where he tells white people that they are inherently racist, demonstrates speaking out against racism by condemning his uncle Frank for a racist joke he had made twenty years ago, and encourages self flagellation as a solution to white guilt. The show ends with Walsh having a change of heart and ending the workshop, stating publicly that the whole thing is a scam. In the final scene, Walsh imagines himself sharing his findings with the world before sitting down for coffee with his uncle Frank.

## Release

The film released September 13, 2024 in the United States and Canada. It is the first theatrically released film by The Daily Wire.

## Reception

### Critical response

Variety said the film is "either hilarious or offensive, depending on which side of the MAGA fence you sit on". Walsh wrote on X on the opening weekend that no "mainstream film critics" had yet reviewed the film. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed by PostTrak gave it an average five out of five stars.

As of September 15, the film has an audience score of 99% with over 500 verified reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

### Box office

Am I Racist? made $1.96 million on its opening day, including Thursday night previews, and made $4.7 million from 1,517 theaters in its opening weekend. It was "the top debut of 2024 so far for a doc and the third biggest of the past decade", according to The Hollywood Reporter.


The Connection (1961 film)

# The Connection (1961 film)

## Abstract

The Connection is a 1961 found footage feature film directed by the American experimental filmmaker Shirley Clarke. The film was Clarke's first feature; she had made several short films over the previous decade. Jack Gelber wrote the screenplay, adapting his play of the same name. The film was the subject of significant court cases regarding censorship. It is the first known movie shot in the found footage format and beginning with a found footage title card.

## Plot

A title card announces that the film is a result of found footage assembled by cameraman J.J. Burden (Roscoe Lee Browne) working for the acclaimed documentary filmmaker Jim Dunn (William Redfield), who has disappeared.

Leach (Warren Finnerty) a heroin addict, introduces the audience to his apartment where other heroin addicts, a mix of current and former jazz musicians, are waiting for Cowboy (Carl Lee), their drug connection, to appear. As the men grow increasingly nervous, waiting for their fix, some of them start to address the camera directly. Although director Jim Dunn asks his camera operator J.J. to turn off the camera, J.J. films him coaching the junkies to "act natural" and revealing where the microphones and lights are hidden in the apartment. Furthermore, Jim reveals that he is the one who has given the addicts the money for their heroin in exchange for being able to film them.

Jim, who is nervous around the junkies, confesses a private hope that he will be able to film the connection behind the connection. The junkies shoot down this idea and suggest it would be more interesting to watch Jim take heroin. J.J. suggests that Jim start with marijuana, which Leach finds amusing and does not even have.

Cowboy finally arrives, bringing with him an older woman called Sister Salvation who has no idea what they are up to. The men shoot up one by one in the bathroom.

Under pressure from the other men, who claim Jim is exploiting them, Jim agrees to try heroin. He almost immediately becomes ill from the effects, which are much stronger on him than on the others. Despite this, Jim continues to film the others encouraging them to act more cinematic and telling Cowboy he once thought of making him the "hero" of his film.

Despite the fact that Cowboy injected Leach with heroin, Leach claims to not be high. Annoyed, Cowboy gives Leach the heroin and allows him to shoot up himself which he does in full view of J.J.

However, this final shot proves too much for Leach and Leach overdoses, but Cowboy manages to revive him & Leach continues to have a bad trip.

The men who are left wait for their next connection to show up. Meanwhile, Jim turns to J.J. and tells him that the film belongs to him and goes to join the other addicts in waiting.

## Cast

- Warren Finnerty as Leach

- Jerome Raphael as Solly

- Garry Goodrow as Ernie

- Jim Anderson as Sam

- Carl Lee as Cowboy

- Barbara Winchester as Sister Salvation

- Henry Proach as Harry

- Roscoe Lee Browne as J. J. Burden

- William Redfield as Jim Dunn

- Freddie Redd as Piano Player

- Jackie McLean as Sax Player

- Larry Richie as Drummer

- Michael Mattos as Bass Player

## Background

Based on the play The Connection by Jack Gelber, the film follows a young filmmaker who attempts to film junkies waiting for their heroin dealer to arrive.

Most of the actors from the original stage production reprised their roles for the film: Warren Finnerty as Leach, Carl Lee as Cowboy, Garry Goodrow as Ernie, Jerome Raphel as Solly, Barbara Winchester as Sister Salvation, and Henry Proach as Harry. All the musicians from the original stage production appeared: Freddie Redd (composer, piano), Jackie McLean (alto sax), Michael Mattos (bass), and Larry Ritchie (drums). Non-original cast members James Anderson and William Redfield took the roles of Sam and Jim Dunn. The character of Jaybird was cut from the film, that role essentially shifted to a largely off-screen camera operator, J.J. Burden, voiced by Roscoe Lee Browne. The music played on the onscreen record player is "Marmaduke" by and performed by Charlie Parker (take 4).

The film helped to loosen film censorship, as Clarke and producer Lewis Allen had filed suit to be able to show the film in New York. (The film had premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1961.) In that era, in New York, the State's Department of Education had a vote on the State's film licensing board, and they voted to deny a license, mainly on the grounds that the word "shit" was used repeatedly during the film even though it was mostly used to refer to drugs.

The case went to the New York State Court of Appeals (the state's highest court). The Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the intermediate level Appellate Division, which had held that while 'vulgar', this usage could not be considered obscene. Ultimately, the film was unsuccessful at the box office.

## Restoration

On May 4, 2012, Milestone Films released a version of The Connection restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive.


Sting Ray Robb

# Sting Ray Robb

## Abstract

Sting Ray Robb (born September 3, 2001) is an American racing driver. He competes in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 41 Dallara-Chevrolet for A. J. Foyt Enterprises.

## Racing career

### Karting

Robb received a go-kart at age five, kickstarting his racing career. He started running nationally at age eight, entering Cadet division events from 2010 to 2013. During his first season in the Junior ranks, he finished second in America and raced in Valencia, Spain. Robb won a national championship in Rotax Junior Max karting in 2015. He also raced go-karts in Portugal.

### Junior open-wheel formulae

Robb switched from go-kart racing to car racing in 2016. He joined the then- Pro Mazda Championship with World Speed Motorsports in 2017.

Robb ran a full Pro Mazda season in 2018 with Team Pelfrey.

On February 17, 2019, Robb was confirmed to join Juncos Racing as a part of their Indy Pro 2000 roster. After winning two poles in 2019, Robb was confirmed to return to Juncos for the 2020 Indy Pro 2000 season on March 7, 2020.

On July 30, 2020, Robb won his first career Indy Pro 2000 race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. He later swept a three-race weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Robb claimed one win in a tripleheader weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park in October and secured the championship ahead of the season finale doubleheader at St. Petersburg.

Robb remained with Juncos as he moved up into Indy Lights in 2021.

On October 28, 2021, Andretti Autosport announced that Robb would join the team full-time for the 2022 Indy Lights season.

## IndyCar Series

With significant financial backing and feeling his stock was at his highest, Robb elected to step up to the IndyCar Series rather than stay in the renamed-for-2023 Indy NXT series. Robb would later be confirmed as the full-time driver for Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing for the 2023 season, partnering David Malukas. The opening number of races saw Robb being involved in a number of incidents, including a mistake at his maiden IndyCar oval race at Texas which saw him sliding into the wall. As well as this, Robb caused a collision with his teammate Malukas at the Indianapolis Road Course, later apologising for ending the team's day on lap two. In May, he would qualify for his first Indianapolis 500, posting a speed of 229.549 mph during the "Last Chance" session to qualify 32nd. Robb would crash in turn 1 near the mid-point of the race, finishing 31st. This ended up being Robb's final retirement of the season, though he would be disqualified from the second race at Iowa when one of the wheels dislodged itself after a pit stop. The Idahoan attained the best finish of his campaign at Laguna Seca, finishing 12th, though it would not prevent him from ending up 23rd in the standings, with Benjamin Pedersen being the only full-time driver beaten by Robb.

For the 2024 season, Robb switched to A. J. Foyt Racing, which had just taken on a technical partnership with Team Penske. Robb was injured after a last lap crash during a race at Iowa Speedway.

## NASCAR

Robb competed in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West 2018 NAPA Auto Parts Idaho 208, finishing tenth.

## Personal life

Robb attended Payette High School; he played basketball and ran cross country at the school. Robb is a Christian, saying in an article on Racer.com, "My heroes are all those who have come alongside to make it possible for me to follow God’s calling in my life; and to them I say, 'Thank you.' All the glory goes to God!"

Robb's parents are Chevrolet enthusiasts, and named him after the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray sports car.

## Motorsports career results

### NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

### American open-wheel racing results

(key)

#### Indy Lights

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) (Races with indicate a race lap led) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)

#### IndyCar Series

(key)


Basque Country (greater region)

# Basque Country (greater region)

## Abstract

The Basque Country (Basque: Euskal Herria; Spanish: País Vasco; French: Pays basque) is the name given to the home of the Basque people. The Basque Country is located in the western Pyrenees, straddling the border between France and Spain on the coast of the Bay of Biscay.

Comprising the Autonomous Communities of the Basque Country and Navarre in Spain and the Northern Basque Country in France, the region is home to the Basque people (Basque: Euskaldunak), their language (Basque: Euskara), culture and traditions. The area is neither linguistically nor culturally homogeneous, and certain areas have a majority of people who do not consider themselves Basque, such as the south of Navarre. The concept is still highly controversial, and the Supreme Court of Navarre has upheld a denial of government funding to school books that include the Navarre community within the Basque Country area.

## Etymology

The name in Basque is Euskal Herria. The name is difficult to accurately translate into other languages due to the wide range of meanings of the Basque word herri. It can be translated as nation; country, land; people, population and town, village, settlement. The first part, Euskal, is the adjectival form of Euskara "the Basque language". Thus a more literal translation would be "country/nation/people/settlement of the Basque language", a concept difficult to render into a single word in most other languages.

The two earliest references (in various spelling guises) are in Joan Perez de Lazarraga 's manuscript, dated around 1564–1567 as eusquel erria and eusquel erriau and heuscal herrian ('in the Basque Country') and Heuscal-Herrian in Joanes Leizarraga 's Bible translation, published in 1571.

## Territory

The term Basque Country refers to a collection of regions inhabited by the Basque people, known as Euskal Herria in Basque language, and it is first attested as including seven traditional territories in Axular 's literary work Gero (he goes on to suggest that Basque language is spoken "in many other places"), in the early 17th century. Some Basques refer to the seven traditional districts collectively as Zazpiak Bat, meaning "The Seven One", a motto coined in the late 19th century.

### Northern Basque Country

The Northern Basque Country, known in Basque as Iparralde (literally, "the northern part"), is the part of the Basque Country that lies entirely northside the Pyrenees, as part of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France, and constitutes the Basque Municipal Community. As such it is usually known as French Basque Country (Pays basque français in French). In most contemporary sources, it is defined as covering the arrondissement of Bayonne and the cantons of Mauléon-Licharre and Tardets-Sorholus, but sources disagree on the status of the village of Esquiule. Within these conventions, the area of Northern Basque Country (including the 29 square kilometres (11 square miles) of Esquiule) is 2,995 square kilometres (1,156 square miles).

The French Basque Country is traditionally subdivided into three provinces:

- Labourd, historical capital Ustaritz, main settlement today Bayonne

- Lower Navarre, historical capitals Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and Saint-Palais, main settlement today Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port

- Soule, historical capital Mauléon (also current main settlement)

This summary presentation suggests difficulty in justifying the inclusion of a few communes in the lower Adour region. Jean Goyhenetche suggests it would be more accurate to depict the region as the reunion of five entities: Labourd, Lower Navarre, Soule but also Bayonne and Gramont.

### Southern Basque Country

The Southern Basque Country, known in Basque as Hegoalde (literally, "the southern part"), is the Basque region part southside the Pyrenees that lies completely within Spain. It is known as "spaniard" Basque Country. It is the largest and most populated part of the Basque Country.

It is subdivided into two main regions: the Basque Autonomous Community (Vitoria-Gasteiz is the capital) and the Chartered Community of Navarre (capital city Iruñea-pamplona).

The Basque Autonomous Community (7,234 km²) consists of three provinces, specifically designated "historical territories":

- Araba (capital: Vitoria-Gasteiz)

- Bizkaia (capital: Bilbo)

- Gipuzkoa (capital: Donostia-San Sebastián)

The Chartered Community of Navarre (10,391 km²) is a single-province autonomous community. Its name refers to the charters, the Fueros of Navarre. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 states that Navarre may become a part of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country if it is so decided by its people and institutions (the Disposicion transitoria cuarta or "Fourth Transitory Provision"). To date, there has been no implementation of this law. Despite demands for a referendum by left-wing forces and Basque nationalists of Navarre, it has been opposed by centralist Spanish right-wing parties (like the populists "Navarrese People's Union").

In addition to those, two enclaves located outside of the respective autonomous community are often cited as being part of both the Basque Autonomous Community and also the Basque Country (greater region).

- The Treviño enclave (280 km²), a Castilian enclave in Álava

- Valle de Villaverde (20 km²), a Cantabrian exclave in Bizkaia

- Navarre holds two administrative strips exclaves in Aragon, organised as Petilla de Aragón.

## Climate

The Basque Country region is dominated by a warm, humid and wet oceanic climate. The coastal area is part of Green Spain and by extension, the climate is similar for Bayonne and Biarritz as well. Inland areas in Navarre and the southern regions of the autonomous community are transitional, with continental Mediterranean climate, with somewhat wider temperature swings between seasons. The list only sources locations in Spain, but Bayonne/Biarritz have a very similar climate to nearby Hondarribia on the Spanish side of the border. The values do not apply to San Sebastián, since its weather station is at a higher elevation than the urban core, where temperatures are higher year-round and similar to those in Bilbao and Hondarribia.

## History

### Ancient period

According to some theories, Basques may be the least assimilated remnant of the Paleolithic inhabitants of Western Europe (specifically those of the Franco-Cantabrian region known as Azilian) to the Indo-European migrations. Basque tribes were mentioned by Greek writer Strabo and Roman writer Pliny the Elder, including the Vascones, the Aquitani, and others. There is considerable evidence to show their Basque ethnicity in Roman times in the form of place-names, Caesar's reference to their customs and physical make-up, the so-called Aquitanian inscriptions recording names of people and gods (approx. 1st century, see Aquitanian language), etc.

Geographically, the Basque Country was inhabited in Roman times by several tribes: the Vascones, the Varduli, the Caristi, the Autrigones, the Berones, the Tarbelli, and the Sibulates. Some ancient place-names, such as Deba, Butrón, Nervión, Zegama, suggest the presence of non-Basque peoples at some point in protohistory. The ancient tribes are last cited in the 5th century, after which track of them is lost, with only Vascones still being accounted for, while extending far beyond their former boundaries, e.g. in the current lands of Álava and most conspicuously around the Pyrenees and Novempopulania.

The territory of the Cantabri encompassed probably present-day Biscay, Cantabria, Burgos and at least part of Álava and La Rioja, i.e. to the west of Vascon territory in the Early Middle Ages, but the ethnic nature of this people, often at odds with and finally overcome by the Visigoths, is not certain. The Vascones around Pamplona, after much fighting against Franks and Visigoths, founded the Kingdom of Pamplona (824), inextricably linked to their kinsmen the Banu Qasi.

All other tribes in the Iberian Peninsula had been, to a great extent, assimilated by Roman culture and language by the end of the Roman period or early period of the Early Middle Ages, while ethnic Basques inhabited well east into the lands of the Pyrenees (Pallars, Val d'Aran) from the 8th to the 11th century.

### Middle Ages

In the Early Middle Ages (up to the 9th century) the territory between the Ebro and Garonne rivers was known as Vasconia, a blurred ethnic area and polity struggling to fend off the Frankish feudal authority from the north and the pressure of the Iberian Visigoths and Andalusi Cordovans from the south.

By the turn of the millennium, a receding Carolingian royal authority and establishing feudalism left Vasconia (to become Gascony) fragmented into a myriad of counties and viscounties, e.g. Fezensac, Bigorre, Astarac, Béarn, Tartas, Marsan, Soule, Labourd, etc., out of former tribal systems and minor realms (County of Vasconia), while south of the Pyrenees, besides the above Kingdom of Pamplona, Gipuzkoa, Álava and Biscay arose in the current lands of the Southern Basque Country from the 9th century onward.

These westerly territories pledged intermittent allegiance to Navarre in their early stages, but were annexed to the Kingdom of Castile at the end of the 12th century, so depriving the Kingdom of Navarre of direct access to the ocean. In the Late Middle Ages, important families dotting the whole Basque territory came to prominence, often quarreling with each other for power and unleashing the bloody War of the Bands, only stopped by royal intervention and the gradual shift of power from the countryside to the towns by the 16th century. Meanwhile, the viscounties of Labourd and Soule under English suzerainty were finally incorporated to France after the Hundred Years' War, with Bayonne remaining the last Plantagenet stronghold up to 1453.

### Modern period

In Navarre, the civil wars between the Agramont and the Beaumont confederacies paved the way for the Spanish conquest of the bulk of Navarre from 1512 to 1524. The independent Navarre north of the Pyrenees was largely absorbed by France in 1620, despite the fact that King Henry III of Navarre had decreed Navarre's permanent independence from France (31 December 1596). In the decades after the Spanish annexation, the Basque Country went through increased religious, ideological and national homogenization, encouraged by new national ideas embraced by the rising Spanish and French absolutist monarchies during the Renaissance.

From 1525, witchcraft allegations originating in a number of Pyrenean valleys on the rearguard of the Lower Navarre front and recent theatre of war (Salazar, Roncal, Burguete, etc.) were followed by the intervention of newly reformed and recent institutions, such as Spain's central tribunal Inquisition, the (Navarrese) Royal Tribunals, and the Diocesan Tribunal, who organized a series of trials for alleged witchcraft and heretical practices. In the heat of the Wars of Religion and the struggle for Navarre, persecution came to a head in the hysteria of the 1609–1611 Basque witch trials on both sides of the Spanish-French border, easing afterwards.

In the French Basque Country, its provinces underwent an ever-shrinking self-government status until the French Revolution, when the traditional provinces were reshaped to form the current Basses-Pyrénées department along with Béarn. In the Southern Basque Country, the regional Charters were upheld until the Carlist Wars, when the Basques supported heir-apparent Carlos and his descendants to the cry of "God, Fatherland, King" (The Charters were finally abolished in 1876). The ensuing centralized status quo bred dissent and frustration in the region, giving rise to Basque nationalism by the end of the 19th century, influenced by European Romantic nationalism.

Since then, attempts were made to find a new framework for self-empowerment. The occasion seemed to have arrived on the proclamation of the 2nd Spanish Republic in 1931, when a draft statute was drawn up for the Southern Basque Country (Statute of Estella), but was discarded in 1932. In 1936 a short-lived statute of autonomy was approved for the Gipuzkoa, Álava and Biscay provinces, but war prevented any progress. After Franco 's dictatorship, a new statute was designed that resulted in the creation of the current Basque Autonomous Community and Navarre, with a limited self-governing status, as settled by the Spanish Constitution. However, a significant part of Basque society is still attempting higher degrees of self-empowerment (see Basque nationalism), sometimes by acts of violence (ETA 's permanent ceasefire in 2010). The French Basque Country, meanwhile, lacks any political or administrative recognition whatsoever, while a majority of local representatives have lobbied to create a Basque department, to no avail.

## Demographics

The Basque Country has a population of approximately 3 million as of early 2006. The population density, at about 140/km (360/sq mi) is above average for both Spain and France, but the distribution of the population is fairly unequal, concentrated around the main cities. A third of the population is concentrated in the Greater Bilbao metropolitan area, while most of the interior of the French Basque Country and some areas of Navarre remain sparsely populated: density culminates at about 500/km (1,300/sq mi) for Biscay but falls to 20/km (52/sq mi) in the northern inner provinces of Lower Navarre and Soule.

A significant majority of the population of the Basque country live inside the Basque Autonomous Community (about 2,100,000, or 70% of the population) while about 600,000 live in Navarre (20% of the population) and about 300,000 (roughly 10%) in Northern Basque Country.

José Aranda Aznar writes that 30% of the population in the Basque Country Autonomous Community were born in other regions of Spain and that 40% of the people living in that territory do not have a single Basque parent.

Most of these peoples of Galician and Castilian stock arrived in the Basque Autonomous Community in the late 19th century and throughout the 20th century, as the region became more and more industrialized and prosperous and additional workers were needed to support the economic growth. Descendants of immigrants from other parts of Spain have since been considered Basque for the most part, at least formally.

Over the last 25 years, some 380,000 people have left the Basque Autonomous Community, of which some 230,000 have moved to other parts of Spain. While certainly many of them are people returning to their original homes when starting their retirement, there is also a sizable tract of Basque natives in this group who have moved due to a Basque nationalist political environment (including ETA's killings) which they perceive as overtly hostile. These have been quoted to be as high as 10% of the population in the Basque Community.

### Largest cities

### Metropolitan areas

- Greater Bilbao: 984 745 inhabitants (2014)

- Greater San Sebastian: 447 844 inhabitants (2014)

- Greater Pamplona: 346 716 inhabitants (2012)

- Metropolitan area of Vitoria: 277 812 inhabitants (2015)

- Metropolitan area of Eibar: 70 000 inhabitants (2012)

- Agglomération Côte Basque Adour: 126 072 inhabitants (2013)

### Non-Basque minorities

#### Historical minorities

Various Romani groups existed in the Basque Country and some still exist as ethnic groups. These were grouped together under the generic terms ijituak (Gypsies) and buhameak (Bohemians) by Basque speakers.

- The Cagots also were found north and south of the mountains. They lived as untouchables in Basque villages and were allowed to marry only among themselves. Their origin is unclear and has historically been surrounded with superstitions. Nowadays, they have mostly assimilated into the general society.

- The Cascarots were a Roma subgroup found mainly in the Northern Basque Country.

- A subgroup of Kalderash Roma resident in the Basque Country were the Erromintxela who are notable for speaking a rare mixed language. This is based on Basque grammar but using Romani-derived vocabulary.

- The Mercheros were Quinqui -speakers, travelling as cattle merchants and artisans. Following the industrialization, they settled in slums near big cities.

In the Middle Ages, many Franks settled along the Way of Saint James in Navarre and Gipuzkoa and to a lesser extent in Bizkaia. This process also happened in Northern Castile. They were all collectively called Franks because most of them came from French regions (Normans, Bretons, Burgundians, Aquitanians etc.) but an important minority of them were in fact of German, Dutch, Italian, English and Swiss stock. Some were also from even more distant lands such as Poland or Denmark. Due to this migration, Gascon was spoken in the centre of Donostia-San Sebastián, until the beginning of the 20th century. Navarre also held Jewish and Muslim minorities but these were expelled or forced to assimilate after the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. One of the notable members of such minorities was Benjamin of Tudela.

#### Recent immigration

Much as has been the case for Spain's two other major economic poles (Madrid and Catalonia), the Basque Country received significant immigration from other poorer regions of Spain, due to its higher level of economic development and early industrialization. During the second half of the 20th century, such immigrants were commonly referred to by some Basques as maketos, a derogatory term which is less used today.

Since the 1980s, as a consequence of its considerable economic prosperity, the Basque Country has received an increasing number of immigrants, mostly from Eastern Europe, North Africa, Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and China, settling mostly in the major urban areas. Nevertheless, foreign immigrant population is lower in the Basque country than in Madrid and Catalonia, despite having similar GDP per capita and significantly lower levels of unemployment.

### Language

Currently, the predominant languages in the Spanish and French Basque Countries are Spanish and French, respectively. In the historical process of forging themselves as nation-states, both the Spanish and French governments have tried more or less intensely to discourage the use of Basque and its linguistic identity. The language chosen for public education is the most obvious expression of this phenomenon, something which surely had an effect on the current status of Basque.

Despite being spoken in a relatively small territory, the rugged features of the Basque countryside and the historically high population density resulted in a heavy dialectal fragmentation throughout history, which increased the value of both Spanish and French respectively as lingua francas. In this regard, the current Standard form of Basque was only introduced in the late 1960s, which helped Basque move away from being perceived – even by its own speakers – as a language unfit for educational purposes.

While the French Republic has historically attempted to absorb ethnic minority groups – including the French Basques – into a linguistically unified state, Spain in turn has accepted intermittently in its history some degree of linguistic, cultural, and political autonomy to the Basques. Altogether there was a gradual language shift towards Spanish language in the Basque-speaking areas of the Spanish Basque Country, a phenomenon initially restricted to the upper urban classes, but progressively reaching the lower classes. Western Biscay, most of Alava and southern Navarre have been Spanish-speaking (or Romance-speaking) for centuries.

But under the regime of Francisco Franco, the government attempted to suppress Basque nationalism and limit the uses of the Basque language. Even the activities of the Euskaltzaindia (Basque Language Academy) were severely curtailed. In general, during these years, cultural activity in Basque was limited to folkloric issues and the Roman Catholic Church, while a higher, yet still limited degree of tolerance was granted to Basque culture and language in Álava and Navarre, since both areas mostly supported Francoist troops during the war.

Nowadays, the Basque Autonomous Community enjoys some cultural and political autonomy and Basque is an official language along with Spanish. Basque is favoured by a set of language policies sponsored by the Basque regional government which aim at the generalization of its use. However, the actual implementation of this official status is patchy and problematic, relying ultimately on the will of the different administrative levels to enforce it—Justice, Health, Administration. It is spoken by approximately a quarter of the total Basque Country, its stronghold being the contiguous area formed by Gipuzkoa, northern Navarre and the Pyrenean French valleys. It is not spoken natively in most of Álava, western Biscay and the southern half of Navarre. Of a total estimation of some 650,000 Basque speakers, approximately 550,000 live in the Spanish Basque country, the rest in the French.

The Basque education system in Spain has three types of schools differentiated by their linguistic teaching models: A, B and D. Model D, with education entirely in Basque, and Spanish as a compulsory subject, is the most widely chosen model by parents. In Navarre, there is an additional G model, with education entirely in Spanish.

The ruling anti-Basque conservative government of Unión del Pueblo Navarro opposes Basque nationalist attempts to provide education in Basque through all Navarre (which would include areas where it is not traditionally spoken). Basque language teaching in the public education network is therefore limited to the Basque speaking north and central regions. In the central region, Basque teaching in the public education network is fairly limited, and part of the existing demand is served via private schools or ikastolak. In southern and some central areas this policy has resulted in schoolchildren having to travel sometimes for hours every day in order to attend education provided in the historic language of Navarre, largely relying on public subscription (yearly festival Nafarroa Oinez, solidarity from the ikastola network, donations, etc.) or receiving as a result no allowances for school meals. Even in northern Basque or mixed language areas, allegations raised by Basque speaker associations point regularly to a conspicuous disregard for recognised language rights, e.g. virtual non-existence of Basque language medical assistance across areas where the vast majority is Basque speaking, insufficient Basque speaking librarians, no broadcasting permission in the last 20 years (as of 2013) for the only Basque language radio in Pamplona, Spanish monolingual signalization and even removal of bilingual one, etc. Spanish is or can be spoken in Navarre by the entire population, with few exceptions in remote rural areas.

The European Commission for Regional or Minority Languages to which Spain is signatory has issued a number of recommendations in order to guarantee a real official status for Basque language (2004), e.g. the suppression of the administrative linguistic divides of Navarre for considering it an obstacle to the normal use of Basque and discriminating against Basque speakers, the filing of the case against newspaper Euskaldunon Egunkaria and restitution to its normal operation, as well as guarantees to prisoners of receiving and sending correspondence in Basque, to mention but a few.

The situation of the Basque language in the French Basque Country is vulnerable (as rated by Unesco). The pressure of French as a well-established mainstream language and different administrative obstacles to the consolidation of Basque-language schooling make the language's future prospects uncertain. On 14 June 2013, pointing to the 1850 Falloux act and declaring thereafter that French is the official language of France, the regional subprefect declared illegal the Hendaye council's subsidies to finance a new building for a Basque-language school. On 6 November 2013, the Basque language school network in the French Basque Country, Seaska, bitterly criticized the French state before UNESCO for not complying with its international commitments and actually failing to accept minorities by violating their linguistic rights. In November 2013, France decided not to ratify the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

## Universities

The earliest university in the Basque Country was the University of Oñati, founded in 1540 in Hernani and moved to Oñati in 1548. It lasted in various forms until 1901. In 1868, in order to fulfill the need for college graduates for the thriving industry that was flourishing in the Bilbao area, there was an unsuccessful effort to establish a Basque-Navarrese University. Nonetheless, in 1897 the Bilbao Superior Technical School of Engineering (the first modern faculty of engineering in Spain), was founded as a way of providing engineers for the local industry; this faculty is nowadays part of the University of the Basque Country. Almost at the same time, the urgent need for business graduates led to the establishment of the Commercial Faculty by the Jesuits, and, some time thereafter, the Jesuits expanded their university by formally founding the University of Deusto in Deusto (now a Bilbao neighbourhood) by the turn of the century, a private university where the Commercial Faculty was integrated. The first modern Basque public university was the Basque University, founded 18 November 1936 by the autonomous Basque government in Bilbao in the midst of the Spanish Civil War. It operated only briefly before the government's defeat by Francisco Franco 's fascist forces.

Several faculties, originally teaching only in Spanish, were founded in the Basque region in the Francisco Franco era. A public faculty of economics was founded in Sarriko (Bilbao) in the 1960s, and a public faculty of medicine was also founded during that decade, thus expanding the college graduate schools. However, all the public faculties in the Basque Country were organized as local branches of Spanish universities. For instance, the School of Engineering was treated as a part of the University of Valladolid, some 400 kilometres (250 miles) away from Bilbao. Indeed, the lack of a central governing body for the public faculties of the Bilbao area, namely those of Economics in Sarriko, Medicine in Basurto, Engineering in Bilbao and the School of Mining in Barakaldo (est. 1910s), was seen as a gross handicap for the cultural and economic development of the area, and so, during the late 1960s many formal requests were made to the Francoist government in order to establish a Basque public university that would unite all the public faculties already founded in Bilbao. As a result of that, the University of Bilbao was founded in the early 1970s, which has now evolved into the University of the Basque Country with campuses in the western three provinces.

In Navarre, Opus Dei manages the University of Navarre with another campus in San Sebastián. Additionally, there is also the Public University of Navarre, with campus in Pamplona and in Tudela, managed by the Navarrese Foral Government.

Mondragón Corporación Cooperativa has established its institutions for higher education as the Mondragon University, based in Mondragón and nearby towns.

There are numerous other significant Basque cultural institutions in the Basque Country and elsewhere. Most Basque organizations in the United States are affiliated with NABO (North American Basque Organizations, Inc.).

## Politics

Since the last quarter of the 20th century, there have been very different political views on the significance of the Basque Country, with some Basque nationalists aiming to create an independent state including the whole area, and Spanish nationalism denying the very existence of the Basque Country. The dynamics of controversial decisions imposed by Spanish tribunals on Basque nationalist parties ideologically close to ETA left for over a decade a distorted representation of the Basque politics in local councils and regional parliaments, as well as a swiftly changing array of disbanded party names, new alliances, and re-accommodations (since 1998).

During the 2011 Spanish parliamentary elections, the coalition Amaiur (former Batasuna plus Eusko Alkartasuna) came up first in parliamentary seats (7) and second only to UPN -PP (5 seats) in popular vote in the Southern Basque Country, followed closely by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (5 seats). Geroa Bai secured a seat in Navarre, with the Basque Nationalist Party getting 5 (all from Basque Autonomous Community).

Despite Amaiur's results, the group was refused a parliamentary group in an unprecedented decision in the Spanish Parliament, on the grounds that the coalition's MPs represented two different constituencies. As a result, Amaiur (5th political group in the Spanish Parliament altogether) remained in the Grupo Mixto with a myriad of different parties from all over Spain, while the so-called Basque Group includes only the 5 members of the PNV and the Basque Autonomous Community (Euskadi).

However, in December 2015, the Spanish parliamentary elections saw the rise of Podemos (7 MPs) and the Basque Nationalist Party (6 MPs) at the expense of EH Bildu (2 MPs), while Madrid-based mainstream parties continued their steady decline trend, with the Spanish Conservatives (allied with UPN in Navarre) getting 4 MPs, and the Socialists 4 MPs.

In the Northern Basque Country, the French right is the most popular political faction, but since its creation the coalition EH Bai (the northern equivalent of EH Bildu) has seen a rise in popularity, and in the 2020 municipal and 2021 departmental elections the coalition came up second in popular vote.

### Parties with presence in all the Basque Country

- The Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV-PNB) is the oldest of all nationalist parties, with over 100 years of history. It is Christian-democrat and has evolved towards rather moderate positions though it still keeps the demand for self-determination and eventual independence. It is the main party in the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC) and is the most voted party (about 40% population), but its presence in Navarre is minor and subsumed in Geroa Bai, while it remains marginal in the French Basque Country.

- Eusko Alkartasuna (EA) (Basque Solidarity). A splinter group from PNV since 1984, unleashed by EAJ-PNV's compromise with the Spanish right in Navarre against the opinion of the local branch in exchange for support in Bilbao. The party was led by charismatic lehendakari Carlos Garaikoetxea for years. The party is defined as social-democrat, and is quite more emphatic in its nationalist claims than EAJ-PNV. After Carlos Garaikoetxea retired, Begoña Errazti was elected for the chair of the party. EA went through unfavourable electoral results, the party split with a splinter group founding the half-hearted party Hamaikabat based in Gipuzkoa. Under the leadership of Peio Urizar, Eusko Alkartasuna gained momentum and moved towards an understanding with figures close to former Batasuna and new faces hailing from the same sociological environment. The party is a co-founder of the coalitions EH Bildu in the South and EH Bai in the North.

- Sortu (Create) is a party founded in February 2011 spearheaded by relevant public figures and low-profile political leaders aiming to fill the sociological and political void left by outlawed parties Euskal Herritarrok (We Basque Citizens), and Batasuna (Unity). Its ideology is Basque nationalist and socialist, rejects violence as a means of achieving political goals, and values civic and pacific disobedience as a legitimate way of opposing arbitrary and authoritarian policies. It is included in the coalition EH Bildu in the South and in EH Bai in the North.

### Parties with presence only in the French Basque Country

- Abertzaleen Batasuna (Patriots' Union), the main radical left wing Basque nationalist party in the North.

- Euskal Herria Bai (EH Bai), a left-wing coalition formed by Abertzaleen Batasuna, Sortu and Eusko Alkartasuna (Batasuna also took part in its creation). EH Bai has become the main nationalist force in the North, and has taken a more moderate stance on historical nationalist demands than its predecessors.

- Renaissance (formerly La République En Marche), the party of liberal French President Emmanuel Macron. In the Basque Country it is allied with the traditional French right and other center-right parties.

- The Republicans, the traditional French conservative party, and one of the main forces in the Northern Basque Country.

- Union of Democrats and Independents, a center-right France-wide party, an ally of The Republicans and Renaissance, and the party of the president of the Northern Basque Country Jean-René Etchegaray.

- French Socialist Party, formerly the hegemonic center-left party in France. Even though it has lost much support in recent years it has remained relevant in Basque politics.

- Europe Ecology – The Greens, the main French green party. The greens are one of the main allies of the left-wing Basque nationalists in France.

- National Rally, far-right, France-wide.

### Parties with presence in all of the Spanish Basque Country

- Euskal Herria Bildu (Basque Country Gather), a left-wing Basque nationalist coalition formed by EA, Sortu and Alternatiba. It is the main opposition in the BAC and the fourth party in the Navarrese parliament (as of 2022). Even though the coalition is considered the successor of Batasuna, it is much more moderate and officially rejects political violence.

- Spanish Socialist Worker Party (PSOE), the main social-democratic party of Spanish politics, with its regional branches: PSE-EE (mixed Spanish and Basque acronym for: Socialist Party of the Basque Country – Basque Country's Left) in the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC). PSN (Socialist Party of Navarre) in Navarre.

- PSE-EE (mixed Spanish and Basque acronym for: Socialist Party of the Basque Country – Basque Country's Left) in the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC).

- PSN (Socialist Party of Navarre) in Navarre.

- People's Party (PP), the main conservative party in Spain, with its branches: Partido Popular de Navarra (People's Party of Navarre) in Navarre Partido Popular del País Vasco (People's Party of The Basque Country) in the BAC

- Partido Popular de Navarra (People's Party of Navarre) in Navarre

- Partido Popular del País Vasco (People's Party of The Basque Country) in the BAC

- United Left (IU), a Spain-wide left-wing coalition, the former Spanish Communist Party, federalist and republican, with its branches: Ezker Anitza (Plural Left) (EzAn-IU) in the BAC Izquierda Unida de Navarra-Nafarroako Ezker Batua (United Left of Navarre) (IUN-NEB) in Navarre

- Ezker Anitza (Plural Left) (EzAn-IU) in the BAC

- Izquierda Unida de Navarra-Nafarroako Ezker Batua (United Left of Navarre) (IUN-NEB) in Navarre

- Podemos-Ahal Dugu (We can), a Spain-wide leftist party. In the BAC it is inside the coalition Elkarrekin Podemos alongside United Left, and in Navarre it is part of the coalition government.

### Parties with presence only in Navarre

- Navarrese People's Union (UPN), a conservative party formerly attached to People's Party. It was the ruling party in Navarre from 1996 to 2015, and a firm opponent of Basque nationalism, the idea of a Basque Country including Navarre, and virtually all matters Basque. It emphasizes the Spanish character of Navarre, its distinct institutional make-up, and taxation system.

- Navarra Suma, a right-wing coalition formed by UPN, PP and Citizens. It won the 2019 Navarrese regional election but it was unable to form a government.

- Geroa Bai (Yes to the Future), a progressive Basque nationalist coalition with ties to the Basque Nationalist Party. It ruled Navarre from 2015 to 2019, and entered the PSN led government in 2019. Currently it is the biggest Basque nationalist party in Navarre.

- Izquierda-Ezkerra, a leftist coalition formed by United Left and Batzarre.

### Basque nationalism

#### Political status

Since the 19th century, Basque nationalism (abertzaleak) has demanded the right of some kind of self-determination, which is supported by 60% of Basques in the Basque Autonomous Community, and independence, which would be supported in this same territory, according to a poll, by approximately 36% of them. This desire for independence is particularly stressed among leftist Basque nationalists. The right of self-determination was asserted by the Basque Parliament in 1990, 2002 and 2006.

According to Article 2 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978, "The Constitution is based on the indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation, the common and indivisible homeland of all Spaniards". Therefore, since this precludes a declaration of independence of Spanish regions, some Basques abstained and some even voted against it in the referendum of 6 December of that year. The constitution was nevertheless approved by a clear majority in the whole of Spain, albeit with some degree of opposition in the Southern Basque Country. The derived autonomous regime for the BAC was approved in later referendum and the autonomy of Navarre (amejoramiento del fuero: "improvement of the charter") was approved by the regional parliament of Navarra.

There are not many sources on the issue for the French Basque country, but the establishment of an autonomic regime in the Northern Basque Country and the officiality of the Basque language are two of the main demands of Basque nationalists.

#### Euskadi Ta Askatasuna

Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) was an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and evolved from a group promoting Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Basque Country. ETA is the main organisation of the Basque National Liberation Movement and was the most important participant in the Basque conflict. ETA declared temporary ceasefires in 1989, 1996, 1998 and 2006, but these subsequently came to an abrupt end. However, on 5 September 2010, ETA declared a permanent ceasefire, and on 20 October 2011 ETA announced a "definitive cessation of its armed activity". On 2 May 2018, ETA issued a historic statement declaring a definitive end to its armed struggle and the organisation was officially dissolved, after six decades of political conflict.

### Rejection of the Basque Country idea in Navarre

A Basque Country including Navarre has proved controversial. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 included the "Disposición transitoria cuarta" (Basque: Espainiako Konstituzioko laugarren xedapen iragankorra) which allowed Navarre to be eventually absorbed in the Basque Country at their request. This was added after the rejection of the majority of the political parties of Navarre to be incorporated in a joined Basque Country Autonomous Community. The coat of arms of the Basque Autonomous Community included the coat of arms of Navarre (along the coats of arms of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa) when the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country of 1979 was approved. Following a legal suit by the Navarre government claiming that the usage of the arms of a region on the flag of another was illegal, the Constitutional Court of Spain forced the Basque government to remove the chains of Navarre, leaving the red background where the chains were.

Among other controversies in 2018 the Supreme Court of Navarre (Spanish: Tribunal Supremo de Justicia de Navarra) ruling against the use of some school books that had in their content a map that displayed the Chartered Community of Navarre within the Basque Country area, claiming it distorted the natural, historic, legal, social, geographic and politic reality of Navarre. The same court has also ruled against considering the knowledge of the Basque language when hiring in the public administration, and the establishment of Basque-medium schools has usually been opposed by Navarrese and municipal governments. The Navarrese government and courts have also taken measures to remove Basque symbols from public buildings. As an example, the Administrative Court of Navarre (Spanish: Tribunal Administrativo de Nafarroa) recently ordered the removal of the Basque coat of arms from a fronton, placed by the municipal government.

## Culture

### Sports

The Basque Country has also contributed many sportsmen, primarily in football, rugby union, cycling, jai-alai and surfing.

The main sport in the Basque Country, as in the rest of Spain and much of France, is football. The top teams – Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad, Osasuna, Eibar, Alavés, Real Unión and Barakaldo – play in the Spanish football league system. Athletic Bilbao has a policy of hiring only Basque players, which has been applied with variable flexibility. Local rivals Real Sociedad used to practice the same policy, until they signed Irish striker John Aldridge in the late 1980s. Since then, Real Sociedad have had many foreign players. Athletic's policy does not apply to head coaches, with famous names as Howard Kendall and Jupp Heynckes coaching the team at various points.

The most renowned Basque footballer of all time is possibly Andoni Zubizarreta, who holds the record for appearances in La Liga with 622 games and won six league titles and one European Cup. Nowadays, the most well-known Basque football player is Xabi Alonso (winner of two European Championships and one FIFA World Cup) who played for Real Sociedad, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. Other notable Basque players include Jon Andoni Goikoetxea, Mikel Arteta, Javi Martínez, Iker Muniain, César Azpilicueta, Asier Illarramendi, Andoni Iraola, Aritz Aduriz and Ander Herrera. Both Athletic and Real Sociedad have won the Spanish league, including dominating the competition in the early 1980s, with the last title won by a Basque club being Athletic's 1984 title.

At international level, Basque players were especially prominent in Spanish selections prior to the Civil War, with all of those at the 1928 Olympics, and the majority of the 1920 Olympics and 1934 World Cup squads, born in the region.

Football is slightly less popular in Northern Basque country but the region has produced two well known and successful French players, Bixente Lizarazu and Didier Deschamps, who were among 22 players that won the 1998 World Cup. In the 2010s, Aviron Bayonnais FC developed international players Stéphane Ruffier and Kévin Rodrigues (capped by Portugal) and Aymeric Laporte who eventually played for Spain based on his residency in the southern Basque country. The club has also played in the French third tier.

The territory has an unofficial 'national' team which plays occasional friendlies, but not competitive matches, against conventional national teams. Navarre has its own representative side which convenes rarely.

Cycling as a sport is popular in the Basque Country. Miguel Indurain, born in Atarrabia (Navarre), won the Tour de France five times. Fellow Basque cyclist Abraham Olano has won the Vuelta a España and the World Championship.

Movistar Team, a top level cycling team, hails from Navarre, and is a continuation from the Banesto team for which Indurain ran. Euskaltel–Euskadi was a team operating at the same level until 2013 which was commercially sponsored, but also worked as an unofficial Basque national team and was partly funded by the Basque Government. Its riders were Basque, or at least grew up in the region's cycling culture; members of the team were sometimes strong contenders in the Tour de France or Vuelta a España. The races often saw Basque fans lining the roads during Pyrenean stages of the Tour de France. Team leaders included riders such as Iban Mayo, Haimar Zubeldia, Samuel Sánchez and David Etxebarria. Another team of the same name was raised to ProTeam level in 2019.

In the north, rugby union is another popular sport with the Basque community. In Biarritz, the local club is Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque, the name referencing the club's Basque heritage. They wear red, white and green, and supporters wave the Basque flag in the stands. A number of 'home' matches played by Biarritz Olympique in the Heineken Cup have taken place at Estadio Anoeta in San Sebastian. The most famous Basque Biarritz player was the legendary French fullback Serge Blanco, whose mother was Basque, and Michel Celaya captained both Biarritz and France. Aviron Bayonnais is another top-flight rugby union club with Basque ties.

A Basque club was the last to win the cup before the banning of rugby league, along with other professional sports, by the German collaborating Vichy regime after the defeat of France in 1940.

Pelota (jai alai) is the Basque version of the European game family that includes real tennis and squash. Basque players, playing for either the Spanish or the French teams, dominate international competitions.

Mountaineering is popular due to the mountainous terrain of the Basque Country and its proximity to the Pyrenees. Edurne Pasaban became the first woman to climb the fourteen mountains of greater than 8000 metre altitude; Alberto Iñurrategi and Juanito Oiarzabal have done so without supplementary oxygen. Josune Bereziartu and Patxi Usobiaga, a former world champion, are among top Basques in rock climbing. Related to mountaineering is trail running, where the Basque Country plays host to the popular Zegama-Aizkorri skyrunning races, held annually since 2002.

One of the top basketball clubs in Europe, Saski Baskonia, is based in Vitoria-Gasteiz. Bilbao Basket and Gipuzkoa BC also play in Liga ACB, Spain's top league.

In recent years surfing has taken off on the Basque shores, and Mundaka and Biarritz have become spots on the world surf circuit.

### Traditional Basque sports

The Basque country sporting tradition is linked to agricultural pursuits such as mowing with a scythe, or loading carts, but adapted as competitions with points awarded for specific criteria such as time, precision, elegance and productivity. Rural Basque sports include Aizkolaritza (wood chopping), Harri-jasotzaileak (stone lifting), Idi probak (leading oxen to drag rocks) and Sokatira (tug-of-war).


Venus Verticordia

# Venus Verticordia

## Abstract

Venus Verticordia ("Changer of Hearts" or "Heart-Turner") was an aspect of the Roman goddess Venus conceived as having the power to convert either virgins or sexually active women from dissolute desire (libido) to sexual virtue (pudicitia). Under this title, Venus was especially cultivated by married women, and on 1 April she was celebrated at the Veneralia festival with public bathing.

The epithet Verticordia derives from the Latin words verto, "turn", and cor, the heart as "the seat of subjective experience and wisdom". The conversion, however, was thought of as occurring in the mind – the mens or "ethical core". Women were thus viewed as having the moral agency necessary for shaping society, albeit in roles differing from men.

Venus Verticordia was one of several goddesses whose new or reinterpreted theology or cult practice was meant to inform the conduct of women as a response to wartime upheaval and social crisis during the Roman Republic. Her purpose was not to suppress sexual desire but to encourage its positive expression towards a good outcome in marriage.

## In Roman state religion

The cult of Venus Verticordia was established with the installation of a statue (simulacrum) around the time of the Second Punic War, before 204 BC, possibly 220 BC or 214 BC, or as early as 237 or 224 BC. Its initial location is uncertain – generally, in the Vallis Murcia, between the northern slope of the Minor Aventine and the farther end of the Circus Maximus. The founding statue was possibly dedicated in the shrine of either Venus Obsequens or Venus Erycina, or it may have been placed in an open-air precinct (templum) where her temple was later erected.

The official process behind the dedication was similar to the establishing of other women-centered cults such as that of Fortuna Muliebris or the religious reparations owed to Juno Regina in 207 BC. A list was compiled of one hundred matronae – respectable married women – eligible to make the dedication, then their number was narrowed to ten by sortition (drawing lots). The ten women themselves nominated a Sulpicia, wife of a consul, as the most worthy of the honor among them. Pliny the Elder implies that it was the first time a woman was selected for a religious task on behalf of the state in this way, and says that this process was followed again for the importation of the cult of the Magna Mater by Claudia Quinta.

The Temple of Venus Verticordia (aedes) was one of several established by the Roman Republic in response to perceived outbreaks of female debauchery, in this instance incestum, the violation of religious chastity by three of the six women serving as "professionally chaste" Vestals. The women were tried and convicted, and the Sibylline Books were consulted. Verticordia's temple was the last of eight the Romans built in accordance with Sibylline authority, dedicated to ten different deities, seven of them goddesses. The earlier cult statue of Verticordia would have been moved there.

Work on the temple started in 114 BC. It was located in the Vallis Murcia, possibly near the shrine of Murcia at the Circus Maximus, but the proximity of functionally overlapping temples to Murcia, Obsequens, and Verticordia leaves uncertainties in interpreting the ancient texts. Coarelli assumed that the Temple of Venus Verticordia physically replaced that of the archaic Fortuna Virilis; the two deities shared a feast day. No traces of the buildings in this area have been detected in the archaeological record. Other than the annual feast day when the statue was bathed, nothing is known of the shrine's quotidian operations; since Verticordia was cultivated only by women, it seems likely that temple personnel included priestesses and female attendants.

## Founding narratives

The narratives that explain the founding of Venus Verticordia's cult blend history and myth, as is characteristic of Roman mythology and its focus on human actions within a divine order that supports the Roman state. Ancient sources indicate that both the dedication of the statue and the building of the temple were religious responses during a time of military and social crisis.

### Statue dedication

In consultation with the Sibylline Books in the latter 3rd century BC, the decemviri (a commission of ten men) had determined that a statue of Venus Verticordia was required in response to the impudicitia of Roman matrons. After a sort of " real virtue contest " among the ten finalists, the honor of making the dedication went to a Sulpicia, who is likely a historical figure. Valerius Maximus says that Sulpicia was the daughter of a Paterculus and the wife of a Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, presumably the consul of 237 BC. She is described in superlatives as sanctissima ("most holy"), elevated above all others in castitas ("purity"), and pudicissima, of utmost sexual integrity. The French sociologist Jean-Claude Kaufmann imagined Sulpicia herself as the model for the statue, since she embodied the desired virtues.

### Prodigy of the temple

About a hundred years after the statue was dedicated, as tensions in North Africa were mounting for the Iugurthine War, the Temple of Venus Verticordia was built in response to a prodigy (prodigium). The protagonist in the story was a virgin, Greek parthenos in Plutarch and virgo in Latin sources, named as Elbia, Elvia, or Helvia. Plutarch (early 2nd century AD) says Elbia was out horseback riding when she was struck dead by a lightning bolt. She was found naked, with her dress (chiton) pulled up as if on purpose, and with her shoes, rings, and headdress torn off and scattered around. Her mouth was open, and the tongue was hanging out. Her horse was also found dead and stripped of its trappings. The haruspices (manteis) immediately connected the incident to a disgrace among the Vestals, probably issuing their response in September 114 BC, and an investigation was launched.

Julius Obsequens (late 4th/early 5th century AD), who compiled a collection of prodigies and drew on now-lost parts of the Augustan -era historian Livy 's work, dates the incident to the consulship of Manius Acilius Balbus and Gaius Porcius Cato in 114 BC. He identifies the virgin as the daughter of a Publius Elvius, a member of the equestrian order. While Plutarch has her out riding alone and her body later discovered, in Obsequens' account she is traveling in the company of her father from the Roman Games to Apulia when the incident occurs in the ager Stellas, the Stellate Plain. She is left dead by the lightning strike, with her garment pulled up to expose her genitals and her tongue hanging out, as if fire had flashed from the "lower places" (per inferiores locos) to her mouth. While the death of the horse is not explicitly reported, its trappings (ornamenta) are said to have been scattered about.

In the version of the Christian writer Orosius (died ca. 420 AD), the equestrian Lucius Helvius was returning to Apulia from Rome with his wife and daughter when a storm struck the traveling party. Seeing that his daughter was upset by the storm, he decided to leave the vehicles behind and to proceed more quickly on horseback to seek shelter. But when the girl rode into the middle of the caravan, she was struck dead by lightning, which caused her clothing to be pulled off without being torn – the bindings at her breast and feet were undone, and her necklaces and rings yanked off. She was left lying "in an obscene manner", naked but with no injury apparent, and her tongue hanging out "just a little". As with Plutarch, the horse is struck dead too, and its bridle and harnessing unfastened and scattered. The wife, unmentioned in the other versions, plays no role in the story.

Outside the taking of official auspices, an unsought sign that violated the predictable orderliness of the physical world occasioned alarm. The prodigium was a sign of divine displeasure, and the religious offense that provoked it had to be identified and expiated. The frequency of recorded prodigies seems to have been especially intense during the Second Punic War, and these were often accompanied by lightning, a speciality of Etruscan divination. The forensic techniques for interpreting lightning accounted for elements such as the direction from which the strike came and what kind of damage it left. For instance, Jullius Obsequens traced the path of the strike from "lower places" to the mouth – lightning from below being one of the standard signifying types. The scattering of the horse trappings, according to Obsequens, was a sign that pointed to the involvement of the equestrian order.

The Sibylline books were consulted, and an official pronouncement (responsum) formalized the accusation against members of the equestrian order along with three Vestals in the disgrace, which Obsequens labels infamia. The consultation with the Sibylline books may have been the source for the epithet Verticordia, modeled after the Greek cult of Aphrodite Apostrophia, who turned away (from apo -, "away," and stroph-, "turn") disordered acts of sexuality. Danielle Porte saw apotropaism in the powers of Venus Verticordia, as suggested by the prodigy's imagery of exposed genitals (like the anasyrma gesture) and the protruding tongue characteristic of gorgoneia.

#### Trial of the Vestals

The prodigy was linked to Vestals committing repeated acts of sexual misconduct with several members of the equestrian order. The Augustan poet Ovid more generally blames a decline in sexual morality (pudicitia) in Rome at the time, four generations before hm. The trial before the pontiffs started in December 114 BC; the proceedings have been described as "exceptional and no doubt politically motivated."

#### Human sacrifice

The founding of Verticordia's temple and the punishment of the Vestals for sacrilegious inchastity were deemed insufficient to avert the panic, and these expiations were supplemented by a rare human sacrifice in ancient Rome — of two couples, one Greek and the other Celtic. Livy calls the practice "hardly Roman", but it seems to have been the second time this particular rite was enacted, the first carried out during the Hannibalic War. According to Plutarch, it was the last human sacrifice carried out in Rome.

## The Veneralia and the calendar

The feast day of Venus took place on 1 April (the Kalends). Verticordia may have supplanted or been a refinement of an older form of Venus originally honored on the Kalends, and she shares the day with Fortuna Virilis, an older instantiation of the goddess Fortuna whose origins are unknown. The Kalends of April was one of the three days during the year when a woman expected to receive a gift from her male romantic partner, the other two being her birthday and the Sigillaria in December. No games (ludi) were held as they were for many other religious festivals.

The whole month of April, Latin Aprilis, was under the guardianship (tutela) of Venus, and Ovid and others took Aphrodite, the name of her Greek counterpart, as the origin of the word Aprilis. The more common view among the Romans was that Aprilis derived from the verb aperire, "to open", according to Verrius Flaccus because it was the month when "fruits and flowers and animals and seas and lands do open". April and June were the most propitious months for weddings, as they were presided over by Venus and then Juno as a goddess of marriage. The April religious calendar was dominated by female rites, with major festivals for Magna Mater ("Great Mother") and Ceres as well as days for Venus. The Kalends is not named as the Veneralia until the Calendar of Filocalus in AD 354, which illustrates the month of April with a scene from the theatrical ludi of Magna Mater.

The most detailed source on the Veneralia is the Kalends of April section in Book 4 of Ovid's poem about the Roman calendar, the Fasti, but the word Verticordia is metrically impossible in elegiac couplets and thus can't be used as an epithet for Venus in the poem. Ovid refers to Verticordia, however, in a line that plays on the etymology of the epithet: inde Venus verso nomina corde tenet, "and from her change of heart Venus holds her title."

According to Ovid, the cult image of Venus was bathed and redressed in the ritual act of lavatio. The goddess's rich adornments and gold necklaces were removed, and after she had been washed head to toe and polished dry, she was decked with not only her jewellery but also fresh roses and other flowers. Rose adornment was also part of the Vinalia, the wine festival on 23 April when Venus Erycina was celebrated. Ovid is the only source for Verticordia's lavatio, and the earliest for the bathing of the cult statue of the Magna Mater, which was carried to the river Almo during her festival 4–10 April, the Megalensia. Statue-bathing was not characteristic of early Roman religion; it may have served a practical purpose that was ritualized to preserve the sanctity of the image, or even been reconceptualized as an annual cleansing of offenses committed against the goddesses.

At the Veneralia, matrons and brides were to supplicate Verticordia, seeking physical beauty, socially approved behaviors, and a good reputation, while women of lesser standing (mulieres humiliores) celebrated Fortuna Virilis by burning incense. The celebrants of Verticordia bathed communally, crowned in wreaths of myrtle, a plant especially associated with Venus and eroticism but not used in bridal wreaths. Ovid explains the origin (aetion) of myrtle-wearing with a brief version of the myth of Venus Anadyomene rising naked from the sea, recognizable as such in the poem by the "hair-drying pose" he describes. As she is wringing out her dripping hair on the shore, she becomes aware of a rowdy band of satyrs watching her. Unlike the usual myth in which an enraged goddess punishes the man who has seen her, Ovid's Venus simply covers herself with myrtle and goes about her pleasurable business. "Nakedness, baths, and female sexuality" form a kind of "expressive module" for the holiday. "The nakedness that lies at the center of this celebration is no taboo," Alessandro Barchiesi observed of Ovid's reassembling of the religious materials, but "is a public gesture" emulating the ancestress of the Romans as Aeneadae, descendants of Aeneas, son of Venus.

Participants also emulated Venus in consuming cocetum, a slurry of poppy seed, milk, and honey that served a ceremonial purpose similar to the kykeon of the Eleusinian Mysteries. The festival of Ceres – Greek Demeter for whom poppy was emblematic – began 12 April with games and performances in the Circus Maximus and concluded 19 April with the Cerialia. The poppy beverage may have helped relax or sedate anxious virgin brides, or had an aphrodisiac or more strongly narcotic or hallucinatory effect, depending on the opiate content of the poppy. Ovid offers another origin story for brides consuming the cocetum, saying that Venus herself drank it on her wedding night. But he undermines an image of Venus as a model wife with the sexuality of Venus as a woman, framing her feast day with reminders of Mars, her regular consort to whom she was not married; she drank the cocetum to endure her arranged marriage to the unattractive but eager bridegroom Vulcan, and her son Aeneas, father of the Roman people, was born from her adulterous desire for the mortal Anchises.

Ovid's artistic intermingling of Verticordia and Fortuna Virilis and his social commentary on the division of the celebrants is "notoriously controversial" and "puzzlingly paradigmatic" as a historical source. The name Fortuna Virilis means something closer to "Good Luck in Men" than "Manly Fortune", or "Lucky Guy" if the women's actions are meant as a "privileged exhibition" for the men – the women may be hesitant that taking off their clothes exposes physical imperfection, but that isn't what Fortuna Virilis lets men see. Her origins are no later than the 4th century BC, predating the dedication of Verticordia's statue, and Plutarch traces a temple of Fortuna Virilis back to the semilegendary king Servius Tullius, to whom many such foundings were attributed in myth. In the late 4th century BC, public bathing might have taken place at the public pool (piscina publica), but the appearance of the women at the men's public baths has to be a later development, since these were not in use until the 2nd century BC.

The 1 April feast day was celebrated widely, perhaps universally, by Roman women, but ancient sources seem to indicate social stratification in what aspects they might participate in. The bathing and adornment of Verticordia's statue could involve only a limited number of women, and selectivity of merit was inherent in the establishment of her cult. The women who attended on her wore the respectable attire of the matron. Women of lesser status attended to Fortuna Virilis, and then they – or perhaps all women – crowned themselves in myrtle like Venus and went to share a "fecundating" bath in public view of men, who watch as the satyrs did. Earlier in the Fasti, Ovid had used the word iuventus ("the youth" as a collective), which in this period often meant an elite troop of young men of the equestrian order, to refer to a band of satyrs subject to Venus, and T. P. Wiseman conjectured that in the 4th century BC, the rites on the Kalends of April may even have involved men dressing as satyrs.

The mutual desire of Mars and Venus being fundamental to the Roman state, the role of Verticordia was not to inhibit sexuality but to promote libido within marriage, which Cicero described as "the seedbed of the republic" (seminarium rei publicae). About nine months later, the Carmentalia that celebrated the goddess of childbirth was for all women giving birth, a festival unusually without social segregation.

### In the era of Christianization

By the early second century AD, the rituals of Fortuna Virilis had been absorbed into the cult of Venus Verticordia. By late antiquity the drinking of cocetum and practices associated with Fortuna Virilis seem to have fallen into disuse. The name Veneralia for the festival on the Kalends of April first appears in AD 354 in the Calendar of Filocalus, the work of a Christian illustrator and chronographer that integrates Christian elements into the traditional Roman calendar.

The Veneralia may have been the setting Augustine of Hippo had in mind in a sermon on Mary and Martha, dated around AD 393, when he writes that "we" should not get carnally distracted by "banquets of Venus" (epulae venerales) but practice moderate behavior (modestia). Augustine advised forbearance, not passion, as a way to approach the secular banquet of Venus, which he seems to regard as "rather a respectable affair in 'celebration of a life of harmony and fullness'". The 6th-century antiquarian Ioannes Lydus, writing in Greek, says that women of higher rank had worshipped Aphrodite on 1 April "to achieve concord (homonoia) and a modest life", with no mention of Fortuna Virilis.

## Relation to other goddesses

The first Roman shrine (aedes) to an instantiation of Venus had been built during the Third Samnite War in 295 BC, located near the racetrack of the Circus Maximus. Funded by fines imposed by the curule aedile Fabius Gurges on matronae for engaging in sexual misconduct (stuprum), it was dedicated to Venus Obsequens – "Compliant" Venus. During the wars of the Middle Republic that expanded Rome's presence throughout the Mediterranean world, and especially during the Punic Wars (264–146 BC), social and economic power among Roman women of the propertied classes increased, as they stepped in to manage domestic matters in the absence of men deployed at war. At the same time, anxieties about untethered women led to regulation of their behaviors in relation to men through both legislation and religious cultivation, counterbalancing their contributions to the Roman state and relative autonomy on the home front with expectations of loyalty and self-discipline expressed sexually. The "turning" or conversion of Venus Verticordia is not a suppression of sexual desire but a purposing of its power for social benefit in a display of personal excellence.

### Venus Erycina and the cults of Pudicitia

In the month of Venus, on 23 April, a day comparable to the Greek Aphrodisia festival was devoted to Venus Erycina extra portam Collinam, "Venus of Eryx outside the Colline Gate " and hence outside the sacred boundary of Rome (pomerium) as foreign rites traditionally were. Sex workers (meretrices) attended while socially respectable women celebrated the same goddess with "cleaned up" rites at the Vinalia festival on the Capitoline. The lower-class women (mulieres humiliores) who celebrated Fortuna Virilis on the Kalends of April would have included prostitutes as well. Sarah Pomeroy believed that the humiliores comprised only prostitutes, but this is not standard usage of the word, and Ovid undermines even the usual social distinction between the humiliores and women of the upper social orders in the inclusivity of the 1 April festivities.

Venus Erycina was a Punic cult imported from Sicily, and her temple was built as the result of a wartime vow, most likely in 212 BC at the close of the Siege of Syracuse which gave Rome control of the island. At her second temple on the Capitoline, Erycina was eventually assimilated to Venus Genetrix, Venus as the generative mother of the Roman people, a moral amelioration of Erycina that indicates "prostitution was not the only item in her portfolio." The development of Erycina's cult shows the counterbalancing of an ideation of sexual women as whores by advancing the more self-controlled form of sexuality (pudicitia) for women within marriage, which Verticordia also embodied.

The social separation between Fortuna Virilis and Venus Verticordia, and between the two temples of Venus Erycina, had played out earlier in similar dynamic tension as the Conflict of the Orders sought resolution. A patrician woman had married a plebeian and consequently was deemed ineligible to participate in the cult of Pudicitia Patricia, "Pudicitia for Patricians". In response, she established a shrine to Pudicitia Plebeia as an alternative for socially aspiring plebeians in 295 BC. Pudicitia was the public moral arena in which women competed as men did in virtus, "manly" excellence. Only univirae, married women who had been with only one man, could be admitted to either cult of Pudicitia, emphasizing a woman's success at the self-management of her own sexuality beyond social expectations or male desire. The shrines of both Pudicitia Plebeia and Venus Verticordia were established in response to prodigies at a time of crisis in the Roman state; it is a frequent pattern that repairing social disorder required the public demonstration of the sexual and moral integrity of Roman women.

### Murcia and the myrtle

The location of the Temple of Venus Verticordia in the Vallis Murcia also raises questions about her relation to the obscure goddess Murcia, the varied spelling of whose name led to her identification with Venus Murtea or Myrtea, "Venus of the Myrtle Grove". Servius says that Verticordia's temple precinct (fanum) was near the Circus Maximus in a former myrtle grove, which was also the site of the Rape of the Sabine Women. As a pretext for the founding act of bride abduction, Romulus had invited the Sabine families to a festival in honor of the god named by Plutarch as Poseidon Hippios ("Horse Poseidon"), Latinized as Neptunus Equester ("Equestrian Neptune ") and identified with the archaic god Consus. The underground altar of Consus was located at one of the two points of the Circus Maximus where the chariots turned, the meta Murciae, near the myrtle grove. In earliest times, the site was largely flooded by the Tiber river in April, a terrain supporting the conceptualization of Venus rising from the "sea" among the myrtles, but in the driest months, the area was devoted to horse races, especially in August, when Venus's second Vinalia of the year was held on the 19th, two days before the horse-racing festival of Consus.

### Demeter, Bona Dea, and Aphrodite Apostrophia

The Greek equivalent of Verticordia, Aphrodite Apostrophia ("Aphrodite of Turning Away") was complementary to Demeter Erinys. The April rites of Roman Ceres were not based on the primary Greek myth of Demeter – the abduction of her daughter Persephone to serve as the bride of Pluto – and yet Ovid chooses to narrate it at disproportionate length in his treatment of April in the Fasti. This choice may have been motivated by the complex nexus in Greek myth and cult between Demeter Erinys and Aphrodite Apostrophia. Demeter Erinys ("Furious Demeter") represents the rightful anger the goddess felt after she herself was raped during her search for her daughter, having turned herself into a mare to try to evade Poseidon only to have him transform into a stallion to mount her. Erinys is the drive for vengeance, rendered into lawfulness by Demeter Thesmophoros ("Bringer of Laws", thesmoi) who preserves family order and the state. Although Demeter's Thesmophoria is framed broadly as an all-female "fertility" festival, the second day became a "forum for crime detection and dispute resolution" pervaded by the complaint of the wronged goddess.

The animalizing potential of desire is "turned away" by Aphrodite Apostrophia (from apo -, "away" and strophein, "to turn") – so called because she diverted the human race from acting on desires that were contrary to nomos (ἐπιθυμίας τε ἀνόμου) and from unholy deeds (ἔργων ἀνοσίων), such as the incestuous union that produced Adonis, the beautiful youth unsatisfactorily loved by both Aphrodite and Persephone.

Incest plays a role in one version of how the Roman Bona Dea, whose rites seem most comparable to the Thesmophoria, became a goddess. In most tellings, she is deified after her husband, Faunus, beats her with a myrtle branch when he finds her drinking wine – in one account, to death – but Macrobius has her as his daughter, whom he beats with myrtle when she refuses sex even though he has plied her with wine. In the hands of Faunus, who in the later tradition is often depicted with satyr-like features, the myrtle of Venus becomes an instrument for "excessive erotic desire"; it was banned from Bona Dea's temple on the slope of the Aventine, above the "Valley of Myrtle".

In Verticordia's mythology, the threat of bestial sexuality is represented by the satyrs in Ovid's account of Venus's bath, and by the prodigy of the horse-riding virgin, whose body is found with signs that ordinarily might be interpreted as rape. The German philologist Carl Koch suggested that the Sibylline consultation calling for a temple to Venus Verticordia might have directly prescribed the model of Apostrophia, as was the case with some other transferrals of Greek or other deities to Rome.

### The nudity of Venus

The feast day of Venus Verticordia was one of two April holidays featuring the public nudity of women, the second being stage performances at the Floralia that started at the end of the month and continued into May. For the Floralia, however, the bodies of entertainers and prostitutes were on display; on the Kalends, even respectable matrons removed the garments that marked them as such, the long dress (stola) that covered them to their feet and the headbands (vittae) that bound their hair. Valerius Maximus attributed a kind of inviolability to the stola, stating that it was not to be subjected to the touch of an "alien" hand – meaning someone outside the family – even if the matron came under arrest. The unwilling removal of the protective garment would be a violation, but its willing removal and the reclaiming of the nude body held power: "Like the Gorgon's eye, it can paralyze or protect." Although female nudity among the Archaic and Classical Greeks had been taboo, "respectable female nudity" was imported into Italy via the Etruscans and took the form of Hellenistic Aphrodite.

The Venus Pudica statuary type displays the goddess naked, and the placement of her hands is not obviously defensive but rather instructs the viewer toward the erogenous zones of the female body. The sometime presence of a cloth or drapery is ambiguous as to whether Pudica has just removed her garment or is about to put it on, and in some versions, such as the Mazarin Venus (at the top of this article), suggests a striptease. The apparent erasure of social rank was renegotiated by the practice of wearing jewellery in the baths, as modeled by the bejewelling of nude Venus statues and documented by archaeological finds in drains.

Both the Venus Anadyomene and Pudica types are associated with rising from the water, sometimes indicated by a hydria (water vessel) or dolphin, with bathing a reenactment of the goddess's birth from the sea. Ovid's description of Venus with dripping hair for the Kalends of April may have been inspired by a painting in the anaydomene pose that Augustus had exhibited in the Temple of the Deified Julius. Pudica, however, is well coiffed. Roman matrons were not portrayed with the loose, wet locks of Anadyomene, which released an eroticism that might not be fully under control; elaborately bound-up hairstyles were not simply ornamental but "upright" in the moral sense. The polymath Varro said that the piled-up hairstyle of Roman matrons was called a tutulus from the word tutus, "safe", and was also nicknamed an arx, like the citadel of the city – just as functionally the cult of Verticordia was established to safeguard the city. And just as women reenacted the role of Venus in the rites of 1 April, they were portrayed quite literally as Venus in sculpture, with their own portrait head placed on a conventional body type of the goddess – a costly form of self-expression available only to those who could afford it, from the wives of emperors to successful freedwomen. Although nude, their portraits exhibit "flawless reserve and self-possession".


Andrew Rupcich

# Andrew Rupcich

## Abstract

Andrew Rupcich (born April 1, 1999) is an American professional football offensive lineman for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Culver–Stockton and was signed by the Titans as an undrafted free agent in 2022.

## Early life and education

Rupcich was born on April 1, 1999, in Wonder Lake, Illinois. He attended McHenry High School and was played both basketball and football, being a two-way lineman in the latter and being selected all-conference at right tackle as a senior. He qualified for college late and thus signed to play college football with the Culver–Stockton Wildcats of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), rather than opt to try junior college football or be a walk-on at a higher level.

## College career

Rupcich gained a starting role at left tackle as a freshman in 2017 and went on to play every snap for the rest of his collegiate career. He started all 11 games in 2017 and did the same in 2018 while being named first-team All- Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) North Division. He was named the school's athlete of the year in 2018. In 2019, he started all 11 games at left tackle and was chosen first-team All-HAAC North Division for the second time in a row, being the first repeat player to earn the honors at Culver–Stockton since 2014 while helping Culver–Stockton have its first winning season since 2001. He was also chosen a first-team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), being the fifth All-American in school history and the first since 2007. Rupcich also gained notice that year for throwing a 44-yard pass and was given the Banner Society Piesman Award for it.

Rupcich started all four games at left tackle in the COVID-19 -shortened 2020 season, being first-team AFCA All-American and first-team All-HAAC North Division. He became Culver–Stockton's first two-time All-American. After returning for a final year in 2021, he started all 11 games and was first-team All-American from Associated Press, the NAIA and the AFCA while also being first-team All-HAAC North Division. He ended his collegiate career having appeared in and started all 48 games in five seasons while missing no snaps, being the first player in NAIA history to be named first-team All-American at the same position three times. He was described by NFL analyst Dane Brugler as "Overall... one of the best offensive linemen to ever come from the NAIA level," and Rupcich was both the only NAIA player to be invited to the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl and to the NFL Scouting Combine. He graduated in December 2021 with a degree in physical education and health and was also invited to play at the College Gridiron Showcase and the Hula Bowl.

## Professional career

After going unselected in the 2022 NFL draft, Rupcich was signed by the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent. He was released at the final roster cuts, on August 30, and was re-signed to the practice squad the following day. He did not appear in any games in his first season, spending the entire year on the practice squad as the Titans finished with a record of 7–10. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 23, 2023. He was released at the final roster cuts on August 29, 2023, and then re-signed to the practice squad the following day. Rupcich was elevated to the active roster for the team's Week 10 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and made his debut in the 20–6 loss, appearing on 45 offensive snaps and three special teams snaps after coming at right guard for the injured Andre Dillard. He became the third Culver–Stockton NFL player in history, following Bob Hendren (1949–1951) and Jason Kaiser (1998–1999). Rupcich was signed to the 53-man roster on December 23. He finished the season having appeared in five games, two as a starter.