Forensics student places first

Senior Kenny Lau wins oral interpretation category in national competition

For the first time in its six-year history, the Liberty forensics program won a championship. Senior Kenny Lau won first place in Program Oral Interpretation (POI) at the American Forensics Association (AFA) competition.

Victory — Kenny Lau takes first place in Program Oral Interpretation contest. Photo provided

Victory — Kenny Lau takes first place in Program Oral Interpretation contest. Photo provided

Since 2009, Liberty’s forensic program has been growing and competing against larger universities and forensics programs. Both Lau and junior Bo Quel competed at the AFA held April 4-8 in Portland, Oregon.

“AFA is the best of the best,” Denise Thomas, Liberty forensics coach, said. “I am excited for Kenny as a senior for finishing his college career with a win.”

According to Thomas, the AFA competition is very challenging. In order to compete in it, students must qualify and acquire a certain amount of points at regional competitions. Liberty’s forensic season began September 2014.

“Competing against larger schools used to be nerve-racking, but now it’s exhilarating,” Lau said. “But I work hard and I have a vision of what I want. I loved the challenge of competing against the bigger and more privileged schools. I loved being the underdog and surprising people.”

More than 80 teams competed at the AFA. Lau came in first place in POI, followed by second-place finisher Wiley College and the University of Texas at Austin in third. The AFA is open to all colleges and universities.

“It felt like family, and I was excited to perform in a giant ballroom with hundreds of people knowing that they are rooting for me,” Lau said.

According to Lau, POI is a mixture of prose, poetry and drama. Through these genres, competitors present an argument or topic. The goal is to make an impact on the audience through different mediums such as news reports, Ted Talks, scholarly articles, documentaries and other credible sources.

Lau’s POI contained content about racialization of the American Chinese restaurant industry.

“The General Tso’s chicken and chop suey that you see today are fake representations of Chinese culture and (were) actually a response to blatant and severe racism and discrimination toward Chinese Americans in the last century or so,” Lau said.

According to Thomas, Lau and Quel are the most experienced members on the team. The team will now begin a new phase of training novices to compete next year.

Next year, Thomas plans on training a new generation of forensic team members to compete and win as Kenny did. Sarah McCargish, a novice forensics member, said she has learned to speak up and share her opinions with others through forensics.

“Overall, this year with the forensics team has been a blast and a privilege,” McCargish said. “I have been blessed with devoted and supportive coaches and encouraging teammates. We really have become a family.”

AFA was the final tournament for this year. The forensics season will begin again in September.

“It’s surreal the way we have had to work,” Lau said. “It’s the entire community who built me up (and) who inspired me. The privilege of traveling around the country for competitions and making friends with thousands of people is an inspiring experience I will never forget.”

Frost is a news reporter.

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