Liberty University’s Forensic Speech Team competed and won the National Championship title at the National Christian College Forensics Invitational (NCCFI) for Division III schools at Howard Payne University March 7-9.
Liberty was joined by 12 other forensic speech teams from Christian universities for this competition, according to Howard Payne University’s website.
“Since September, the forensic speech team has been competing in regional in-person tournaments and nationwide virtual tournaments,” Denise Thomas, instructor of strategic and personal communication and forensic speech coordinator, said. “Students work weekly with coaches to select topics, choose material and perfect the presentation of their competition pieces.”
Forensic speech competitions have three main categories: public address, oral interpretation and limited preparation.
Thomas explained that each event is equally weighted, allowing individual performances to add to the overall team score. Each competitor is ranked in their respective competition with higher ranks earning more points.
Members of Liberty’s team competed in multiple events at the NCCFI, taking home many awards for the group. National champion Thomas Yu secured first-place wins in both the informative speaking contest and in the poetry contest. His teammate, Christian Harver, was a national finalist with a third-place finish in dramatic interpretation and a fourth-place finish in prose.
Yu said contests like the NCCFI allow students to address topics that are relevant to their generation.
“(The competition) is a place where we use our voices to advocate on issues that are important to us,” Yu said. “We use different types of rhetoric and public speaking skills. We are proving things using rhetoric and language.
Thomas said the skills learned through these endeavors are vital for a student’s education.
“Communication is essential to academic, professional and interpersonal success,” Thomas said. “… Public speaking is a powerful tool for influence.”
While teams at the NCCFI are from Christian colleges, according to Yu, most of the teams at other forensic speech competitions they compete against are from secular institutions. He said forensic speech competitions provide opportunities to practice different public speaking skills and bring glory to God.
“We can be a light in the field … (and) build relationships with individuals at other schools,” Yu said.
Thomas also noted the team’s influence on peers from other schools in each competition.
“Members of the forensics team bring attention to issues of significance to their generation and build relationships with their peers outside of the Liberty circle,” Thomas said. “The team is intentional about representing Christ well in environments where his truth is often diminished.”
While their competition season has ended for this academic year, the groups will begin preparing for their upcoming contests throughout the summer, with their first competition starting in September.
Students of any major are welcome to join this group to foster their communication skills. For any student interested in joining the team, email forensics@liberty.edu for more information.
Barta is a Campus News reporter.