Speech team members Marcus Harvey and Ciara Williams had a very succesful tournament at Ohio University, winning six trophies.

Harvey took third in dramatic interpretation, fourth in after-dinner speaking—a speech which is both humorous and persuasive—and fourth in poetry.

“I think we did pretty well,” Harvey said.

Harvey joined the speech team to become a better arguer and to be able to think on his feet. Now, he said he has taken on more the role of an actor than an arguer.

Along with these awards, Harvey also placed as third-best speaker in the tournament.

Ciara Williams placed fourth in dramatic interpretation and second in program oral interpretation.
Williams said she feels blessed to have received every trophy that the team won and thinks the trophies represent the work the team has put forth the entire year.

Williams started in speech when she went to Butler’s block party her sophomore year and thought it seemed interesting. She was involved in different activities but said she found her niche on the speech team.

In the duo category, Williams and Harvey worked together and placed third.

Ten other schools competed in the tournament, and Butler placed third in the small-school entry.

“I was very proud of them,” said Janis Crawford, communication instructor and team adviser. “They did a really good job and worked really hard, and they are both very talented students.”

Crawford has been the forensics director for 13 years and said she likes helping the students become better communicators on a one-to-one basis as opposed to in a classroom setting.

The speech team has 10 students while the debate team has four.

Speech and debate will attend the state competition on Feb. 16 at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.