Kristina Wilkerson, Staff Writer
The 8th annual Sewanee Festival of Speaking & Listening showcased student speakers from across the university engaging in topics of political, legal, social, scientific, cultural, professional and rhetorical significance.
This year the Festival of Speaking and Listening held a keynote lecture by Dr. Wanda Little Fenimore on Respectability and Resistance: Mrs. Ruby Cornwell’s Activism in Jim Crow South Carolina. Dr. Fenimore is the Associate Professor of Speech Communication at the University of South Carolina-Sumter as well as a teacher and scholar of rhetoric. Fenimore is also the author of various books about the Southern U.S. and its culture implications, such as: The Rhetorical Road to Brown v. Education: Elizabeth and Waites Waring’s Campaign and Nikki Haley’s Lessons from the New South . Towards the end of her speech, Fenimore asked a question on why we need stories like Ruby Cornwell and broughts up an interesting line on how “not every biography is going to get the attention of editors and publishers but that does not mean the story should not be written.” She is currently on sabbatical amid the research process. Rhetoric Professor Melody Lehn relayed Fenimore’s astonishment when she declared the questions she received were some of the smartest questions from students that she’s ever had, and she left with some new ideas to think about.
Creating and giving a 10-11 minute speech is no easy task. Dixon Cline (C ’23 in Politics and Rhetoric), a politics and rhetoric major, was an audience member at the Speaking and Listening Contest in 2023. He said, “Many of the speeches were on positions I am fervently against and yet with all the speeches, I was disarmed or persuaded to take their position. This is the greatest measure of success for a public speaker.”
There were five speakers who all talked their way to the “glory and fortune, but mainly glory,” Dr. O’Rourke humorously expressed in the days before the festival.
First, rhetoric major and Purple Opinions Editor Eliza Dieck (C ‘26), spoke about “The ‘Fairness’ of the Fairness Doctrine: A 21st Century Reexamination.” She won the bronze medal for her speech.IGS major and Purple editor-in-chief Lizzy Donker, (C ‘26), spoke about “Navigating the Post-Truth Era: The Role of Journalism in Our Lives.” English and rhetoric major Annabel Eppes (C ‘27) gave an educational speech on “Closing the Achievement Gap.” Politics major Erin McLaughlin (C ‘26) controversially spoke about how “Sewanee Doesn’t Need YikYak.” This speech won the silver medal. To end the festival, English and neuroscience major AJ Stacey (C ‘28) talked about “The Dam Truth: We need more dams in the Southeast,” which received the prestigious gold medal.
Dieck and Donker’s fellow classmates voted on who they thought was the best to compete, which was not strictly measured by highest grade in the class but also by their overall improvement. When asked how she was feeling about the speech and her fellow competitors, Dieck confidently said, “I am good friends with a couple of my competitors and I know everyone competing will be supportive of each other no matter what happens. I am excited, of course a little nervous, but having already done this speech before and finally having a podium, unlike in class, I feel comforted.”
Dr. Lehn clarified how the presented speeches were worked on the whole semester for the Introduction to Public Speaking class. This program was meant to challenge students to look at multiple perspectives of a controversy they were passionate about. They had to advocate for what they believe, supported by feasible, credible and ethical evidence. Each speaker was given a 10-11 minute window to present their argument with a two-to-three question and response period.
There were three judges on the panel that evening: Vienna Marcus, who was the winner of the 2023 Public Speaking Contest; Professor of Classics and Rhetoric Terry Papillon, and Associate Director of SUMMA Theological Debate Camp and Visiting Instructor of Rhetoric Warren Swenson. They evaluated the speakers on their argumentation, organization, style, delivery, and audience adaptation.
Once again there was more glory than fortune, but one must think that maybe obtaining the necessary skills to successfully disarm and persuade audiences is the best fortune of them all.