Speech & Debate Team
History
Cameron has had a long history of competitive Speech and Debate dating back through Cameron's junior college years. The Speech and Debate Lab contains many trophies; some dating back to the 1930s. Among the individuals who have served as Cameron Forensic coaches are:
I. Fuchs
Ruby Ruth Vincent
Carolyn Reed
Kinley McClure
Tony Allison
J.C. Hicks
James Heflin
Richard Smith
Eddie Skaggs
Tyler Thornton
Daniel Schabot | 1933
1939
1941-1949
1960s
1972-1994
1975-1992
1986-1994
1994-1999
1999-2004
2004-2007
2007-present |
Cameron's Forensic program has been nationally ranked among Pi Kappa Delta senior colleges and universities since 1975 and has won two national championships at the Pi Kappa Delta National Speech and Debate Tournament in 1979 in St. Louis, Missouri and 1981 in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Cameron has been ranked among the top ten schools in Pi Kappa Delta's national sweepstakes since 1977. The Pi Kappa Delta National Office was located at Cameron for a four year period when Tony Allison served on the National Council and served as the National Secretary-Treasurer for the organization from June 1981 to June 1985. In 1999, Mr. Eddie Skaggs was hired as Director of Forensics. He was elected by his peers to serve on the National Council of Pi Kappa Delta at the PKD National Convention and Tournament held in Fargo, ND, in 1999. We invite you to come and visit the Speech and Debate Lab in the Communications building.
The Communications Department is in the process of putting together a complete history of competitive forensics at Cameron. (If you have information, concerning past years, please contact the department office.)
Speech and Debate Team Membership
The Speech and Debate team is open to any full-time undergraduate student. A student does not have to be Communication major. Speech team members must be considered in good standing academically. The team meets every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon during fall and spring semesters. For more information contact Mr. Daniel Schabot who is the current Director of Forensics. Scholarships are available for high school seniors and transfer students with forensics (speech and debate) experience.
Cameron's Forensic Philosophy
Cameron's forensic philosophy emphasizes the intellectual and ethical growth of the student. Our goal is for each student to reach his/her potential expertise in critical thinking competency, listening competency, speaking competency, leadership competency, debating competency, performing literature, having positive interpersonal and small group skills, and having high ethical standards. A spirit of "enthusiasm and professionalism" is the image that the squad wants to project to the community and the university.
Winning awards, while fun and satisfying, is not the main purpose but only accompanies the development and achievement of the individual. Every student is encouraged to try as many different events as possible to gain this personal experience.
Contest Events
The program provides contest experience in both debate and individual events. There are two divisions of debate
Lincoln-Douglas Debate (one-on-one debating)
Team Debate (two-person team debating)
There are over ten different individual events:
Extemporaneous Speaking
Duo Interpretation
Impromptu Speaking
Poetry Interpretation
Persuasive Speaking
Prose Interpretation
| Informative Speaking
Program Oral Interpretation
Communication Analysis
Experimental Events
Dramatic Interpretation
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