Congratulations to the winners of the 24th Annual Oratory Competition!

Graduation Commencement Speech Category 

Tia Brownmiller -"A New Beginning, But Not the End"

Maura Shapiro -"Reflection"

Caroline Nesbit -"The Cant's and Cans of the Class of 2021"

Diversity and Inclusion 

Anna Skerrett -"The Necessity of Intersectional Feminism"

Cameron Cesare -"The Moon Over Pittsburgh"

Joanna Wang -"Do People With Depression Deserve Love?"

Persuasive Speech Policy 

Kerry Lyons -"Raise the Wage: The Case for a Minimum Wage Hike" 

Alexander Hodge-"Fueling, Third-Party Candidates as a Means of Bipartisanship" 

Evan Lewis -"Why the Government Should Make Teaching Swimming Mandatory in Public Schools" 

Commemorative Values Speech:

Danielle Obisie-Orlu-"Identity: Progress in the Face of Adversity" 

Olivia Leonardis -"The Impact of Respect"

Cameron Ostiguy -"Perseverance in Becoming a Pitt Engineer"

Dayquon Henderson-"The Trip I took to New York City" 

Special thank you to our judges:

Graduation Commencement: Dr. Jack Gareis (Part-time instructor, Department of Communication), Dr. Ellen Cohn (Part-time instructor, Department of Communication)

Diversity and Inclusion Speech: Dr. Lynn Clarke (Lecturer, Director of Public Speaking and Director of Speaking in the Disciplines, Department of Communication), Dr. Weiming Gorman (Lecturer, Department of Communication)

Persuasive Speech on Policy: Dr. Mickey Bannon (Lecturer, Director of the Oral Comm Lab, Department of Communication), Michael Gruenwald (2021 Senior, Undergraduate Speaking Coach, Department of Communication) 

Commemorative Values Speech: Dr. Curry Chandler (Visiting instructor, Department of Communication), Dr. Elfriede Fursich (Visiting instructor, Department of Communication)